The following is an excerpt of Chapter 18. You can read the whole chapter here.
The throne room smelled like the kennels, and Myles could hardly think straight for all the noise. They should have stopped by an inn on the way home and gotten some rest. He hadn’t been able to sleep properly every since they set foot into that wretched forest. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he saw was green. And when he slept, all he dreamed of were cats.
Sometimes he wondered if being allowed to work his magic was worth all this. These days, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
Several courtiers stood back against the walls as far as they could go, their faces wrinkled in disgust. Most of the ladies had their kerchiefs to their noses, but Myles highly doubted that even the most expensive perfumes could cover up the odor of all those dogs.
Baldemar’s brothers had outdone themselves, each bringing home one hundred dogs. Small, yapping dogs, dogs that looked like tiny foxes, while others had long bodies and ears that dragged along the floor. The larger dogs eyed the smaller ones speculatively, which made the small ones even more determined to prove their mettle. Some had short fur, while one had fur so long, Myles wasn’t entirely convinced it was a dog—more like a mound of hair that had been magicked to life. And all of them were jammed into a large room with a domed roof perfect for amplifying their doggish complaints and displeasure.
© 2011 by Danyelle Leafty. All rights reserved.