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Chapters (64)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  6. Pronunciation Guide
  7. Prologue
  8. Part One
  9. One
  10. Two
  11. Three
  12. Four
  13. Five
  14. Six
  15. Seven
  16. Eight
  17. Nine
  18. Ten
  19. Eleven
  20. Twelve
  21. Thirteen
  22. Part Two
  23. Fourteen
  24. Fifteen
  25. Sixteen
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Twenty
  30. Twenty-One
  31. Twenty-Two
  32. Twenty-Three
  33. Part Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Part Four
  47. Thirty-Six
  48. Thirty-Seven
  49. Thirty-Eight
  50. Thirty-Nine
  51. Forty
  52. Forty-One
  53. Forty-Two
  54. Forty-Three
  55. Forty-Four
  56. Forty-Five
  57. Forty-Six
  58. Forty-Seven
  59. Epilogue
  60. Excerpt from The Sun and Its Shade
  61. The Night and Its Moon Playlist
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. About the Author
  64. Back Cover

The sooty horse was happy to keep to the road, moving forward of its own volition while she was left to her thoughts. It carried her far from the farmhouse and the forest and its trees, keeping the freshwater lake on her right side all the while. The road led straight into town, right to the first inn on Yelagin’s outskirts, nestled on the edge of the lake. Nox dismounted numbly, leading the horse to the orange glow of the inn where the blessed release of sleep and perhaps several tankards of ale awaited her. If her head weren’t so foggy, she’d press herself to ride out now in the dead of night, with or without the duke’s armed escorts. But no, a few hours of rest would do her a world of good while she sorted through all that had been said.

She was nearing the inn’s stables, swinging her horse wide to avoid the annoying blockade of another patron’s glossy, black carriage, when a sharp voice preened to her from the shadow looming against the carriage’s side.

“Isn’t it the oldest lesson in the book? You tell a strong-willed woman not to do something, and it’s the first thing they do. I do take full blame for that one, my dear.”

Nox skidded to a halt in front of Millicent.

Thirty-Four

“How—”

“Yes, yes, I travel rather fast. This is something you know of me, darling. Don’t be dull.”

Nox gaped at the Madame in her black dress, the color of shadow. She was a mere arm’s length from the light and safety of the inn. Nox gripped the reins of her horse, in a true state of shock for the second time in one night. She’d thought she’d gone numb, but she could still feel the leather of her horse’s reins, still smell the animal’s sweat and the leather of its saddle, still feel the chill down her spine from the Madame’s voice. She was present, and once more, she was not. This was how she’d learned to survive. She’d found a common retreat in the ability to stay present while wandering far, far away. Seeing Millicent had been her final straw as she felt the tether that kept her in her own body snap, whipping in the wind like a rope on the docks amidst a storm. She was taxed, physically and emotionally. Her head and heart whirred with too much force for her to process the woman before her.

“Climb in, please. I haven’t got all night.”

Millicent opened the door to the carriage and beckoned her forward.