KATHERINE

That was exactly what it was—an attempted murder. I spotted a handsome man arguing heatedly with a woman among the tall hedges.

If I hadn’t been on an upper floor, I never would have noticed them. She was crying, wiping her face with a handkerchief.

Her simple clothing told me she wasn’t one of the wealthy noblewomen at the party. Suddenly, she clutched her belly and screamed something that utterly terrified him.

They struggled, the girl fighting desperately to get inside the palace.

I shouldn’t have been snooping, but something about the man’s aggression told me things wouldn’t end well—and they didn’t.

In the blink of an eye, I saw him reach inside his jacket, grab the woman by the arm, and yank her against his chest, whispering something venomous.

Her expression changed in an instant. My supernatural hearing caught a muffled, dull sound, even from a distance.

When the man released her, shoving her away, she looked down at her stomach in disbelief, her trembling hands pres