Chapter 23
THE NEXT MORNING dawned silent and misty, and for a while Nellie despaired that they might not be able to carry out the plan, because surely the Regent would postpone the punishment if people couldn’t see what was happening. The whole point of punishment was that everyone in the city watched it and knew the Regent was serious about it.
The women waited anxiously, peeping through a crack between the barn doors to check for any activity on the quay.
Prince Bruno wandered around the barn. He was still insecure on his legs, the skin on his ankles raw from the chafing metal. But he was eating well and carried the dragon box with him everywhere, even if he jumped every time someone opened the main door, and he wouldn’t let anyone touch him, not even to comb his hair, which looked l
