Prologue
Queen Celene, Planet Alera, Optimus Unit Prison, Cell Level C
I heard them before the door to my cell swung open. Heavy boots. Two males and one female. All three wore clerics’ uniforms, the emblem on their chests that of the clerical order itself, rather than from one of the noble families.
Orphans then. Which explained why they would be so fervently loyal to this mysterious master I’d heard so much about over the last few days. The master who was responsible for my first husband’s death, for the attempt on my life, for the hunters who had searched for me for twenty-seven long years and stolen me from my home on Earth to bring me… here.
On one hand, I was glad they were finally talking about him. On the other? I knew that any information I gained now was most likely because t
