“Theostler boyhad a name!” I snapped. “Will you not say it?”
He paused.“Willem,”he said. “Your Willem will be fine. He will recover, and he and his father will find work somewhere else, and you, Princess Svana Eisson, first of her name, will remember that you are born of iron,” he said. He stood and held out his hand for mine. “You will arise from this fire a tempered blade. Heed your mother’s advice. Put duty before all else, evenlove,and accept your fate. Everything else will fall into place as it must.”
“...I don’t know how,” I confessed. “The days are so much darker now. I’m not sure I see a way out of it all.”
“I will help you,” he said. “I’ll be your guide.”
“I’m scared,” I said.
“The only time a Blade can be brave is when he is scared,” he said. “I will show you courage. I will remind you that you are more your mother than your father when you need to hear it, and I will show you the way.”
“I just…”
“But you musteatfor me in exchange,” he said.
My fortress broke, bringing its fall with a slight sound. “It’s thesmell,”I told him.“The burning meat.”
Friday came, and with it, the unmistakable trouble of focusing on the final quorum before my debut ball. Somehow, tax evasion and lack of bread fell short of the dream I’d had of twirling the night away with my handsome prince.
Instead, I spent time wondering if he would like the dress he paid for and if it would be inappropriate to dance with him more than once, given our engagement. In the typical Oreian courtship, the Prince would declare himself for me– declare his intention to propose. That status would alter the standard for dancing. His intentions would be public and only able to progress if I accepted his advance, but to my understanding, Chalke didn’t subscribe to that sort of thinking. I wondered if he would like me–meas a person, not just as his Princess. I wondered if he was bothered that Ilikedhorses.
The hours until the moment I would know filled me with such horrid unease. Time passed slower than slow. Yet, when Idared to divert my attention from my notes, I caught Sameer in a cheeky grin designed for me. I pursed my lips to bar myself from giggling, lest the men who did not take me seriously might witness my response. King Sameer spoke to a baker, to whom he promised more resources, before sending him on his way. There was a small moment of silence; I thought to break it with something witty, maybe a joke, but before I had managed even a word, a farmer was welcomed into the room. He wrung his hat between his hands.
“Your Majesty, sir,” he said with a bow.
“Yes, please. State your business,” the King replied. The man was hesitant. “Come on, tell us. You may be the last for the day, but there are other things we are to attend to soon.”
“I….” He looked between the King and me. “Your Royal Highness.” He bowed frantically as the King cleared his throat. “I come to you with–” His voice split. “It would be easiest to show you, sir. Ma’am.”
With a nod to the guards, they opened the door and brought in a cart.
Immediately, therotassaulted me. I gagged as the pile ofwhateverit was he’d brought came further into the room. My eyes burned. Sam looked at me, then back at the farmer.
“What is this?” his father asked.
“This, my king, is one of my horses,” he explained. “At least it was.”
“A horse?” I breathed quietly.
The Prince frowned. “What happened to it?” he asked.
“Your Royal Highness,” the man bowed. When he came up, he looked paler. “Raiders. Bandits. They burned the whole team.”
“My God,” Yosif chimed. He leaned into the King’s ear.
The pair glanced back at me, seemingly in response to whatever the Archbishop had said.
“They told us… I’m sorry, Princess,” the farmer said. “They told my wife and I that every horse in Chalke willburnuntil Her Highness has gone. They do not recognize the Treaty. They do not recognize the marriage.”
Sam scoffed. “The nerve.”
I stood from the table and rounded it, much to the King’s dismay.
“Princess,”he said.
“I just want to–” I stopped, already as close as I could manage without collapsing or vomiting. “I amsosorry,” I said. The boneshadlikely been a horse, and I failed to muster the strength to comment further but did bow long enough to offer a moment of respect.
“Awfully odd,” I heard Yosif say.
