She walked through the inner palace without a single maid daring to stop her. When she approached the Ninth Prince's training courtyard, the silence was deafening.
She stepped through the moon gate.
Standing dead center in the courtyard, shivering slightly in the crisp morning air, was the Ninth Prince.
He was not wearing his ridiculous, heavy silk hunting robes. Instead, he was dressed in basic, unadorned linen training clothes, exactly as she had ordered. His face was bruised from where he had face-planted the day before, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like he wanted to be absolutely anywhere else in the universe.
But he was there. And he was on time.
Heena's sharp eyes swept over the surrounding perimeter. The eunuchs and maids were all kneeling, trembling in fear. The Imperial Guards stood at strict attention, not daring to make eye contact with her.
