Chapter 1
Ihad stolen them. In the middle of the night—when not even the palace guards noticed. I crept to the Western Tower and took what was kept from me—a gemstone necklace and a little leather book. They were all that I could stash in my satchel.
I hadn’t planned to steal them, but in my dreams a melody laced in sorrow called me there. The song felt real. For a moment I thought I heard it even after I awoke from restless sleep, but that would be impossible.
Songs don’t play without instruments.
They don’t call people to forbidden spaces.
Real or not, it was my only chance to slip in unseen. Someday I’d go back for the rest. Piece by piece I would take all the things my father kept from me.
My fingers still clutched the silk pouch when dawn broke. My mother’s black gemstone necklace lay safely inside.
I brought it to her garden. A memorial hidden in plain sight. At least it was for me. I would never forget my mother, Queen Selene of Bailoc.
The point of the stone protruded, causing the fabric to bulge. I tucked my fingers inside and traced the curved edge, still concealed from the eyes that always assessed me.
“Time is no longer on our side. If it is uncovered—” Lord Joran’s voice carried into the garden from an open window in my father’s study.
“It won’t be,” My father’s voice was a low rumble as he spoke with his advisor.
“So, you’ve arranged it?” my brother, Agan, asked. I caught sight of his golden braid as he passed in front of the window.
I quickly stepped closer to the palace wall. If they saw me the conversation would end instantly. Milana, my lady’s maid’s, gaze hardened on me. An unspoken warning, before she returned to her book.
“The King has yet to give his approval.” Joran’s usual confidence wavered as he spoke. “Lord Thalen is the best option. He has the resources and has inquired about Princess Aelira directly.”
I didn’t want to hear the rest, but I couldn’t bring myself to step away.
“The Lord of the Vale?” Agan asked. “Do you really think he’s our best choice?”
“We don’t have time to find another. The supplies he can offer Bailoc will be enough to keep the threat at bay,” Lord Joran began.
“The blight will not cease, father” Agan said. “The people are only growing more desperate. It is only a matter of time before they?—"
“Enough. You do not need to lecture me,” My father’s voice suddenly boomed. A stark bang echoed throughout the study. “The Vale is secluded?”
“Entirely,” Lord Joran replied. “He is equipped to handle her.”
They couldn’t have known I went to the tower. That I stole her things.
I always hid the parts of me that didn’t please others until I was breaking from the inside out. Every word carefully said, even when I was barely holding it together.
It didn’t matter what I did. My father, King Ardyn, was always disappointed. Now he assumed I needed to be handled—to be controlled.
“Why would he want to marry her?” Agan asked as if he couldn’t believe anyone ever would.
“It would ensure he’s in Bailoc’s good graces when the war begins again,” Lord Joran said. “King Ardyn, even if you do not wish to ally yourself with him, you must consider what is at stake.”
No one had mentioned a war starting. I tried to read between the lines, to uncover the truth none of them wished to say. Whatever they were hiding—it couldn’t have just been the blight. The lack of resources had been a problem for years. Yet we still thrived. Maybe it had grown worse. If it had, they never spoke of it to me.
“It doesn’t matter what his intentions are. We will move forward with the plan,” my father said.
The chill of the castle wall traveled through my palms. Each breath I drew became shorter than the last.
“He will arrive in a few days to discuss the pact,” Lord Joran said.
“Ensure it happens. Whatever you need to do—do it,” my father replied.
