Finn slipped through the corridor of the castle, Sienna close behind. He was surprised she'd chosen to come along, but he was glad of her help. They followed the servants at a distance through the twisting and turning corridors.
A scream came from up ahead, a primal sound of pain recognizable in any culture as a woman giving birth. Then the scream of a newborn, forced into a world they didn't choose. Finn could smell metallic blood soaked into straw, like an animal's den. He put his hand on the wall to steady himself as thoughts of his sister came to him.
The Shadow Cartographers had come to the citadel, taking those on the edge of womanhood. Isabel had only been fifteen, but already beautiful. She had an edge of magic, a mild gift she used to grow plants in the barren ground of the brok
