I won't be too late again

The pounding of hooves echoed through the streets.

Leviana was practically forcing the horse to run at full speed. Her white nightgown billowed behind her in the wind, while her long silver hair, still uncombed, had become a tangled mess. Several strands repeatedly whipped across her pale face.

Her bare feet rested in the stirrups, already so cold that she could barely feel them.

She did not care.

Ever since leaving House Avarenne, Leviana had kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, following the last faint sense of direction left behind after Pandora severed the connection to the Ice Mirror of Pursuit.

Pedestrians hurried to both sides of the road when they heard the approaching hooves. Some recognized the crest of House Avarenne on the reins and stared in shock at the young woman racing past in nothing but a nightgown.

Their whispers were left far behind almost immediately.

Leviana heard none of them.