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For the first time since I’d discovered Mirror Magic,hints of peace enveloped me and I lifted my face to the sun, secure in the hope that everything would be okay.

“Princess Esmira?”

My name spoken aloud brought me to a standstill. A knot of dread tightened in my chest as I turned. Had Methrin found me?

Instead of the Wicked Prince there was a man on horseback, holding the reins in one hand as he leaned forward, eyes narrowed. I didn’t recognize him but it was clear he’d recognized me. Instead of stopping and confirming his suspension, I should have kept walking and ignored him. Frustrated at myself for my stupidity, I weighed my options. It was impossible to outrun a horse and since I wasn’t a strong swimmer, jumping into the river would only give me a short reprieve.

The man dismounted, hands raised as though I were a wild horse he might frighten away. “We’ve been looking for you,” he called.

We?I blinked. He wore the familiar red and black with a sword strapped to his side.

Venator.

My vision went red. I dropped the bag and ran.

“Wait!”

Footsteps pounded behind me.

Blood roared in my ears, drowning out the rest of his words. I’d be caught, returned to the palace. Executed. One hundred knives sinking into my flesh.

My foot caught on the sharp edges of a rock, sending me to my knees. A scream ripped from my throat as hands grabbed my shoulders. I flailed and then came a blow to my head.

Everything went hazy for a moment, then came a pounding.

“Why did you strike her? She’s the Princess?” my pursuer asked.

“Because she’s one of them,” came a gravelly response.

No. Not him.

My stomach roiled but I managed to push myself upright. Two Venators stood over me. One was the man who’d chased me. The other was the Captain of the Venators, a look of delight on his cruel face.

I leaned over and heaved.

He squatted beside me, capturing my chin between his finger and thumb, forcing me to look at him. “I told you we’d continue our conversation.”

I wished I were brave and could spit in his face. I wished my body would stop trembling, and most of all I wished my glowing hands would stop betraying me.

“How did you find me?” I rasped. Something trickled down the side of my head and when I wiped at it my hand came away bloody.

“Call it a lucky accident, call it fate. Magic always leaves a trace and I always find my prey.” He squeezed my chin harder before letting go and pivoted to the other man. “Good work, go join the others, we need to test her blood.”

Panic rippled over me as the other man nodded and walked away, leaving me alone with the Captain. A dark glimmer shone in his eyes as he delighted in my fear. “What have you done?”

I pressed my lips together, words failing as heleaned over me, fingers going to my throat. I cried out as he ripped the cloak away from me, sneering as he took in my dress, the same one I’d been wearing the last time he saw me. The look in his eyes made my skin crawl and I tried to yank away but he grabbed my arm. Sliding a blade out of his belt, he held it against my skin.

“Please don’t,” I begged, straining to rip myself out of his iron grip.

He licked his lips. “How I shall enjoy bleeding you and dragging you back to your father. A traitor. Just like your mother. I warned him but he wouldn’t listen, and now you’ve showed your true alliance to the darkness. To the Wicked Prince.”

“My mother wasn’t a traitor,” I protested. “And I’m not allied to the Wicked Prince.”

“So you say, but your hands glow, and when I bleed you, your blood will run silver. I could cut you from nose to navel just to prove you carry Mirror Magic.”

A hiss of pain left my lips as the knife cut through a thin layer of skin. Blood pooled out but he was quick, catching it in a vial.

Horse hooves pounded, and in moments we were surrounded.