THE RETURN TRIPThe wind was biting at my face, but I didn't care. We were hours away from the palace walls. The trees here were thick and green, the kind of wild forest I had only dreamed about while sitting in my gold-trimmed room. My heart should have been singing. I was free.

"We need to move faster, Esmeralda," Kaelen said, looking back over his shoulder. He was the Commander who had risked everything to get me out. "The scouts will find the tracks soon. We need to reach the river before ...