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I’d expected the woman who emerged from the cage to be the same woman who’d been trapped in it. But when she stepped onto the stone floor, her form was tall and straight and imposing. She threw off the black cloak, revealing a figure that was neither ugly nor old. The white hair had been replaced by long black locks, and her bronze-colored skin now glowed with power. Her face was smooth and powerfully beautiful, with a strong jaw, thick eyebrows, and frowning crimson lips. She wore a floor-length, blood-red dress with gold and jeweled accents and a diamond diadem on her head.
Her appearance, as well as the finery of her clothes, took me aback for a moment. I stared at her, shocked. She stared right back at me. Her violet eyes were the same, though now they were fringed by thick dark e
