Page 1
Chapter
One
F lora turned her head as she held her own gaze in the floor-length looking glass in front of her. It was a beautiful mirror, the gilded edges proclaiming wealth without being showy. It was, in fact, fit for a princess. There was a rueful edge to the thought in Flora’s mind, although the description was perfectly apt. The mirror belonged, after all, to Princess Miriam of Siqual. In whose royal suite Flora was currently standing, staring into the looking glass like she had nowhere to be, which was far from true.
She straightened, pulling her eyes from her face and taking in her attire. She was neat and orderly, everything in place for the journey ahead. She fixed a wayward strand of hair that threatened to mar the image she was creating, then gave a decisive nod.
“Are you ready, Flora?”
The princess’s voice floated to Flora from the next room, and Flora turned.
“Yes, I’m ready. You?”
“Ready to leave for the border? No. Ready for you to help me do up this blasted gown like you promised? Yes. ”
“Whoops.” Flora winced in apology as she hurried into the bedchamber where the princess waited. “Sorry, Mim.”
Miriam waved a hand. Princess she might be, but there was nothing imperious in her reproach. She’d been Flora’s closest friend since their years at the Ladies’ Academy in the neighboring kingdom of Torrens, and their respective stations didn’t enter into it.
“Stars above, you were right,” Flora commented, as she wrestled with the buttons that ran the full length of Miriam’s glorious, magenta gown. “It is absurdly fiddly. This is what you’re supposed to travel in? It’s a four-hour ride to the border, at least!”
Miriam sighed. “I won’t be able to ride in this. We’ll have to travel in the carriage, so it will take even longer. It seems that taking away my betrothed’s breath with my extravagant wealth and beauty is more important than any practical considerations of travel.”
“I think it’s your breath that will be taken away,” Flora said in a prosaic spirit. “I’m going to have to tighten your corset if we’re to do these buttons up properly.”
Miriam groaned, but it was a resigned sound. “Do what you must. Better you than the maids I kicked out earlier. They’d have my waist cinched in so tight I wouldn’t be able to breathe. The life of a princess, I suppose.”
“If you say so.”
Flora said the words with a grin, the expression broadening as her friend narrowed her eyes in predictable irritation.
“One of these days, your impertinence will catch up with you, servant ,” she said.
Flora just chuckled, taking the quip in the spirit it was intended.
“I’d better get used to it,” Miriam said, a wistful note to her voice. “In a matter of weeks I’ll be the princess of two kingdoms, so I don’t think there’s much reprieve from royal duties in my future.”
Flora sobered at once, taking in her friend’s somber air. “Are you nervous?”
Miriam shook her head, her mouth shut tightly. She’d been very unwilling to discuss her betrothal with Flora, which was uncharacteristic. It told Flora that Miriam wasn’t even ready to face her emotions herself yet, let alone say them aloud. Flora felt the familiar discomfort squirm in her stomach. She hated that her friend was being pushed into marriage. It was, indeed, the life of a princess, she knew. It was all but inevitable. But she still hated to watch it play out.
“It could be worse,” she said tentatively. “We’ve never heard anything bad about Prince Cassius.”
“I don’t know if you could say that,” Miriam disagreed. “He’s from Carrack, so I think we can safely assume that he’s proud and haughty. In fact, I believe I have heard that said of him specifically.”
“Better proud than cruel,” said Flora, still trying valiantly to be positive. “I think we could still say we’ve never heard anything truly bad about him.”
“High praise,” Miriam said dryly. “But honestly, I’m fine.” She contorted her features as Flora did up the last of the buttons. “It’s a good proposal. Father was right to accept it. An alliance between us and Carrack will strengthen Siqual. We won’t have to worry about the rumblings we’re hearing from Torrens anymore—I can’t see Torrens attacking in either direction when they’re sandwiched between two allied kingdoms.”
“I’m not convinced that Torrens would attack anyone,” Flora said, critically surveying Miriam’s elaborate hairstyle. “ We were in the heart of their capital for years at the academy, and I never caught a hint of aggressive policies.”
