Chapter One
The black-barked pinein the early morning almost reminded Vi of the Twilight Forest. Morning’s first light glittered through specks of snow overflowing from too-heavy boughs down to shimmering snowdrifts. Vi paused to admire the beams of light, the snowdrifts, the crisp air, and the homey aroma of the fire that plumed smoke out of the chimney of the cabin behind her.
Each morning, she woke and was greeted by the quiet serenity of nature. For fourteen years, she had indulged in the bounty of this remote corner of the Solaris Empire. But it was all about to come to an end.
“I think that’s it.” Vi deposited the last of Deneya’s work into the back of the cart attached to Prism—the massive warstrider previously owned by Princess Fiera.
“Did you get the quiver?” Deneya asked from where she was checking the saddle.
“I did, and the knife set.” Vi scanned the items in the cart. It was a scant amount, but all of impressive make. At least, she was impressed. Vi had never suspected her elfin companion capable of such craftsmanship, but time and necessity had been the best teachers. While Vi worked on her magic, Deneya had kept her hands busy with leather and steel work.
Deneya rounded back, yanking on the woolen hat that Vi had knit for her two winters ago to hide her pointed ears, and assessed the load. “I think I’ll fetch some decent coin for that set.”
“I hope so. I’m tired of roots, pickled vegetables, and trying to cook frozen meat.” Mosant was the nearest town, and they held their market once a month. Whenever Deneya went to market, she always came back with items that, a lifetime ago, Vi would’ve considered trivial. But now they were luxuries beyond compare.
“At least frozen meat doesn’t go bad,” Deneya said. In the summers, they had to either slowly smoke and dry their meat, or store it deep in the perpetually frozen caves of the mountains. “In a few months, when you’re lamenting over meat gone foul because of the heat, I’ll bet you’ll be begging for next winter to arrive.”
“Probably.” Then again, Vi didn’t expect to see next winter in this cabin.
Fourteen years they had lived in the woods at the far foot of the mountain that housed the Crystal Caverns. Fourteen years, and Vi still looked the same as she had when she’d first woken in this world. Save for the length of her hair. It was now down to her waist, usually woven into a simple, thick braid.
On the inside, however, Vi felt a world away from the young woman she’d been.
She’d learned to survive on her own, and how to go with and without. She’d learned how cold a night without shelter could be, what hunger really meant, what necessity could teach a person. She learned all the things a princess would’ve never been taught—all the things a princess would never have needed to know.
“I’ll see what I can find for us,” Deneya said, jolting Vi from her thoughts. “I have a trinket for the tavern owner. Maybe she’ll spoil us with some roast hare again.”
“We can only hope.”
“You going up today?” Deneya’s attention turned to the narrow path near their cabin that cut through the mountains.
“Of course.” Vi touched the watch that never left her neck. It was tarnished and scratched, no longer the mirror surface Taavin had given her.
“Go on, then, while it’s light and you can see the ice on the paths,” Deneya encouraged.
“You should go, too. I don’t want you traveling at night when the wolves are out.” Deneya chuckled and Vi cracked a grin. They both knew the remark was more jest than worry.
“I am the wolf.” Deneya’s smile split into a wicked smirk. “More fresh meat.”
“And more pelts.” Vi stepped away as Deneya mounted Prism. “Safe travels.”
“You as well. And good luck in there today!”
Before Vi could reply, Deneya clicked her tongue and Prism started his trudge through the snowy forest. The creaking of the cart covered any response she could’ve given. Not that Vi had any words worth saying.
Good luck in there. She needed more than luck. She needed results.
Their cabin was simple but well made. Deneya’s brawn and knack for construction was a compliment to Vi’s knowledge of architecture. It’d taken about a year to complete. But since then, they’d added onto it every summer. First it was the stables for their two large warstriders—Prism and Midsummer—and now their yearlings as well. The next year, before the summer rains, they’d replaced the initial thatching with wooden shingles of bark they’d sheared from trees. Another summer they’d laid wooden flooring inside. A different winter they cobbled the loveliest stones they could find over the hearth to make a mantle.
Inside there were two beds, a table, and two chairs. Vi walked over to the corner by her bed and lifted the sword that had been left behind in the Caverns years ago by the Knights of Jadar. She still wondered, from time to time, what the Knights said about that night. Did they recall it clearly? Or was the truth written and re-written through oral embellishments throughout time?
From their cabin, it took her about an hour and a half to walk up to the Crystal Caverns. She could do it in less time. But there wasn’t a rush to anything these days. Time had continued its steady march as Vi worked in the shadows, determined to make the impossible happen.
Vi emerged from between cliffs and stepped into the light of the snowfield that coated the base of the mountain where the path up to the Crystal Caverns began. Tracks in the pristine white blanket weren’t uncommon. There were a number of animals that continued to wander the mountainsides, even in the heart of winter. But these tracks were different, and fresh.
Someone was here.
Staying close to the rocky mountainside where there was less snow to show her footprints, Vi made her way to the tracks that led up toward the Crystal Caverns. She crouched beside the largest boulder she could find, wedging herself in a cranny.
