Chapter Seven Summary

When the students all return to school after the Midwinter Festival, the notes and harassment from the Blues begins again. It is impossible for Talia to hide her distress from her new friend, Jadus, and so she tells him everything that has happened.

Jadus keeps his promise not to tell anyone of her discomfort and instructs her to never be alone. What he and the other elders do not know is that this is not just an attempt to cause problems for a new arrival, but an extension of the plot to rid the Queen of counsel, just as the Queen's enemies had done when they poisoned Talamir.

One cold winter day Talia lets down her guard and chooses to take a route from the stables that provides her protection from the wind, and is alone. The Blues are waiting in...