Cassidy let out a breath. "I've heard about and been taught about holding someone's leash, but I've never felt anything like what I felt when I met Ranon. I thought that a Queen had to outrank the members of her Court?" No one had exactly told her that, but no one had told her differently, either. She was confused about how she would be able to balance anyone and it was obvious. She moved the book off of her lap and pulled her knees up under her chin. "Does it always feel like that -- like the ground just disappeared out from beneath you? Because, I'm really not sure I can handle feeling that eleven more times to form my Court when it's time."

The connection between her and Ranon had scared her at first. True her brother was always there to aid her back home, but that was because he was blood and her brother. Their connection was something different because they were family. Ranon was a stranger and she had almost been knocked off her feet by the recognition between them. Now she was just worried she was going to do something wrong and people would get hurt in the process.