Page 22 of An Archer's Redemption

I looked down at my rumpled riding clothes and shook my head, then ran a hand through my tangled mess of hair. I sniffedthe grime left on my fingers and winced. It had been weeks since I’d bathed, and there was no way I would look—or smell—like a queen until I had a proper bath and a change of clothes.

My steely eyes and upturned chin would have to do.

My father always told me those were more powerful tools than the crown, though I never understood the comment until now.

Without fretting further, I pulled the wooden lever and listened as powerful mechanisms began to creak. A sliver of sunlight grew into a flood as the doors opened.

“What the—” I heard from someone outside.

I couldn’t suppress a chuckle as a startled cleric, bent with age, stumbled backward.

“Father, I have risen,” I blurted, aware of the implications of my words, considering I stood in the doorway to the tomb of kings looking like a bedraggled corpse recently laid to rest.

The man’s eyes widened, and he tripped, landing on his backside. He tried to speak, but his words were more jumbled than his tangled feet, and I was fairly certain the man’s eyes would pop out of their sockets if they widened any further.

I bit back a laugh and regained my composure. “Forgive me, Father. I didn’t mean . . . Oh, never mind. Escort me to the Palace.”

“Of course, Princess . . . Your Highness. Right away, Highness,” he stammered as he struggled to his feet.

Chapter 8

Jess

As the priest’s cart approached the Palace gate, a bored-looking guard in the nearby shack did a double take, then snapped to attention.

“Highness, welcome back. We didn’t know you’d returned from your, um . . . journey,” the man said, his eyes never leaving some distant point beyond the horizon. I might’ve been a teenage princess, but the guards knew better than to make eye contact unless it was necessary.

“It is all right, William,” I said, placing a hand on his arm. “Would you have the Chancellor’s office assemble the Privy Council? I need to speak with them in an hour.”

The guard’s eyes shot to my hand, his brow rising nearly to his hairline.

I couldn’t remembereverusing any of the guards’ names before. I rarely acknowledged their existence, much less was kind or considerate to them. I heard the men often joked about how I’d been raised by the Palace staff but refused to lowermyself to learn even their names. My father tried to teach me the value of our people—if I’d only listened sooner.

I will have to work on that if I am to become the Queen I always envisioned as a girl.

“Um, Your Highness—”

“William,” I said in a soothing tone. “I know it is an unusual request, but please humor me. I will explain everything to the Council.”

I turned back to the dumbfounded cleric before William could reply. “Thank you, Father. I do not think I could have made such a long walk tonight without your steadfast company.”

The priest bowed. I could feel his eyes on my back as I lifted my chin and strode into the Palace grounds.

By the time I reached my chamber, the Palace was abuzz with speculation regarding my unorthodox Council summons. One of my maids greeted me at my chamber door. “I had a hot bath prepared as soon as I heard you’d returned, Highness. Will you want your ladies to help you bathe and dress?”

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you, Tena. I will be fine on my own tonight. Would you ask the kitchen to make refreshments for the Council in the Throne Room? We will be meeting in an hour.”

A broad smile burst across the woman’s face as she curtsied again and scurried off.

I closed the door and slumped to the floor.

In that moment, safe in my own chambers and alone with my thoughts, the thousand emotions I had kept at bay bubbled to the surface. Losing my father, brother . . . and even my mother. The terror of facing a knife’s edge . . . in the hand of a man I trusted. The weight of the crown I now wore . . . or soon would wear.

It was all too much.

How was anyone supposed to face so much?

How was I supposed to bear . . . everything?

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