Coming out to the courtyard was a risk, but I’d needed to see who my father had sent in the delegation. My disguise was solid, but it wasn’t like I could change the entire structure of my face. Still, expectations were half of recognition. I wasn’t wearing my court finery. I was dressed in a simple black jacket and shirt, with fitted pants and boots. My sword was strapped to my back along with a dagger hanging from my left hip. The small crest on my shoulder was for the Wolf Clan. I’d even taken the time to melt the golden filigree off my horns, and they were now encased in a solid iron mass, too heavy to be comfortable, but it disguised the blue marbling in the black that marked me as part of the royal family.
The House Vaelor Carriage trundled to a stop, the gold glinting in the sunlight. There were seven guards, wearing the King’s Armor, which did not bode well for the person in that carriage to not know who I was.
I held back a sneeze as I watched my idiot cousin jump out of the seat. He’d practically shaved his head for this, and it took me a moment to recognize him. If he got close enough, he’d know who I was, but he was so unobservant that it should be easy to escape his notice.
I covered my face with a hand, holding my nose to stop the next sneeze. This damn place, Rowanstag, smelled like a barnyard, and the dust was not letting up. How the stag clan managed to maintain their status when the entire place screamed commoners, I’d never know.
That’s when I saw the kin standing at the window above the courtyard. I couldn’t make out her face clearly, but she was a dead-ringer for her mother, and I knew that this must be the second princess, Elda. She was staring at Darien, her head tilted slightly as though she were trying to make sense of him. I wondered how he looked to her. The stag clan was so damn simple. This was the royal palace, and while everything was well made and built, the courtyard was decorated with bushes and leaves. It might look cozy, but it would be a nightmare to defend with all of the access points and footholds.
She turned away, pulling the curtains closed and I refocused on the task at hand.
“Well, shit,” I muttered as my uncle stepped from the carriage.
Of course, it was him. The Choosing was a big deal when it was a member of the royal family. It wasn’t something that we did in Skyreach, our marriages were too political, but it was sacred to the stags. Even the heir to the throne had a Choosing, although it was all for show. They couldn’t risk the future ruler marrying someone unsuited for them.
Still, sending General Merek Vaelor was a smart move, because if Alder chose him for the princess, the stag clan would not object, and our clan would have a strong claim on Rowanstag’s forests without lifting a sword. But it was absolutely terrible for my mission, as my uncle would likely recognize me easily. He was a politician through and through, so hopefully he was capable of keeping his game face on and wouldn’t blow my cover by standing on ceremony. Asking dragon kin not to stand on ceremony was as unlikely as asking a wolf kin to ignore the moon.
I stepped back into the alcove that I’d tucked myself into. It was another example of the stag clan focusing on the wrong thing. The alcove held a small tree, but the walls here were low to make sure there was enough light. Benches surrounded the area, along with a small pond with a bird fountain. There was a single bird enjoying the water, it’s golden chest a sharp contrast to its black feathers. It was pretty, and my dragon nature had a strong urge to catch it and keep it for my own.
I shook my head, turning back to look at my uncle as he strode across the courtyard to the main stairs.
Uncle Merek was a tall man. He’d inherited my grandfather’s large horns, the slightly curved living bones were midnight black with sapphire blue marbling. The coloring was the same as my own, but thankfully, I’d received the horn shape from my mother. They were smaller, unassuming, but still present enough that I hadn’t been able to disguise myself as another type of kin. He wore his parade uniform, the crimson fabric drowning in golden flames and accented with blue tassels along the shoulders. He did not wear his helmet, but the golden covering was tucked securely under his right arm.
And of course, on his back, he carried his glaive, Stormglass. The glaive had been passed down to the general of Skyreach for generations now. It wasn’t overly decorated, which was unusual for our kind, but the blade was made of a special alloy that didn’t warp when exposed to extreme heat, and the pole was lightweight and strong. It was a perfect weapon for war, although it had become a symbol of something else: Skyreach’s power.
I turned away from my kin, looking about the small alcove again. I needed to get back to Orion before he started wondering where I went. He was a good friend, but absolutely terrible at subterfuge. If I’d had another choice, I’d have avoided using the wolf kin at all, but when I knew he was required to attend the Choosing, there would be no way that the pup would have not recognized me. This had been the best option with what I’d been presented with. If only I didn’t need to do this at all.
