Pascal followed her outside, but she was already climbing down the side of the palace wall. She let herself fall the short distance to the lawn and then ran away, disappearing behind some bushes.
Pascal kept watching, afraid she might come back. His hands were shaking so hard and his stomach hurt more than ever. He was afraid he might get sick.
He didn’t hear the maid open the door behind him. When he finally turned back, she was arranging his dinner on the table beside the bed. She looked at the empty tray and smiled. “I see how hungry you were,” she said. “You’ve got a good appetite.”
Then she set down the fork, unfolding the napkin beside it. Pascal looked back out on the palace lawn. The girl was gone. He twisted his hands together, waiting to see her turn at the edge of the gardens. But she didn’t reappear.
Still, he couldn’t calm himself. He could feel his heart racing in his chest.
It was only a matter of time before she returned.…
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Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
© 2014 CBS Studios Inc. REIGN and related logos are marks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Artwork copyright © 2014 CBS Studios Inc.
Cover design by Kayleigh McCann
Cover © 2014 CBS Studios Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Hachette Book Group
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Poppy is an imprint of Little, Brown and Company.
The Poppy name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
First ebook edition: September 2014
ISBN 978-0-316-33457-0
E3