Chapter Two
Highcastle
“Oh, this won’t do at all,” my mother said when Finnrey and I trudged through the courtyard gates still several hours before dawn.“You look a fright.”
“Good to see you too, Mother,” I said.I was dusty, tired, and hungry.My excitement had waned with each passing hour, and now all I wanted was a bath and my bed.I did not need to be judged and picked over.
“You cannot go to an audience with your father looking like this.”
“Orders are to escort the princesses directly to the king,” Ecdra said, taking my elbow and shuffling me forward.
My mother hurried to walk beside me.“Surely the king won’t mind if we take one minute to brush her hair.”
I touched my long dark plait.I hadn’t thought about it since I’d pinned it to the nape of my neck this morning.In the outerlands, all that mattered was safety.A Hollow could grab onto unsecured hair, so we kept it out of the way.Loose or flowing clothing, like the gown my mother wore now, could also be a liability.Finnrey and I were dressed in earth-toned tunics and tight leggings with belts at our waists to hold our weapons.Even the packs we wore on our backs had quick release clasps so we might drop them away from our bodies in case of attack.
There had been no sign of Hollows on our trek back.When we’d spotted the walls of the castle in the distance, I’d been relieved to see that everything looked as it should.From the punishing pace Ecdra had set, I’d been afraid something was horribly wrong.But now that I was inside the walls and all was quiet, the court asleep, I wondered exactly what the hurry had been.
If pressed, I might admit I was disappointed nothing overtly exciting was happening.
“I have my orders, my lady,” Ecdra told my mother, who tried to fuss with my hair anyway.
“Just leave it, Mother,” I said, trying not to tangle my feet with hers as I kept up with Ecdra.“Papa knows I’ve been out on patrol.”
“Oh, fine,” she said, blowing out a breath.
Ecdra continued to drag me across the large courtyard.As we passed the fountain, Finnrey looked at my mother.“Lady Aine, do you know why we’ve been summoned?”
Leave it to Finnrey to ask the one question we all wondered.Ecdra and the guards had refused to answer our questions on the trek back.But my mother had never been tight-lipped.
Mother shook her head, dashing my hopes.Her long dark hair, tied up in two high tails on either side of her head, swished about her face.“No, but all the princesses have been summoned.Broga was on patrol in the north, and she arrived back just an hour or so ago.Cameed, Riah, and Morga are already in the throne room.”
“That’s not all the princesses,” I said.There were several more, some older and others younger.My mother’s eyes, a tawny color like mine, widened.
“You’re right.Those are only the—”
“Unmarried princesses of age,” Finnrey interrupted her.She glanced at me.“Curious.”
