Chapter 1
The voices of the sailors could be heard from the bowels of the ship, their shouts of
alarm punctuated by the slap of the waves against the hull and the uneven tilt of the ship. I
had picked up sea legs quickly at the beginning of our voyage, but it was becoming more and
more difficult to keep my balance.
“I think we should all head up on deck.” Giselle—the oldest of the girls included in our
delegation—sounded worried.
“I second that.” Cassie joined the Eldonian princess at the cabin door. “I don’t fancy
being caught below decks if the ship’s going down.”
“I’m sure it won’t come to that.” Daria’s worried gaze was directed my way.
“Imagine if it did!” I might be three years younger than the youngest of them, but that
didn’t mean I was scared. “I’ve never been shipwrecked before. We could all cling to pieces
of wreckage and kick our way to shore.”
We might need to remove our long dresses to successfully achieve our own rescue, but
I didn’t mention that since the others already seemed horrified enough.
“Perhaps we could try the longboats before we’re reduced to scrounging for flotsam,”
Giselle said as she hurried us toward the deck.
I sighed as I climbed the steps. What was the point of leaving home on a grand
adventure if my companions were just as obsessed with being sensible and responsible as my
family back home?
It had seemed like the most marvelous thing when I was invited to join the Eldonian
delegation to the Four Kingdoms—the new lands discovered beyond a stretch of previously
impassable ocean. I suspected my sister-in-law, Isla, was responsible for the idea, and I had
been suitably grateful before my departure. I just hoped my three companions—two
Eldonians and one Elamese—would make the most of any adventures we encountered. If our
ship going down before we reached our destination didn’t rouse a speck of excitement in
them, what would?
I certainly couldn’t rely on Lori to be anything but sensible. I was fairly certain my
parents had chosen a maid three decades my senior and without an ounce of excitement in her
blood with studied purpose. Just like Daria, they worried I needed to be watched.
I peered around the deck for Lori, hoping she hadn’t noticed my arrival. Given our
current situation, she would no doubt attach herself to my side the moment she found me.
But my attention was pulled back to my companions when someone suggested the ship
might be steadying—a most disappointing possibility. Before I could comment, however, the
captain appeared.
“My men have plugged the hole with their hammocks. And now they’re hard at work
on the pumps.” My heart sank until he continued. “But a lot of water got in, and it’s only a
temporary solution.”
I brightened again. Perhaps we were going to have a proper adventure after all.
I stayed quiet as the older royals discussed the situation with the captain, knowing I
would do my cause more harm than good by speaking up. I might have been born a princess,
but with a nine-year age gap between me and my older siblings, I had always been treated
like a baby. The only way I could learn anything interesting was by silent observation—or
spying as my brother and sister called it.
It wasn’t that I liked creeping around and listening to people—it was just the only
option when everyone was determined to overlook and exclude me, always attempting to
relegate me to the nursery.
My hopes were rewarded, however, when the decision was made to set some key
delegation members ashore on the closest beach. The damaged ship would then follow the
wind south to a more accessible port in Lanover with Giselle’s older brother and his wife,
Celine—originally a princess of Lanover—aboard. Celine was unwell, so she was relieved to
head for her parents and leave Princess Giselle as the new delegation head.
Recognizing my moment to speak had arrived, I pounced.
“Naturally I’ll accompany you ashore and continue on to our destination, Princess
Giselle,” I said, in my best formal tones.
Everyone turned to look at me with matching expressions of disapproval.
“As the lone representative from Trione, I couldn’t possibly miss the opportunity to
greet the Arcadians,” I added.
Giselle and Daria exchanged a look, and I could easily read their thoughts from their
expressions. They knew perfectly well my real reason for refusing to stay tamely with the
ship. But it was true I was the only official delegate from my home kingdom, and while I was
only thirteen, I was also a royal. It would be difficult for them to deny my claim.
I grinned in triumph as it was agreed that Cassie, Daria, and I—along with our various
attendants—would join Giselle in a haphazard disembarkation onto the closest deserted
beach.
I half hoped I would slip while climbing down the rope ladder to the longboat and end
up in the ocean. But the process was managed in a disappointingly staid manner, and when
the longboat reached the beach, I was swept into the arms of a burly sailor and deposited on
the sand before I could protest.
Did they think I would panic if I encountered a drop of water? I might not have the
good fortune to be half-merfolk like some of my family, but I had still grown up in a palace
by the ocean. I could have swum myself to shore from the ship without the help of a piece of
flotsam if it had come to it.
