CHAPTER 1
Tisera
I loved summers in Pearlia.I’d take the blazing sun over the dark chill days of winter in a heartbeat. And when storms did blow in off the Narrow Sea, the warm drenching rains kept lawns and gardens green and lush. Nights were comfortable and dawns came early, helping me to get up and get going, as I had today.
Having finished my morning calisthenics, I soaked in a bath, one of the few luxuries I’d afforded myself after the war. I’d purchased it with the heady payout for my service. The outside bathing area was hidden by a circular stand of juniper trees behind my cottage.
Mycottage.
It still felt strange to think of the small dwelling and the land around it as mine, to think of myself as a landowner. This had all been purchased and built by my grandfather, who’d passed it down to my father, who’d passed it down to me.
The juniper grove had previously surrounded a private sitting area with three benches. I’d had them removed and the large wooden tub placed where they’d been. The gap betweentrees, where one entered the grove, I’d filled in with a stone archway holding a sturdy wooden door, for privacy.
The large tub had been made by the finest bath-makers in Pearlia. Wood had been bent and smoothed to form the sides and a bench within, on which I sat, the warm waters soothing away the aches I’d acquired through my vigorous workout. My head rested on a thick towel laid over the side of the large tub. I’d used harsh soaps and rough brushes to scrub myself raw and now — since I had nothing else of substance to do today — I luxuriated in the tepid waters.
And that’s where Avela found me. I’d heard her calling, but my languid mind had not fully registered it.
“Mistress!” Avela said, hurrying through the doorway. “You must come at once! Master Kelric Drakoson is here and with him?—”
I tuned out the rest.
Kel?
What in all the blazes of the deepest Hells washedoing here?
I hadn’t spoken to him for almost a year now, not since his father had retired and handed command of Drako’s Dragoons over to Kel. I’d been a part of Drako’s mercenary company — and had great respect for the man — but I couldn’t work for his son: that lying, untrustworthy piece of shit. So, I’d left and we’d not spoken since. What was he doing here now?
“Mistress, did you hear me? I said, Master Kelric Drakoson is here and Prince Victor is with him!”
Wait, what?
The crown-prince?
I shot up out of the bath, grabbing my towel to cover myself, as if the two men were standing in the doorway, which they weren’t.
Thank the gods.
My mind reeled.
“Fuck me,” I hissed. “The crown prince? Here?”
“Yes, mistress! Please, they’re asking for you.”
I stepped onto the bench, then over the side of the tub and down the steps built into the outside of the basin to help get in and out. Wrapping the towel around myself, I got as far as the stone-laid path and stopped dead.
“Fuck.” I couldn’t return to the cottage like this. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!”
Avela flinched at my language. The girl — no, she was my age, I had to stop thinking of her that way — was a gentle soul.
“Mistress?”
All I had with me were my soiled work-out clothes and the towel. Usually, I’d have worn just the towel for the short trip back to the cottage to dress. But I couldn’t do that with the fucking prince waiting for me!
“Avela, run and fetch me some clothes from my wardrobe. Tell the prince…”what?That I was in the bath? That didn’t sound good, but it was probably better than lying and would excuse a bit of a delay and fuss on my part. So, yeah… “Tell the prince I was bathing and will need a moment. Master Kel and the prince can wait in the cottage for me.”
Luckily my housemate, Dazar — a man who was like a brother to me — was off in the inner city on an errand. He shouldn’t be back before noon. That would leave the cottage empty and quiet for Kel and the prince.
Avela started to run off, but I stopped her with a word. “Wait.”
