Page 6 of Wild Flame

At the name.

My mind raced. Surely there had to be some mistake? Silvanus couldn’t mean for me to—

I looked towards the closed door of my chamber as if expecting to find the High Priest standing there waiting to tell me this wasall a cruel joke. But I knew there was no mistake. This was my target. Our god willed it.

Feeling numb, I continued unrolling the parchment and the tiny object I knew would be there fell into my waiting palm. A small, blackened vial wrapped carefully and sealed with a magically treated wax. Holding it delicately in my hand, I moved to the hearth. After reading the rest of the carefully detailed information I would need, I tossed the parchment into the licking flames.

My eyes lit once more on the top few lines as I watched them blacken and shrivel.

Chapter Three

The following day our party set off early for Zehvi. Helene was the only one who came down to the docks to see me off. Neither of my parents could be bothered, unsurprisingly.

After giving Helene a final hug and bending down to pat Nova on the head, I turned and climbed up the gangplank ontoThe Sea Dragon. The Zehvitian ship would take us along the coast and most of the way to Taveran before we docked and made the rest of the trek inland to the capital.

The ship’s captain, a bearded Zehvitian man, acknowledged me with a nod before returning to his duties—which appeared to be yelling at his crew as they loaded crates of cargo onto the ship.

Leif was there waiting with his dragon, Wormoth. The dragon was a deep olive color, with the distinctive spiked horns of a male dragon along the ridge of his back and on his head. The creature was only slightly larger than Nova in his minor form and had much the same disposition as his rider. Serious and dutiful. The perfect soldiers. Leif himself was largely built with the typical Halmarish blue eyes and pale blonde hair, which hewore in a style similar to my father’s and a beard cropped close to his chin.

“Princess,” he said formally, and I nodded back. Then a wide grin split his face, and I had to fight the urge to hug him. We weren’t children anymore and we were in public. It wouldn’t be proper for me to leap into his arms, though I wanted to. Helene would have, propriety be damned.

“How goes life at the castle?” he asked. “Have you and Helene gotten into any trouble while I was away?”

I grinned back at him. “Unfortunately, no. Everything has been perfectly boring since you left us.” Up until yesterday that was, and the assignment I was supposed to carry out when our boat docked in Viraj. But I wasn’t thinking about that. Not today, I told myself. Leif knew nothing of my affiliation with The Order, and I planned to keep it that way.

“How was Nidaros?”

“Busy. Playing guardian to an entire city was more work than I realized. I’ll be happy for the reprieve for a while.”

“I’m sorry my father dragged you into this.”Even if it was at Helene’s urging, I thought. “I doubt accompanying me was how you envisioned spending the next few months.”

“I can think of no better way to spend my time,” he admitted, surprising sincerity in his blue eyes.

I blinked up at him at the undercurrent of something else in his words. Before I could ask him what he meant, Ambassador Nilfren made his appearance on deck.

“Princess Leida,” he greeted as he strode up to me, bowing his head slightly.

Alistair Nilfren was tall and broad, as most Halmarish men were, but his body bore the soft lines of a politician rather than those of a warrior. He was older, probably close to his sixth decade, and wore his light graying hair short and his beard trimmed close to his face. Definitelynota warrior. Warriorswore their hair in intricate braids. It was a point of pride for most.

“Ambassador,” I replied. “Thank you for accompanying me to Zehvi.”

“Of course, anything for His Majesty. And do not worry,” he added with what I’m sure he thought was a reassuring smile, “your inexperience in these matters will not be a detriment. I will be there to help you navigate the complexities of court life, such as they are.”

“I’m sure you will,” I replied, striving for a polite tone. I didn’t like the man, but I knew the next few weeks would be much easier if I could keep things civil between us. I was eager to learn more about Zehvi, even if it was from him. Reading about something in a book was not the same as experiencing it in real life, no matter how vivid your imagination.

Leif was eyeing Nilfren like he was an annoying insect as the man greeted him. Not that Leif’s stern expression revealed as much, but I knew him well enough to tell.

As they spoke, I moved to the ship’s rail and watched the few dragons circling the skies over the city, their bright scales gleaming in the sunlight far above—as the ship prepared to depart and we raised anchor.

As we slowly made our way out of the port, I took in a deep breath of fresh sea air. The sights and sounds around me were as familiar as breathing. The sea was in my blood, andIvar blood ran with salt, as my father liked to say. He had taken Helene and me sailing on day trips when we were much younger. We had both loved it, and it was one of the few things our father ever indulged us in. But then Helene started her rider training, and I was injured, and those outings stopped.

I rarely traveled the sea anymore thanks to being mostly restricted to the keep. So I savored the moment as I watchedNevgard slowly disappear from view and we headed out into open ocean.

Nearly a week later in the late afternoon, the coastal city of Viraj came into view. I was relieved that in a short time we would be able to disembark and rest for the night before continuing on land toward our destination. The air had grown significantly warmer the farther east we traveled. We had crossed over the Zehvitian border some time ago, and I was not looking forward to tomorrow when we would encounter the dry, sweltering heat of the desert. For now, all I wanted was a cool bath and to be out of the sun without having to retreat to my cabin.

The voyage hadn’t been too horrible with Leif for company. And though Nilfren had been as insufferable as I was expecting, he had actually taught me much about Zehvitian customs and the palace court that I would need to know.

I had always loved learning. When Father had ordered I stop training with Silvanus, Mother resumed my education in earnest. She believed it was time to start preparing me to bemarriageable. I had loved the lessons on Palasian and dragon rider history but despised the endless lessons on posture, sewing, and etiquette. I hadn’t minded the dancing lessons though; I loved anything that had to do with music. Unfortunately, it had all been directed towards making me eligible for a husband and not the subjects I was truly interested in.

---