I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when Lilibeth, shortly after the loss of her mother, announced Mahalia not only as her heir but her second, just as her own mother had done to her, at the tender age of fourteen. But Mahalia was nothing like Lilibeth and eagerly seized the power her mother gave her.

Though my heart still ached for my darlings, Thad and Burdie held close to me every moment of every day, I knew the time for hiding in grief was over. A deep and disturbing ...