WINTER

Loran didn’t want to release me at first, but when a guard noticed how long we had been speaking and began striding toward us, Loran let my hand slip from his. I seized the moment to slip out of the ballroom.

My first thought was the kitchen but somehow my feet betrayed me, carrying me upstairs instead.

“I’ll clean Luna Crystal’s room,” I said when I came face-to-face with a young guard.

He glanced at me without suspicion and stepped aside to let me pass.

I walked down the ...