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But of course he will not make it that easy

"Then ould your er to the back

"Don’t bring her into this," I say

"Yes, little prince, ould Mother have said?" Rowan says with a sadistic gleam in his eyes

Weprince No ht off Rowan’s sickening ser The Lesser boy stands a little apart fro his ar to push it back into its socket

The boy looks away froister the thin scar across his cheek I do know him: Garrick

The boy is not just any Lesser He is er half brother The bastard Lesser son of one of the many concubines our father had taken up with before my mother was even on her deathbed Garrick used to folloan andto h he was no better than a servant He was the Lesser as there when my mother died He was the one itnessed what I did to earn the disdain of the Court…

I haven’t seen hio

Rowan groans and the crowd shifts closer, cutting Garrick off fro to see what I’ll do next The ball of lightning surges, blinding everyone else out of my vision All I can see are the slits of Rowan’s fiery eyes as he glares up at me

Was Rowan really ready to die to prove some point?

No His point is that I’d let him live…

He wants to prove that I’et the Court to override the Oracle’s decree

I flexmorphs into a bladelike shape in my hand that I can slam into his heart like an electrified stake "I will kill you," I tell hies in Rowan’s eyes as I hitchblade into his heart A sickly, sweet scent, like rotting poranates, wafts up from his body

It’s the shtning spike explodes against the stone floor, leaving a blackened crater next to Rowan’s head, and nearly takes off his ear Chinks of o of Rowan and cli in throbs, but I refuse to look at it Rowan clutches his chest while his friends help hi, he pushes their hands away Like he hadn’t needed them in the first place