Page 4

He wasn’t buying it.

“Come on, I shouldn’t be left in the dark. You know I’m often out at night walking home from The Thirsty Tankard. It’s better if I’m aware.” Oh, that was a good one.

He sighed heavily through his nostrils, debate racing across his dark eyes. This wouldn’t be the first time he’d given me information related to these disappearances.

“The prince is set to make an announcement.”

I crossed my arms and pursed my judging lips, trying my best to not let the grating mention ruin my chance at getting this information. “You’re changing the subject.”

He laughed, the deep, husky sound rattling his lungs. “She lives at 168 Unison Way, but I bring up the prince because he’s making the rounds. Which means his guard will be increased. Almost all the soldiers from the pier meandered through here earlier, heading up to the castle in preparation.”

My fists clenched together. “That bastard. He knows we need more protection down here. Hell, just last night another person went missing, and he calls the guards away today?!” My blood boiled beneath my skin with the same menacing sizzle as the sword in the barrel.

The prince knew of our plight. He’d seen our conditions and still never lifted a gold-ring-covered finger. The thought of him alone was enough to ruin any good mood I’d had, not to mention another traitorous act of betrayal against his most vulnerable people.

“All I’m saying is, wait until he leaves. He’ll probably be here tomorrow or the day after. I don’t have the coin to spring you from jail for trespassing on private property.” He stood to his fullest height. The man had to be close to six-foot-five, towering over me like a behemoth.

I needed to be getting home before Eucinda would think my absence unreasonably long. “And you’ll never have to, if I can disarm the guards who try to catch me.” Tossing a wink at him, I made to leave. “Tonight then?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder.

“Tonight,” he confirmed, nodding in agreement as he tried biting back his bemused grin.

That helped shine a light on the previously cast shadow from the mere mention of the prince. A little sparring, then my shift at the tavern, and then a little light recon. What better time than after the prince called away the guardsmen?

If no one else was coming to save my people, then I would.

2

Nicholas

Sweat trickled down my bare chest as I panted in the ring. My skin glistened, as well as the faint dusting of light brown hair spanning my chest and wandered down my muscled stomach. Across from me stood Sebastian Druller, dedicated military commander since my father held the crown.

A feral glint decorated his eyes. His rust-colored beard caught the droplets trailing the side of his face, falling from his mess of auburn locks. There was a reason he’d held his position for so long—his reputation for being fearless. Plus, the man stacked layers of muscle on top of his frame like a brick house.

Our fight record had us evenly matched for wins and losses, but I’d won the last, which had his determination to take me down choking the air from the room. He tightened his grip on the hilt, three times in succession—which meant he was about to strike.

I sagged my shoulders, relaxing the weapon at my side. A misdirect to make him think I wasn’t prepared for his attack. Goading, maybe. “I’m surprised they’d gone undetected for so long,” I continued our conversation sparked by the events that’d just occurred, resulting in losing The Coveted—again.

He lunged, as predicted. In one fluid motion, I stepped to the side and spun while raising my blade. He brought up his steel just in time to intercept what would have been a head-removing slice if this had been a proper battle. At least, I could only assume since I’d never been in a true conflict.

“And that they’d survived the litany of creatures that slink around their forest,” he replied.

Ever since finding out days ago that Argora Vale, otherwise known as The Cursed Kingdom, was inhabited, I’d heard my late father’s whispers in my head. “A true king knows all the dealings of his kingdom, his allies, and his foes. To be unaware is to be unworthy of the crown.”

I’d bet a satchel of silver that he’d be rolling in his grave to know his twenty-four-year-old son still donned the title Prince of Highcrest years after he and mother succumbed to a nasty flu. His own doing, really, since he’d put a stipulation in the kingdom’s charter that I marry first before taking on the title of king.

Metal sang as we disconnected and put space between us while we circled each other from the outskirts of the ring. “From your men’s reports, I wonder if we should offer aid. Establish a relationship. Might help us prevent any unnecessary strife in the future. Their population can’t be big at all, considering what your men observed. Not a lot of fertile land left to sustain them, though they seem to be making do.”

It wasn’t clear how the kingdom to the north ruled. No obvious monarchy in place, at least that I’d found out about. If there had been, my guardsmen crossing their border could have been interpreted as an act of war. Not something I wanted.

Seb used his forearm to wipe the moisture from his forehead. “If I may, Your Highness, I say we don’t intervene. Clearly they’ve established operations that allow them to thrive, using magic no doubt. If they were in trouble, they’d come to you.” He rolled his shoulders back, reaffirming his stance. “I’d hate to sacrifice men for convoys when we have much work here.”

“Much work indeed.” I wished he was wrong.

A strand of my golden hair fell out of its pulled back knot. Another disappointment my father would scoff at was how lengthy it’d become over the past several months. The ends grazed the tops of my shoulders now, but I’d had more important issues to concern myself with than seeing the barber. Since Mira—The Coveted—had graced the castle upon her first arrival months ago, she’d sent my mind into a tailspin.

Careful military shuffling happened to align with the beast breaching my walls today for a second time. That interaction hours ago had certainly thrown me for a loop. Hearing Mira’s voice carry across the courtyard, confessing that she’d fallen in love with that creature had been the last thing I’d expected.

Reports confirmed Mira and the creature had again returned to the woods heading north, leaving me to reel in the aftermath. Hundreds of guardsmen had made their way to Highcrest Castle, and were currently being shuffled into new battalions and dispatched.