Long have I dreaded finding the mate Aer has chosen for me underneath the Crystalline Oak. But yesterday at dawn, as I watched the amber moon rock in the tree’s branches, I wished her body would materialize out of the mist. I yearned to act swiftly and destroy her, ridding myself in one gruesome deed of the queen-who-never-will-be. Of course, if I kill her, I’m guaranteeing myself a slow and painful death, which I can face if it thwarts Aer’s plans for revenge upon our line. But then the curse will likely pass to Raff after my demise, and that idea gives me nightmares.
