"Last… last lives?" Lorena whispered, her voice a dry, cracked rasp. She stared at the cloaked, shadowed figure of Ashlyn. "What are you talking about? You're... you're insane."
Ashlyn let out a low, soft laugh. It was a sound of private amusement, a sound that made the hairs on Lorena's arms stand on end. Still crouched down, bringing her face level with Lorena's. In the dim, pale moonlight, her eyes seemed to glitter with a cold, unfeeling light.
"Am I?" she whispered, her voice a sweet, poisonous secret. "In my last life, Lorena, I was the one who married the Grand Duke. A life you have no memory of." Her smile widened, but it held no warmth, only a terrifying, alien joy. "And in that life, you were the Dowager's favorite pet. You made my life a living hell. You bullied me, you set the servants against me, you humiliated me every single day, with a smile on your face, until I was thrown out like trash. Now, in this new life, it's my turn. I'm just repaying the favor."
