Alastor’s POV

The river was quiet tonight.

Cold water ran through my hands carrying away the dirt and blood from my gloves. I watched it swirl and vanish into the current before tossing the rag in after it.

The girl had been quick. Too quick for someone raised behind castle walls.

I’d expected a frightened princess, not a fighter. There’d been precision in her strikes… desperation, yes, but control too.

Was my informant wrong?

That kind of control that doesn’t come from lessons in ...