*Xander*

By the grace of the Goddess, the first person we ran into was Oliver. It had been random–Abigail, Adrian, Sasha, and I were walking through the market square on our way to the palace with little more than the clothes on our backs.

Oliver looked shocked, his face draining of color as he stalked toward us, glancing over each shoulder to make sure no one he knew, I assumed his family, was around to see the group of us together.

If I ...