The forest was a blur of amber, gold, and terror.
Kaia urged Whisper faster, the mare responding with a surge of power that stole the breath from her lungs. The wind whipped her face, tearing the pins from her hair until the silver waves flew behind her like a banner of war.
She wasn't riding like a lady. She wasn't cantering with the dignity of a future princess. She was riding like a fugitive escaping the gallows.
The baying of the hounds had faded to a dull roar in the distance. The shouts of the Emperor and the polite chitchat of the court were gone, replaced by the thundering of hooves and the violent pounding of her own heart.
She was alone.
Or she thought she was.
A dark shape cut through the brush to her left, moving with the silent, terrifying speed of a shadow.
Aeron.
