Arielle's POV
Spring came to the mountain ridge slowly and then all at once.
One morning the world was the deep gray-white of late winter and by the time the moon rose it was something different. The particular quality of the air changed. The pines smelled different. The frost on the compound stones in the mornings had a quality of hesitation that had not been there before. Like it knew it was losing.
Four months since the Shadow Queen's dissolution. Three months since the mark completed its transformation. Eleven months since the Blood Court.
Nearly a year.
I was standing on the outer wall at dawn when Lucien appeared beside me.
He had a habit of finding me wherever I was without apparent effort. I had decided not to examine this too carefully because what it almost certainly meant
