Some time toward early evening, a knock sounded at the door. Kella glanced at Taroy. He gave her a reassuring look. She waited as he opened the door and then stepped out into the hall. He came back in not long after with a dark look on his face.

“A message from Lord Perrin,” he said. “You are to join him for dinner tonight.”

Kella felt the familiar drop in her chest that came with knowing she would have to deal with Perrin. She blew out a breath and tossed aside the book she was reading. It clattered against the top of her desk, caught the edge and toppled to the floor in a heap of pages. Kella gasped, feeling guilty for treating the delicate pages that way, and fetched the book from the floor as quickly as she could.

Then she got up and went to her bed....

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