Walking further into the alcove, I slipped into the side passage that led to the open gardens. It was another security risk. If I were King Sylvan, I would have filled this in the moment I’d taken the throne. This entire palace was too sprawling, with too many entrances. I shook my head as I stepped into the bright light of the garden and crossed the expanse swiftly. The heady scent of roses was overwhelming. I’d never realized how much I’d miss the stone and fires of my homeland when I’d only been away for three weeks.
Orion was in his rooms, looking at himself in the mirror and trying to make sure his charcoal jacket was sitting well on his shoulders. The wolf kin was slightly shorter than me, with flowing silver hair and square features. His silver ears tilted towards me as I entered, and he turned, his golden eyes flashing dangerously before recognizing me.
“How do I look?” he asked, gesturing to the coat.
Wolf kin were meticulous about their clothing choices, especially the royal family. Orion’s coat had subtle embroidery along the wide expanse of his shoulders, showing the exact pattern of the night sky when he was born. It was tradition for all formal gatherings for the wolf kin to wear their signs on their clothing. It was something I’d never understood, but even more so when I really didn’t want to be recognized for anything. Still, the coat was magnificent, with silver buckles across his chest and a loose and flowing back that went to his mid-thigh. He wore a smart midnight blue shirt and dark brown leather pants tucked into boots. His clothing was informal by comparison to Uncle Merek, but I’d never seen Orion wearing anything quite so fine.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were nervous and hoping to get chosen by Alder,” I teased, knowing that Orion wanted to get married even less than I did. I reached toward his shoulders and brushed off a stray silver hair that had stuck to the soft fabric.
“What a miserable pairing that would be for the both of us.” Orion fussed at my own jacket, making sure the buttons were tight against my throat. I let him fuss, knowing that if I didn’t he’d end up in a foul mood.
“You mean you don’t want to end up stuck in this assassin’s haven?” I asked, gesturing to the numerous open windows and the large door that I’d strode through directly from the garden.
“My dear, Hawke.” Orion rolled his eyes, moving on to straightening the wrinkles that my cross-body scabbard created. “I need a man that can dominate me, not a prey kin that will allow me to walk all over her.”
“You never know what someone is capable of,” I teased, remembering the last few men that Orion had brought to his bed. One had seemed incredibly timid, but apparently that’s not how he acted behind closed doors.
“So, did you see what you wanted to see?” Orion liked to ask me about what I was actually doing, but even though I shared most pertinent information with him, I tried to keep him as in the dark as possible. If I was caught, he needed all the plausible deniability he could get.
“General Merek is here.” I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t know how I’m going to overhear conversations at the party if he’s floating around. It’s risky.”
“You can always come to the Ceremony with me. I’m allowed to bring a single guard,” Orion suggested.
I jerked back from him, aghast.
“There’s like eighty possible suitors there,” he said, jerking me forward so he could finish smoothing down my sleeves. “Alder is not gonna choose you for one of her perfect stag princesses, just like she’s not gonna choose me. Good kin don’t get mated with assholes.”
“Your mom got your dad,” I pointed out, knowing that it would make him crack a smile.
“We also don’t follow Alder and use some archaic ritual to choose our mates.” He finished with my clothes and started eyeing my unruly hair. I kept it short, but the waves never stayed in one place and tended to fly around my pointed ears like a halo. I took a step back, moving away far enough that he was forces to turn back to his own clothing, despite it being immaculate.
“My uncle is going to be there too.”
“Your uncle is going to be so focused on Elda and hoping Alder chooses him that he won’t have any reason to look at anyone else.”
The thought was absurd. My uncle was much older than the stag princess. She’d turned twenty-five this year, and my uncle was pushing fifty. It wouldn’t be the first time that the nature goddess made an unlikely pairing, and the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Pairing Rowanstag with my own royal family didn’t seem like a terrible idea, but I couldn’t imagine our kingdoms finding common ground. There was a reason there was unrest in the border cities.
I looked out over the garden, frowning. I needed to get into the King’s study. The whole point of getting into this forsaken palace was to sneak around. If I attended the Choosing, I could possibly sneak there afterwards. The ceremony was being held on the roof near their gnarled tree and the family’s wing was right underneath. There would be less security as the family traveled to the banquet, and easy enough to say that I’d gotten turned around if I got caught. And if I made sure to return to Orion’s side after the feasting, I could possibly find a way to eavesdrop on the King talking to my Uncle, because if I was sure of one thing, it was that Uncle Merek would do his best to talk to the most influential person in the room.
“Fine, I will be your date to the Choosing.”
Orion just grinned.
0 Comments