It was the morning of my coronation but instead of preparing for the event, I was sitting at the long table in my bedroom with Keir, Tiernan, and four of Keir's most trusted soldiers; including Torquil, the knight who had escorted us to the castle the day before. Cat was seated on the floor beside my chair and her presence was more comforting than I'd ever thought it could be.

A healer had tended the bite on my arm. Her name was Maggidh and she was demurely soft-spoken but had ...