She's the nicest person I know." Zila chewed on her lower lip. "Well, the second nicest. Avry's the first.

Nothing says you care for me better than offering to torture my enemies." He grinned. "No sense doing things halfhearted. And to think, some girls have to endure listening to poetry.

The heart is a strange beast and not ruled by logic.

After almost two hours of creeping around the forest, one of the jacks discovered Belen. He had fallen asleep, and the young man had literally tripped over him. So much for his reputation.

In fact, he's never taken an interest in a woman before. I was beginning to to suspect he might prefer one of his male sneaks, but now..." She paused dramatically. "Now, we have the lovely, intelligent Yelena to get Valek's cold heart pumping." "You really should get out of your sewing room more. You need fresh air and a dose of reality," I said knowing better than to believe a word Dilana said, but unable to control the silly little grin on my face. Her sweet, melodious laughter followed me into the hallway. "You know I'm right, " she called.

To Yelena, our newest food taster. May you last longer than your predecessor.

Being a scrub was undesirable and hard work, living in crowded conditions with no privacy and just being one of many. Undistinguishable.