Miriam shrugged. “Things change, I suppose. Regardless, it’s a good alliance for Siqual.”
“It is,” Flora agreed slowly.
Miriam was repeating the official line her parents had hammered into her, but she didn’t sound convinced of her own words. And Flora’s agreement was spoken without much conviction. The alliance wasn’t a bad thing. But why must an alliance require her friend to tether her heart and life to a stranger? Surely there were alternative resources the kingdoms of Siqual and Carrack could trade other than royal sons and daughters. For a moment she grappled with the question, trying in vain to think of a non-human resource that either kingdom sorely needed from the other.
“Mim, there’s a loop of hair that just won’t stay,” she said, giving up her silent attempts. Voicing defiance wouldn’t change anything for her friend. “I’ve just made it worse with these clumsy fingers of mine. Hold still, and I’ll stir up some Dust to fix it.”
“If you like.” Miriam didn’t seem concerned either way.
Focusing carefully, Flora drew one hand back and began to wiggle her fingers. With the ease of extensive practice, her awareness latched effortlessly onto the insignificant amount of magic created by the tiny movement.
For a task as intricate as fixing hair, a minuscule amount of magic would be easier to manipulate than a torrent. She needed more magic than wriggling her fingers would create, but a small amount nonetheless.
Once she felt confident that she had iron control over the magic her movement was creating, she swept her hand—fingers still wiggling—toward Miriam’s head, her senses full of the invisible Dust—or magic—stirred up by the motion.
Responsive to her silent direction, that magic molded itself into a shifting enchantment. It had very little power, but plenty of finesse, and it shifted Miriam’s hair into place perfectly, trapping it underneath the pin that Flora’s fingers had dislodged.
“There,” she said, satisfied. “My fingers will never be deft enough to have that level of control. But the Dust I can control, no problem.”
“Yes.” Miriam smiled encouragingly at her friend. “You’re a natural, Flora, not that you need me to tell you that. I’d say your talents are wasted on hair arrangement, except I’m convinced that it’s good to be versatile.”
“Of course it is,” Flora agreed. “It’s not as though fixing your hair is the only thing I do with my craft.”
“Thankfully for me.” Miriam laughed.
The princess reached out a hand, her fingers curled back toward herself before she extended her hand out in a graceful, flicking motion. Flora could feel the Dust stirred up by her friend’s movement—not with the blazing awareness of the magic that had been under her own control, but her senses still identified it. She didn’t attempt to take hold of it, of course. Trying to control the magic created by someone else’s movement was complex and dangerous. Not to mention illegal.
Instead, she watched as Miriam harnessed the magic herself, causing the ring she was reaching for—just out of range of her physical reach—to move slowly forward across the dresser to where she could pick it up.
“Pathetic, really,” the princess said ruefully.
“No, it’s not,” Flora scolded her. “You have more capacity for the craft than you think. You just have to apply yourself more.”
Miriam wrinkled her nose. “You sound like our instructors, all of whom thought their own subjects were going to be every student’s top priority.”
“Generally I’d agree with you,” Flora said, “but honestly, I can’t understand how the craft isn’t everyone’s top priority. Why would you not want to harness magic?”
“I do want to,” Miriam said reasonably. “But history interested me more. And literature. You don’t realize how strong your natural aptitude is, Flora. I did apply myself. A lot. It took a great deal of study and effort for me to achieve the most basic level of control over the magic of my movement. I got nowhere near being able to harness magic from other sources of movement. What I just did is the peak of my achievement—now, with significant effort, I can bring a ring a few inches across the table. It would be so much easier for me to just shift forward and get it.”
Flora shrugged. She couldn’t relate to the lack of motivation, but then again it wasn’t news to her that magic had always held more fascination for her than it had for her friend.
“I haven’t seen that ring before,” she commented, as Miriam slid the jewelry onto her finger.
“It was my mother’s,” the princess said, her voice sad and wistful as she stared down at the sparkling gem.
Flora stared at her. “Why do you sound so…forlorn about it?”