I couldn’t stay downcast for long, though. Finally something adventurous was
happening to me that didn’t revolve around my older brother or sister. And they weren’t even
here to tell me to be careful or to try to take charge.
Daria was closest to me in age, but she didn’t seem to share my excitement. And when
I turned to Cassie, she looked more thoughtful than pleased with the unexpected
development. Giselle joined us on the sand, but she seemed burdened with the weight of her
unexpected new position as head of our delegation. She’d brought her strange horse, Arvin,
though, and something about him always made me smile.
The mood of the other girls slowly brightened as I joked, trying to spread my own
enthusiasm for our situation. Thankfully Giselle had declared we would walk toward the
Arcadian capital rather than waiting tamely for rescue, and the journey would be more
pleasant if the other girls were in lighter moods.
The bright spring sunshine helped my cause, the blue sky daring anyone to remain
gloomy and downcast. And when we finally set off, we were walking between ordered fields,
with a row of trees beside the road to provide shade. Personally I would have preferred a
wilder and more intriguing setting, but the other girls calmed as we moved through the
pleasant scene.
I positioned myself beside Cassie. Despite our four-year age gap, I felt a sense of
kindred with the Eldonian girl. Giselle might be the other royal, but Cassie knew the value of
silent observation. She had even grown up in a castle full of secret passages, a place I wished
I could visit.
I questioned her on everything she knew about the Arcadian capital and particularly the
palace. She had never been there herself, of course—none of us had been in the Four
Kingdoms before—but she seemed to know more about it than I did.
“Do you think the Arcadian palace will have hidden doors and secret passageways?” I
asked, finally getting to my most burning question. “Will you help me find them, if they do?”
She didn’t answer, so I hurried to clarify. “Not that I’m saying I want to spy on the
Arcadians!” A wistful note crept into my voice. “I suppose that would be terrible manners
and might cause some sort of diplomatic incident. I just want the chance to see the passages
themselves. And the clever mechanisms for concealing the doors. Do you think I would be
able to find any on my own? I know they can be well-hidden, but you must be an expert.
Maybe you could give me some hints at least?”
I looked at her expectantly, and she smiled back but in an absentminded way. I sighed
internally. I was familiar with what it looked like when older people had lost interest in my
words and were only pretending to listen.
A small wood appeared in the distance, swallowing the road. I examined it with
interest, imagining threats lurking beneath the shadow of the canopy. A delicious shiver ran
through me, unnoticed by Cassie, but a throat-clearing behind me made me stiffen. Lori had
positioned herself behind us, the two ceremonial Trionian guards flanking her. Cassie might
not be paying much attention, but my maid had her watchful eye on me as always.
Hit by a steak of rebellion, I spoke again in the same conversational voice I’d been
using previously. “I’m planning to strip down to my shift and run screaming through the
palace at every opportunity.”
Cassie nodded, her eyes on the trees ahead of us, but a strangled cough sounded from
behind us. I threw a mischievous look over my shoulder, meeting the eyes of one of the
startled guards.
They were both fairly new to my family’s service—chosen because they didn’t yet have
wives or children to hold them back in Trione—so they weren’t used to me yet. Most of the
guards and servants at the palace back home knew me too well to be shocked by anything I
said.
Lori cleared her throat reprovingly, and I sighed aloud this time, turning back toward
the fast-approaching trees. As the road plunged us into their midst, I angled my steps to drift
slowly away from both Cassie and my looming attendants.
A noise in the trees to one side of the road caught my attention. It had been faint,
drawing my notice only because the clink of metal didn’t belong to nature. Was there
someone there?
I directed my drifting steps even wider, trying to look casual as I stepped off the road in
the hope I wouldn’t attract the attention of Lori or my guards. Cassie was tense about
something, even if I didn’t know what, and perhaps the noise in the woods was related. I
would just take a little peek and see what I could find.
I peered at the spot where I had heard the noise, the broad trunk of an ancient tree
blocking my vision. There seemed to be something caught on its rough bark, so I leaned
closer to look.
The small piece of material appeared to have torn off an article of clothing, and if it
was still caught on the sharp spur of bark, it must have happened recently. I removed it from
the tree and looked back toward the road, feeling triumphant. I had found something.
My eyes met Giselle’s, hers full of worry as she hurried toward me, clearly concerned
at my small detour. I drew a breath to call to her, but strong hands grabbed me around the
middle, expelling the air.
My eyes widened, my gaze still locked on Giselle, as someone jerked me roughly
backward. The sound of my name, screamed in Giselle’s voice, echoed through the trees as
the road disappeared from view. ...
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