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She was only a young woman of insignificant birth. “I only want to have my own loom. My own shop. I don’t want to live in a fabled place and be broodmare to some man I have yet to meet.”
    Magda gave her a sympathetic pat. “Life is seldom what we want it to be, child. But think of it this way. The mother of the Penmerlin lives in a place of honor at Avalon. Your husband won’t be a peasant or merchant, he will be a noble knight who adores you. You will have a life of unimaginable riches and happiness. You’ll never again know want or hunger.”
    It was too good to be true. Seren looked down at her work-worn hands. There were places on her fingers that were broken open from using the comb on her loom. Her nails were ragged and unkempt, her skin raw and chafed. There had seldom been a night in her life when she hadn’t collapsed on her small pallet on the floor from sheer exhaustion, her hands throbbing and bleeding, her back and shoulders aching.
    Even with her eyes open, she could clearly seeMistress Maude sitting at her table that was laden with succulent food. Seren and the other apprentices ate modest meals. They had never been allowed to partake of guild banquets.
    To eat until they were full…
    “Aye,” Magda said in her ear. “I can see the lust for it in your eyes. Seduce the Kerrigan and you will have all that and more. Think of the softness of the gown you wear now. Imagine an entire wardrobe of them.”
    Seren ran her hand over the delicate fabric that didn’t chafe or scratch. It settled against her skin like the coolness of water. “It is not for a peasant to reach for better. Our lot—”
    “You were born for greater things, child. Accept it.”
    But that was easier said than done. How could she accept something that completely contradicted everything she’d ever been told?
    A knock sounded on the door. Magda jumped away from her as the black portal opened to show her the sight of a misshapen gray creature dressed in a robe that matched its skin tone. It glared at Magda, who quickly scooted away, then shifted its cold gaze back to her.
    “The master bids you to join him in the hall.”
    Seren glanced to Magda, who patted her own neck to remind Seren of the amulet. Taking a deep breath for courage, Seren nodded, then headed for the creature.
    It led her down a dismally black corridor. She gasped as she realized that the torches only lit as they approached them. The instant they walkedpast, the light was extinguished. Amazed by it, Seren stopped to examine one. It was a peculiar sconce. It looked as if a black human hand held the small torch. Her heart hammering, she reached out to touch it.
    The hand moved.
    Seren screamed in startled alarm, jumping away from it. The creature laughed at her, then pushed her closer to the sconce.
    “Go on, bobbin, let it feel you again.”
    She screamed once more, trying to pull back.
    “Drystan!” the powerful voice echoed like thunder in the hallway.
    The creature let her go immediately.
    She turned to see Kerrigan taking long, quick strides toward them.
    He grabbed the creature and backhanded him so hard that the creature rebounded off the wall. “You do not scare her,” he growled.
    He moved to strike it again, but Seren caught his hand to stop the blow. “Please, it was only a jest. No harm was done to me.”
    The anger on his handsome face dissipated. The creature, whose lips were now bloodied, looked up at her with a disbelieving frown.
    Kerrigan glared at the creature as his eyes glowed red. “Out of my sight, worm.”
    It scurried away from them and ran until it vanished around the bend in the corridor.
    Seren was appalled by the Kerrigan’s behavior. “Why did you attack him?”
    Rage filled every part of his body. “You do not understand the rules here.”
    “Nay, not if they include punishing people for small matters. Your reaction was overly harsh and unnecessary for his slight offense.”
    He scoffed at her. “And if you allow him to get