The Princess of Wales paused; her eyes sought out the Netherlands’ Ambassador. Having sighted his supportive smile, she concluded her speech: “The exhibition’s highlight is the two Vermeer paintings I’ll now unveil. The one on your left is a delight, the unexpected companion piece for the more famous Girl with the Pearl Earring. Rediscovered in Delft just over a year ago, this painting not only generated global excitement...

Mindblind blinked his eyes open, squinting against the morning light streaming through the window, and tried to focus on his surroundings. Eventually, Raven congealed out of the haze, standing at the foot of the bed with her hands on her hips. “Well, what do you have to say for yourself?” “Morning to you, too,” he said as he sat up and groaned. He was stark naked, and as the sleep fog burned off, he recognized he was in a...

The wagons creaked and rattled down the road as the sun sank toward the horizon. The women were excited, because familiar bits of scenery appeared the closer they moved toward Lakenshire. Mindblind, however, was on edge. He kept his eyes roving and his ears perked to the wind. From the moment they’d set out from camp, his danger-sense had been screaming at him, though they’d encountered few people and no trouble all day....

Mindblind stood staring at the wall, fist clenched tight around his sword hilt, and his vision red with rage. He tried to master his emotions, as he’d done all his life, but it was having no effect. After everything – even killing the last of the assassins – he was no closer to discovering who was really behind it all. Behind him, Indigo related what he’d learned from the women locked in the back of the establishment. The...

Mindblind ran, fighting the wind, rain, and muddy terrain to stay upright with his burden. Raven had barely breathed when he found her, and there was no guarantee that she still was. Upon reaching the turf house, he turned his back toward the door and threw his weight into it. In a splintering of wood, the makeshift bar fell away. He stumbled into the room amidst alarmed screams from the women within. Kayleen ran up and g...

The journey started pleasantly enough. The ladies of negotiable virtue chatted and laughed, still relating to each other the tales of their latest adventures and clients before leaving town. Indigo whistled as he drove the wagon, and even Raven seemed to be in good spirits as she hiked along, usually sharpening one of her daggers with a whetstone. The sun was shining bright, but a breeze kept the temperature tolerable. Th...

Mindblind winced when one of the boards underfoot made a loud creak as he stepped out onto the porch of the inn. He slipped his sword from its sheath, his eyes and ears alert. The town was silent, save for the taproom of the inn, and even that had quieted when he and Raven had stood up to leave their table. He saw nobody moving about as he walked along the front of the building, heading toward where he had seen the Draxni...

When the conversation about what to do next didn’t really go anywhere, Mindblind watched Yani leave the room, scratched the dark shadow of a beard on his chin, and then turned to Raven. “She’ll be fine,” Raven answered his unasked question while waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. “She’s had her tea. She’ll probably even have enough sense to charge any man that ends up poking her, now that she knows she can make mone...

The firelight from the encampment finally provided enough illumination for Mindblind to figure out what he was doing as he followed Raven, miming her movements. His knees ached from inching along in a crouch below the top of the waist-high grasses, and his hair was full of cockleburs. The animal trail that Raven followed helped to obscure their movements through the grass, and the wind provided the final cover. He had no...

Mindblind came to, feeling rain on his face and grass beneath his back. With a great deal of effort, he managed to open his eyes and sit up. His vision swam, and he could feel the knots beneath his hair when he reflexively rubbed his head. A glance up revealed the reason for his current location. By some twist of fate, when the slaver had knocked him out, he’d fallen through the large double window upstairs. It swung open...