He felt Holland slip away, but did not turn his attention from the throne, or the woman sitting on it. Astrid Dane would have blended right in, if it weren’t for her veins. They stood out like dark threads on her hands and at her temples; the rest of her was a study in white. So many tried to hide the fact they were fading, covering their skin or painting it up to look healthier. The queen of White London did not. Her long colorless hair was woven back into a braid, and her porcelain skin bled straight into the edges of her tunic.
