There is no sorrow deeper than a heart that has ceased to hope.
Ismerie felt cold to the bone, yet her heart burned as though dipped in living flame, as though she were being tested on fire every moment.
A moment later, the Chairman's voice rang out from within. "Granted."
At those two words, Ismerie nearly crumpled where she knelt.
Three years before, she and Leontis had carried a child.
When she learned she was with a child, she had wept for joy, going to the cathedral to give thanks for the gift of that life.
In those very days, Leontis had traveled abroad and fallen into a deadly trap set by rivals.
Desperate with fear, Ismerie had turned to the forbidden arts, drawing every blow of fate meant for him and laying it upon herself.
Leontis had returned safely. But her child had b
