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But that was the exciting future when she would be the Queen of Dena Nehele, and this was the boring, boring,boring now

A sigh made her look up at the only other person in the room

“You really study this all the ti the book of Protocol she’d been staring at for the past hour

Ker to the last And anyone who actually serves in a court studies even ”

“Well, when I set upall these tedious, stiff phrases”

Kermilla sat up, alarmed “Oh, no, Correne Youmust use Protocol, andeveryone in your court needs to know it”

“Why?” Correne asked, pouting “It’s sodull ”

“Because if you kno to use them correctly, so soe before he attacks Males arecontrolled by Protocol”

“What about the things males can demand from females because of Protocol?”

“Oh Well A set aroundthose ” Kero into the town and do so”

Correne looked iven, and my father won’t send more until next month”

“Oh” Her ss without having to pay a single copper for any of it”

Gray studied the two-story house and the neighboring one-story building, and said, “This is perfect” He glanced at Shira, who seemed painfully unhappy as she looked at the place that would be a wonderful residence for a Healer “Let’s take a look around”

She followed him with a noticeable lack of enthusias enough for a couple of horses, and its paddock bordered the pasture for the court’s stables The backyard had plenty of land for a kitchen garden, a Healer’s garden, and the private garden a Black Widoould find useful, and still had enough space for children or dogs to ro to the Queen’s Residence, with only a low stone wall separating the two And this place, unlike the others he had seen with Shira today, was inside what Ranon and Talon called the “Queen’s square”—the perimeter of streets and houses that would be the e was attacked

“Enough of this,” Shira said “Let’s go back to the Residence”

Gray studied her, bewildered by the pain he saw in her dark eyes “Why don’t you like this place?”

“Because it’s perfect,” she snapped “And it’s nothing I can have”