Her gaze snapped back to the cloaked figure before her. “Who are—?” she began, but got no further. The sharp tip of a dagger sank into her chest. She gasped out in pain as her assailant twisted the knife. A cry died in her throat and she fell to the ground. The taste of failure and of death. Both so very bitter. Without the love of a mother, Lucia’s destiny was now set. “I’m sorry, my daughter,” she whispered with her last breath.
