Only she could change this impious and cruel king. ~Short excerpt~ I stared into his cold, fixed eyes and tried not to make my voice quiver when I spoke. "Deep down, I know you have a heart. You've been hurt, that's why you hurt other people. And I know you think no one loves you but I do." My helpless voice cracked at the end of the sentence. It was true. Regardless of the short time I had spent with him, I had found myself getting closer to this stony man who rarely displayed any emotion at all. His empty gaze moved away from my face as he stared at the sky. "No one does."