Miriam’s woebegone expression disappeared into a grin as she looked up at her friend. “Because Mother has terrible taste in jewelry. And now I have to wear it, or she’ll be offended. Although, to be fair, I think even she must have come to her senses and realized this one is ghastly, or she wouldn’t have given it to me.”
Flora considered it impassively. “It is rather ugly, isn’t it? Her Majesty just can’t say no to a persuasive jewelry vendor, can she?”
“Not to save her life,” Miriam agreed cheerfully. She considered. “Or, more accurately, not even to save my reputation for good fashion.”
“I doubt anyone will notice the ring,” Flora said.
“No, they’ll be more focused on the one Prince Cassius is going to put on this finger.” Miriam raised her left hand, contemplating it thoughtfully for a moment before speaking in a rush. “I lied before, Flora. I am nervous.”
Flora said nothing, her expression sympathetic.
“I don’t want to marry a stranger, and I don’t want to move to Carrack. But it’s not just that. I don’t trust the Carrackians. We haven’t been on good terms with them for about a hundred years. I know everyone’s whispering that it’s Torrens behind the bandit attacks and suspicious disasters that have been happening in all the other kingdoms. But it doesn’t feel right to me. Why would Torrens—who we’ve always been friendly with—turn against us, and Carrack—who we have a strained relationship with at best—be the ones offering an alliance?”
Flora frowned. It did sound strange when put that way.
“You think they might be playing us false somehow?”
Miriam shrugged. “I don’t know what to think. And I don’t dare tell my parents my suspicions, because they’d never believe it’s not a disobliging attempt to get out of the marriage alliance.” She twisted the gaudy ring with a distracted gesture. “I suppose I’ll just have to hope the proposal was in good faith.” Her next words were accompanied by a wry smile at her friend. “I won’t be able to harness enough Dust to defend myself if things go badly once I’m in Carrack.”
“You won’t be alone,” Flora said passionately. She knelt at her friend’s side and clasped her hand in a reassuring gesture. “I will keep you safe, Miriam, I swear it.”
Miriam returned the pressure gratefully. “You know I appreciate it, and unlike all the fools in the guardhouse, I don’t doubt your abilities. But the journey to the border is one thing. We’ll still be in our own lands when we meet the Carrackian delegation, and the betrothal won’t technically be formalized yet. We’re still very much under Father’s authority. But once I’m married, I’ll be subject to their king’s control. You may not be allowed to accompany me.”
Flora frowned, not liking that idea. “I’ll follow in secret if I have to,” she declared.
Miriam gave her a look. “I think you did enough sneaking around at the academy to last a lifetime. Don’t get yourself into trouble on my account.”
Flora had no intention of promising any such thing, but Miriam didn’t give her the chance to say so.
“You need to think about your own future,” the princess went on. “Your own life. You can’t spend it following me around forever.”
Flora shook her head. “Why shouldn’t I follow you to Carrack? It’s not as though there’s anything keeping me here in Sindon.”
“You’ve been invaluable, Flora, don’t sell yourself short,” Miriam said. “I’m sure there would be a prestigious role for you in the castle here if you wanted it.”
“No.” Flora almost laughed at that. “Your parents tolerate me because I’m useful to you, but there’s no way they’d offer me a role once you’re gone. And I wouldn’t want it if they did. ”
Miriam frowned, but before she could respond, there was a knock at the door. The sound elicited a sigh from the princess, and Flora rose to her feet. She stepped back as a veritable sea of maids and attendants poured into the room, subjecting Miriam to a final examination.
Flora bowed respectfully to the lilac-swathed figure who swept in behind them. The queen even smelled like lilac. She was wearing a rather chunky necklace that didn’t compliment the neckline of her gown at all, and her fingers were adorned with a dizzying number of rings, but she carried herself with enough grace to make observers inclined to ignore these lapses in taste.
“Miriam.” The queen beamed at her only daughter. “You look stunning, child. He’ll be smitten.”
