The water dragged at Rayanna's clothing as she trudged across the stream's flow. A dripping cocoon of clingy hair and cloth, she emerged with soggy, weighted steps and slogged across the rocky bank. She tugged her blouse at various spots to peel it from her skin. Wrung from the fabric, mineral-scented…
Darkness swallowed her a few mere steps off the path's edge. Near blindness crippled her gait to a stumbling run through varied shades of black. Brambles clawed at Rayanna's face and sleeves as she plunged deeper into the forest's matted hide. She raised her linked forearms to shield her face. Straining…
The Forbidden Wood’s ebony thickets clamored at the moon, stealing half its light. Plumes of dust galloped toward it along the East Road. Luren. He would murder her mother like the others. So clever in other matters, why had she insisted on devotion to the King? She pressed her lips onto…