“How is Bobby doing?” Evan asked. He and Katherine sat across a desk from Detective Abrams. They had been asked to the station to give their report of what happened on the bridge. “Oh, you know Short. Give him a few more weeks and he’ll be in here wearing his scars like trophies.” “I’ll try…
Katherine checked her watch. Three o’clock. She didn’t know how long it would take Evan to get out of jail, run home, and then run to where she was. But however long it took, it would be too long. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Evan thought she could do this. Even…
Katherine didn’t remember how she arrived at the county jail, he thoughts had been flying through questions to ask Evan, potential frightening scenarios, and willful reminders to calm down and think one thought at a time. She checked in with the guard on duty, who escorted her to a short bank of cubicles where she…
Hand in hand, the Golds walked south on Commercial, turned west on Congress, and stopped in front of their front porch. It was the first time the pair had seen the front of their house since arriving back. The house mostly looked the same: gabled roof, holly hedge row, wide porch complete with a butter-yellow…
Katherine opened her eyes. I took longer than she wanted to orient herself to where she was. Everything, the lamp, the clock, the door jamb, everything looked familiar, but familiar from a distant memory. Then, as if a wave reached the shore of her mind and crashed the memories loose, she knew where she was. …
The next morning, Evan and Katherine walked hand in hand to the throne room of King Ansel. Katherine’s mind still reeled at discovering that she and Evan wanted similar things. She wondered if getting what she wanted would always be this easy. All she did was keep her opinions to herself. Though, she admitted to…
It did not take Katherine long to find Lillian. Now that she was back in her native surroundings, Lillian had fallen into her own predictable rhythms. From the balcony of her cliffside apartment, Katherine daily observed Lillian walking through the nearby gardens, so she rose early, got ready, and not so accidentally happened upon the…
The days immediately following the collapse of Dol’s Merlain went by as a blur to Katherine’s memory. She remembered taking Lillian back to the command center to restart her strengthening treatments. Lillian’s waxy skin somehow still glowed, not with light, but with relief that the fight was over. Katherine remembered the embrace Evan gave her…
Commander Voss entered Katherine’s interrogation room, which filled her with dread. Force that inspires loyalty radiated from him. Katherine, not sure whether to rise, bow, or recoil, sat frozen in her seat. Voss gave her the slightest of smiles before Katherine was distracted by Lillian’s entrance into the room. The princess’ color was back, and…
When the Coellum soldiers encountered Princess Lillian maneuvering the Merlain streets with thre strangers, she was quickly separated and protected from them. Her skin was a pale yellow and her hair was a frizz. Had it not been for the strong resemblance her eyes, cheeks, and jawline had with her father, she might have been…
