Page 22 (1/2)

CHAPTER ONE

SHEIKH FERRAN BASHAR, ruler of Khadra, would not survive the night He didn’t know it yet, but it was true

Killing ato be easy But that hy she’d trained, why she’d practiced the ain So that they became muscle memory So that when the tiret

She waited by the door of the sheikh’s bedchamber, a cloth soaked in chloroform in one hand, a knife stowed securely in her robe There could be no noise And she would have to surprise him

How could she have regret? When she knehat his legacy had brought onto hers Tradition as old as their kingdoms demanded this Demanded that his line end with him

As hers had ended with her father With one lone, surviving daughter who could never carry the nadom that had lost its crown and suffered years of turmoil as a result

But noas no tiotten herself hired on at the palace a o for this very purpose And Ferran had been no wiser Of course he hadn’t Why would he ever look at her? Why would he ever recognize her?

But she recognized him And now, she’d observed him Learned him

Sheikh Ferran was a large th She’d watched hi over and over again She kne he moved She knew his endurance level

She would be

He would not knoas co for his life He wouldn’t wait in a cell for his life to end, as her father had It would simply end

Yes, unlike him, she would show mercy in that way at least

And she knew that tonight, she would win

Or she would be the one who didn’t live to seeto take It was one she had to take

She waited, her h alert She heard footsteps, heavy and even It was Ferran, she was almost positive As sure as she could be with footsteps alone

She took a deep breath and waited for the door to open It did, a sliver of light sliding across the high-gloss marble floor She could see his reflection in it Broad, tall Alone

Perfect