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She let out a deep sigh.

Then the silence was broken by a wave of shouts coming from the tavern. Catching a few words here and there, everything from the Mad King to the brutal murder of his own parents was shouted at Sabien. As expected, the bargoers turned on one another, and soon a brawl broke out. The front door burst open, and a wave of customers rushed to the streets. It wasn’t long before a whistle pierced the air and the stampede of boots pounded the cobblestone as half a dozen knights arrived at the scene to break up the fight.

The backdoor swung wide, nearly missing her feet, and a few more drunk patrons stumbled into the back alley.

Lastly, she heard the retching. Glancing across the sleek alley, she saw Jacek grabbing his stomach, coughing up more than alcohol. He must have escaped the tavern as soon as the smierc hit his system.

Gliding to her feet, Dagmara used the commotion to her advantage. She reached Jacek’s side just as he was crumbling to his knees, blood coating the cobblestone.

Dagmara gripped his hand, “By the guardians, I’ll get you a doctor!” she told him, lithely slipping his ring from his finger in the process.

Her voice would never be heard over the reinforcements that rushed to break up the bar fight. She pocketed the ring to bring back to her king and fell into the stream of people, making her way toward the bridge back to the Azuremi fortress.

Passing through town, the bridge finally came into sight. It was dimly lit by torches on either end. Puddles of light cloaked the bridge in uneven areas. The clouds covered the moon, casting more shadows around the street. The crowd was far behind her now. No one would have any reason to cross the bridge aside from her. Everyone attending the coronation was staying in town and arriving at the fortress in the morning. Everyone participating in the coronation who was at the fortress was long asleep, including the Guardians of Life. She pulled up her hood, hiding her blonde hair that made her visible in the night.

Just as she started across the bridge, a hand grabbed her wrist. Swirling around, she slammed into someone hard.

She looked up and could barely make out his face in the shadows as she whispered, “Sabien?”

CHAPTER 2

Dagmara

The Ilusaurian stared at her. His chocolate eyes were neither afraid nor accusatory, but rather curious. He cocked his head. “I caught you in the alley with that man, stealing his ring after you poisoned him.”

“That is quite an accusation,” Dagmara snapped.

“I’m waiting to hear you say, ‘It’s not what it looks like.’ ”

But it was, in fact, what it looked like.

She didn’t want to kill someone who wasn’t on the list. She was an assassin, not a murderer. There was a difference, she often told herself. An assassin was a job title, much like an executioner, whereas a murderer was driven by free will. Dagmara had no free will. She was hired by the king and in return she and her brother lived in luxury at the fortress.

The king’s only rule was to have no witnesses. If she broke her agreement, what would happen to her brother?

She would not be caught like her mother had. She had no choice but to kill this handsome foreigner.

At least that’s what she convinced herself as she reached for her dagger.

She withdrew her blade with one swift motion, creating an upward arc, remembering the techniques her mother had taught her.

Sabien was faster than she anticipated. He dodged, before clobbering the side of her face with his fist.

She staggered back, clutching her cheek with one hand. Her mouth was agape. He had punched her.

“Don’t fight me, Dagger,” he said under his breath, “You won’t win.”

Dagmara could feel the dizziness begin to set in. Her heart rate was increasing, but her adrenaline pushed her to stay alert. “You underestimate me.”

She lunged forward to stab him, and he countered out of the way, withdrawing his own dagger. As Dagmara whirled around, she saw the knife coming toward her chest. She barely dodged in time, and the tip of his blade raked across her shoulder. She felt it pierce her skin, slicing across her collarbone.

She would not meet the same fate as her mother, dying as an assassin for the Azuremi King. Dagmara was the only person her brother had left.

But she was never as good as her mother. Not with her condition. That’s why she learned how to adapt.

Yanking a vial from her belt, Dagmara threw it at the ground. As soon as it made contact, the glass shattered and released its contents. It combusted into a blinding light and a pillar of smoke rose. It was enough of a distraction to send her dagger into Sabien’s stomach.

Through the smoke, she could barely make out his expression. His lips parted as if to say something, shock written across his face. She saw the Ilusaurian crest on his vest and knew no one could discover his body in this kingdom. Azurem couldn’t risk going to war with Ilusauri, especially when the Mad King of Ilusauri was so unpredictable.