“Oh!” exclaimed Lily, getting off the carriage bench and onto the deserted dirt road. She’d been driving the carriage back from the orphanage with Alexei since he’d offered to accompany her to check on the orphans. The wheel was broken, cracked straight through the middle.
“That’s odd,” said Alexei. “I could have sworn the wheels were perfectly fine. I double-checked them before we left the pal-“
He was cut off when multiple men in dark hooded cloaks circled around them. Lily met Alexei’s eye as they realized they’d just fallen into a trap.
* * *
“She left with Alexei early this morning to go see the orphans,” Lady Molly confided to Anya as they stood in the hallway outside Lily's personal quarters. “She hasn’t come back yet, and it’s almost time for her engagement ball!”
An