Miriam gave her mother a look. “It doesn’t really matter if he’s smitten or not, does it? This is a political marriage—I didn’t think either my romantic notions or Prince Cassius’s entered into the decision.”
“Not into the decision, no,” the queen agreed sagely. “But into the marriage, yes. Take it from me, it helps if your husband is a little bit smitten from time to time.”
Flora hid a smile. It was hard to imagine Siqual’s stately and serious king being smitten over anything, but she’d have to take the queen’s word for it. She pulled her jacket tightly around her, raising the fitted hood that obscured much of her face. Unlike Miriam, she hadn’t dressed to stand out.
Miriam didn’t reply to her mother’s declaration. Her expression resigned, she rose to her feet. As she did so, the sweeping sleeve of her gown caught a glass jewelry stand and sent it toppling over the edge of the dresser.
Flora responded instinctively, her training rising to her aid. Her mind was always aware of movement in the area, and she didn’t have to actually think about it in order to focus in on the magic stirred up, not by the movement of Miriam’s arm or sleeve, but by the movement of the falling item itself. Flora’s awareness latched on to the magic and directed it, creating a cushion that caused the glass stand to float softly to the ground, unharmed.
“Oh, clumsy me!” Miriam exclaimed. Her gaze flicked from the glass stand to her friend behind her. “Thanks, Flora.”
“Ah.” The queen eyed Flora with a more reserved expression. “You’re here, are you? Very good. I understand His Majesty has approved you to accompany the princess to the meeting point?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Flora bowed her head respectfully.
“Of course she’s coming, Mother,” Miriam said in impatience. “She’ll travel with me all the way into Carrack. And I still don’t understand why we have to go to a meeting point so far away. Can’t the Carrackian delegation come here to the capital?”
“It’s a show of goodwill to meet on neutral ground,” the queen said. “And heaven knows we need all the goodwill we can get. There’s already enough suspicion on both sides to make navigating this alliance complex. This is a small price to pay, especially given we will still be meeting within our own borders. I don’t see why it need trouble you. Your betrothal ceremony will happen back in Carrack, but you will of course return here for the wedding.”
Miriam sighed at the prospect but didn’t protest. She just made for the door, her silken skirts swishing as she walked. It was a gorgeous gown, Flora reflected, as she walked behind her friend. Impractical, but gorgeous.
She noticed Miriam looking wistfully around her as they walked through the castle, and she felt a pang for her friend. Even though they would be back, it would only be for the wedding, after which she would leave Siqual for good. Even Flora felt the bittersweetness of the moment. She’d enjoyed her time at the castle. She would be sad to say goodbye to the place.
When they passed through the largest of the interior courtyards, Miriam paused near the huge central fountain, Flora alongside her. The fountain was a work of art, a chiseled stone pillar rising from its center and branching out at the top like the petals of a giant flower. Around the edge of the basin, the stone was carved into the shape of many anzu birds ringing the pool, some taking flight, some perched, some preparing to pounce. Water fell from various levels of the stone pillar, so that the room was filled with the musical tinkling of water.
Flora and Miriam both watched in silence as a dozen real, living anzu birds frolicked in the basin. They were curious creatures, about the size of a small dog. Their bodies were fully avian, with talon-tipped feet, and sleek feathers they delighted in grooming with their long tongues. But their heads were feline, reminiscent of the kitchen cats kept by the cook to keep the castle’s rodent population at bay.
As they watched, one of the anzu birds spread its wings, soaring up to perch on a tiny stone spout that projected from an upper section of the pillar. Another followed it, settling on the spout below.
The first anzu bird opened its mouth, pausing to look around with its slit-like eyes to ensure it had been noticed. Flora rolled her eyes, even though she couldn’t help smiling. The castle anzu birds were incredibly domesticated and absolutely adored an audience. They were beloved—it was a point of pride that most of the Peninsula’s anzu bird population was found within Siqual’s borders.
Satisfied that enough people were watching, the anzu bird opened its mouth and mewed. The hissing, angry nature of the sound gave Flora a split second’s warning of what was coming. Her eyes confirmed it as the anzu bird’s meow turned smoothly into a small spurt of flame that issued from its open mouth.
