“Very well, I’ll accept that,” she said absently.
The prince took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re not very happy, are you?”
“I see I can have no secrets from you, can I?” she snapped, then immediately apologized. “Oh, Your Highness, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just that everyone else seems to be cheerful and I just can’t share in it.”
“Why not? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing—at least, nothing that hasn’t been wrong all along. We saved young Murrah from death today. That’s wonderful, I’m delighted for her—but who is there to save me? Nothing’s changed. I’m still half in the world of the living, half in the grip of death. Rescuing Murrah only makes it more obvious how precarious my own life is.”
“Your father’s trying very hard to fulfill the prophet’s vision,” Prince
