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“Oh no,” a quiet voice squealed, and my attention snapped back to my presence in the library. I walked towards Rose, book in hand, and her face was paler than normal. I finally noticed the cause of her alarm.

“I thought I saw her head over this way,” said an elderly sounding woman. I heard the clanking of armored footsteps start to head in our direction.

“Shit,” I cursed. There was no question now about whether I had been recognized. “They found us.”

The book made a loud thud as I shut it quickly and shoved it into Rose’s arms. I needed to see what else the book had within its pages, needed to see if there was any clue as to who drew the large wolf and why I was seeing it in my dreams.

“If they find me, they won’t let me keep this. Please take it and hide it, Rose,” I pleaded.

Rose gulped and hid the book under her cloak. “I’ll do my best,” she promised. I trusted her with this just as I trusted her with my life.

I pulled the secret door shut in hopes that the librarians wouldn’t notice the book missing. Then I grabbed Rose’s arm and started half-walking, half-running towards the east side of the library.I prayed to the gods that the main entrance wasn’t also the only exit. I let go of Rose, trusting she would follow my every move and stay close.

“This way!” a loud male voice boomed, as more heavy footsteps sped in our direction.

My pace quickened until I finally started to see daylight. Whether it was a window or a door, I could not tell yet. I said a small prayer again, hoping it was a door. As I got closer to the light, relief hit me hard. It was a large door with a circular window just above it.Thank the gods, I thought. I pushed the door with a bit more strength than I needed to, as I nearly knocked over a townswoman who must have been standing or walking on the other side.

“There!” I heard a man shout.

“I’m so sorry!” I said to the woman as I reached for her arm to help her up. She stared at me with wide eyes as if she’d seen a ghost, before hesitantly accepting my hand. I pulled her up to her feet, then immediately let go and turned to run. “Sorry again!” I shouted back to her. The look on her face didn’t change.

I’m sure I had lost myself some valuable time for that and assumed they were right on my heel. I continued running, not exactly sure of where I was. I wasn’t allowed in the library, clearly, so I wasn’t sure where this exit would lead.

It seemed to lead to a busy street with bustling vendors and shoppers alike. I saw this as my opportunity to use the large crowd as coverage to escape. With Rose presumably trailing behind, I pushed my way through the mass of townspeople and wove in and out of their paths. I kept the hood of my cloak up, but luckily those around us seemed to be too busy to notice me anyway.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I finally reached a vacant side street. As I entered the street, out of breath and full of excitement, I let out a loud laugh. “Phew!” I exclaimed to Rose as I began to catch my breath. “That was close!”

“Indeed,” came a reply. But it wasn’t Rose. I shifted towards the voice and did not find Rose standing behind me, or anywhere to be seen for that matter. Instead, one of the King’s guards towered over me, and he looked very, very angry. He grabbed my arm before I could get away. “You’re coming with me,” he growled.

I decided not to go kicking and screaming. It would only do more harm than good. The guard – Horus was his name – led me into Rimor Castle along with the rest of his crew. Seven guards in total.Seven. Such an absurd number of men to keep tabs on me. The entire way to the castle, I did not see Rose. I hoped that meant she safely got away with the mysterious book.

As we entered the king’s throne room, Horus gently let go of my arm.Oh, now he wants to be gentle just because we’re around the King, I thought. I rubbed my arm where he had been grabbing me tightly with his heavily scarred hand. The deep scars matched the one he had over his left eye. I didn’t know exactly what caused those scars, but I knew the other guy probably looked worse, if he was even still alive. Horus was a force to be reckoned with.

I gave him a nasty look. He ignored it.

When I looked up, the King sat on his throne with a fierce look in his eyes. I quickly glanced away, his vehement stare making me uncomfortable. He was not a ruthless king by any means, but he was most certainly intimidating. He was Callum, King of Rimor. The Stone King. My father.

“Aurelia.” He used my full name in his brooding tone. I still refused to make eye contact, and I did not respond. “Leave us,” I heard him say to his guards. Or rather,myguards. I watched as the armoredmen made their way down the large exiting hall, Horus in the lead as always.

I waited in silence for my father to speak again, but he didn’t. A full minute went by, maybe two, and I could feel his intense stare deep in my bones although I didn’t dare look at him. Instead, I scanned the wall of the throne room as if the small cracks in the stone held my attention. It wasn’t until he cleared his throat that I finally turned in his direction.

“Sevenguards, Father?” I spat. “That’s a record.”

“Next time it will be eight,” he replied. His tone was still angry, but less aggressive than it was minutes ago. “If there is a next time.”

My eyes widened. “You mean to keep me trapped in this castle indefinitely?”

“If you keep evading your guards when I let you into the city, yes,” he replied harshly. “They are there for your safety, and I will not have you running off on your own without their security. I don’t know how many times I’ve told you this.”

“I rarely get to go into the city as it is,” I hissed. “I just want to explore my kingdom. See my people. Not be surrounded by so many guards that I can barely even see one foot in front of me.”

My father’s eyes narrowed, and I met his glare with my own. My annoyance was growing larger, and my patience thinner. It was just over ten years ago that my mother, Queen Adelaide, was murdered. Ever since then, my father’s protectiveness had become overbearing.

I didn’t remember much about the event. In fact, even memories of my mother before her death remain hazy. There was so much about her I could recall – the way she looked, the way she smelled, the sound of her voice. But whenever I tried to focus on a single moment I had with her, it was like trying to stare through a fog. I could never figure out why, and my father refused to talk about her with me. I was nine when she was taken from us. That is old enoughto have a solid foundation of memories of her, and yet each memory felt like a puzzle with missing pieces. It could have driven a person mad.

What I did remember is how much I loved her. She was loved and cherished by her kingdom, and anyone who had the fortune of meeting her. She had long, honey-gold hair much like my own. Her eyes were an icy blue. Her beauty was unmatched, although many called me her spitting image. I disagreed. No one was nearly as beautiful as my mother.

The day they found her body in the woods between Rimor and Chatus, my father’s life turned upside down. It took another three days for them to find me. It was not the search party but my father himself who found me, unconscious and hidden under intense brush. I was starving, dehydrated, and barely alive. It was a miracle my body didn’t surrender to the elements or that a predator didn’t find me and use me as its next meal.