At once, the other anzu bird began to purr, the sound growing quickly into a soothing mewl that—to no one’s surprise—morphed into a spout of water. The water doused the flame in one go, putting out the bright spot and restoring the courtyard to its state of peace.
All the humans in the area clapped politely, as the anzu birds certainly expected them to do. After a moment’s preening, they soared gracefully back down into the pond, where they kept their heads dry while expertly flicking water over their feathers.
“Come now, Miriam, what are you dawdling for?”
The queen’s impatient voice drew them forward, eliciting a small sigh from Miriam.
“Such a shame they didn’t have anzu birds in Torrens when we were studying,” Flora said, to lighten the mood. “The feel of the Dust stirred up by their movements is fascinating. I’d love to learn to harness it. The magic stirred by the flame and by the water is really different, too.”
“Maybe that can be your next project once you’ve seen me safely married,” Miriam said, her smile unconvincing.
When they reached the exterior courtyard, Flora was surprised that not only the king, but both princes were waiting. She’d known Prince Theodore was to accompany their group to meet the Carrackian delegation. But she hadn’t expected to see Prince Xavier as well. The heir to the throne of Siqual wasn’t known for his reliability. In fact, he was rarely where one might want him to be.
But it warmed Flora’s heart that he’d shown up for his sister. Much as Miriam might complain about her brothers, Flora knew that their presence would mean a great deal to the princess.
“You look lovely, Miriam,” Prince Theodore said kindly. His rather serious face was softened by a friendly smile. “We should get going.”
“It’s not too late to back out, sis,” Prince Xavier said, coming up close to her.
She gave him a long-suffering look. “Only you would say that. It’s not a question of whether it’s too late. I was never given the option of backing out , as you put it.”
He grinned at her. “You have to make your own options, Mim. If you want out, make a run for it when you get close to the border. Knock out the side of the carriage or something.” He inclined his head to Flora with a conspiratorial wink. “I’m sure Flora could help you.”
“I could,” Flora confirmed, her voice matter-of-fact, but low enough not to be heard by the king and queen, who were conversing nearby. “And I’m perfectly ready to if you want. Just say the word.”
Prince Xavier gave a delighted laugh, but Miriam shook her head.
“You’re both being ridiculous.” The rebuke, directed to both Flora and Prince Xavier, held a wistful note. Prince Theodore showed no similar sentiment as he backed his sister up.
“You are,” he agreed. “And it doesn’t make it any easier for anyone, so stop it.”
Flora subsided, although the glint in Prince Xavier’s eye told her he wasn’t similarly cowed .
“It’s easy for you to be pragmatic, Theo,” Miriam pointed out. “No one’s asking you to make a marriage alliance.”
“Not currently,” he acknowledged. “But I think it’s highly likely that I’ll be expected to do just that in due course, if it makes you feel any better.”
Miriam sighed. “Maybe it should. But it doesn’t.”
Prince Theodore reached out, his hand hovering uncertainly for a moment over the lavish gown before he found a fairly safe patch of fabric on her shoulder to give a reassuring squeeze.
“I know it feels overwhelming. And we’ll miss you a great deal once you’re settled in Carrack. But I’ll be there alongside you, at least for the journey.”
“Small comfort,” Prince Xavier said dryly.
Flora eyed him silently. The older prince might speak more like his sister’s champion, but it was the younger prince who was actually going to be present to provide support. Even if that support probably wouldn’t go as far as helping his sister to run away if she’d wanted to.
Honestly, either brother’s support was better than any she’d be likely to get from her own brothers in a similar situation. In that regard, she considered Miriam fortunate.
“No sense putting off the inevitable, anyway,” Miriam said with determination as she moved toward the enormous carriage emblazoned with the royal crest of Siqual. “Come on, then. Let’s go meet my prince.”
Only Flora caught her muttered addition as she climbed into the carriage behind the princess. “And let’s hope he’s not planning to play us all false.”