Kaira resisted a shiver. Where did she hear that name before? Then her mind recalled crouching in the small alcove at the castle and the conversation of the two soldiers. She remembered the fear in the soldiers’ voices. Whoever the Shamace were, they didn’t sound like something you wanted to meet. She looked through the branches hanging over them as a sinister feeling filled the air. She wondered if the Shamace were connected to those strange shapes she saw from the Moribundian tower.

Looking to her left, she saw a tense expression on Lance’s face. The prince’s expression mirrored the knight’s. Centriar and Capulet were unusually still, as if they too, were wary and tense. “Birjanji, have you ever seen the Shamace?”

“No. I have only heard rumors that have dr...

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