*Chapter 2: The Carriage and the King's Shadow*
The carriage door clicked shut behind Luna, and the sound was louder than any thunder she had ever heard.
She sat on the cold leather seat and pressed her hands together to stop them from shaking. Through the small window, she could see the courtyard of the royal pavilion. Draven and Riven Hathor still stood there, two men made of shadow and storm. Neither had moved. Neither had lowered their gaze.
Luna swallowed hard. Her ribcage felt too small for the way her heart was pounding.
_What is he going to do to him?_ The question circled her mind like a vulture. She had seen Draven smile only twice since he dragged her out of the pack lands three days ago. Both times, someone bled. The memory of the scaffold, of the other man's head rolling across stone, made her stomach twist.
"Stay still," she whispered to herself, as if her own voice could hold her together. "Don't think about it. Don't listen."
