Page 14 of To Wake a Kingdom

The dagger still gripped in my hand, I clutched it to my chest. “At least this gives us time to figure something out.”

Chapter Seven

30 days left

Icouldn’tkeephidinghere. Until last night, I’d been using the castle’s thick stone walls as a shield, but Mare’s threat had rooted into every corner, forcing me into the cold light of day.

The library had turned up nothing of use, and Kianna still didn’t know how to undo her spell. I also wanted to learn what had become of the kingdom my family had once ruled. I needed so many answers. And I needed them fast.

Somehow, I would figure a way out of this. And when that happened, I wanted the life I’d dreamed of. One where I was the heir of Ravalyn, happy and secure with my family. I could marry a prince from a neighboring kingdom, and we’d form an alliance to protect and watch over our people until we withered with age, surrounded by the children and grandchildren we’d borne.

Besides, even if the food in the kitchen didn’t spoil, eventually we would run out.

There were rows of spices and bags of flour and blocks of butter, but neither of us knew how to make anything using them. I was so tired of my helplessness. I’d learned how to needlepoint and play the piano and curtsy—utterly useless things that didn’t matter to anyone except a privileged princess.

“I’m going outside,” I said, peering into a bag of salt. “Find someone who knows how to break this curse and a town where we can buy more meat and bread and cheese. Hopefully, Tenby still exists, and if not, that man came from somewhere.”

The castle’s coffers were well-stocked, and the one thing we had was gold. The mechanics of commerce were one thing I understood, at least.

“No, Highness,” Kianna said. “It is too dangerous. We must stay here.”

I rolled my eyes. “And do what? Eat the rats?”

Kianna pouted, her face turning as green as her dress.

“We need information, and we won’t find answers sitting here. Anyway, it isn’t safe here either, is it?”

Not waiting for her reply, I donned my traveling cloak. Clad in a simple gray dress, I hoped it made me as inconspicuous as possible. For now, I wanted to remain anonymous in my kingdom. I didn’t know what changes had transpired during my family’s absence. No one had claimed my castle, but I thought of the skeletons caught in the brambles and wondered if someone had tried. That man in the red coat had arrived with some nefarious intention.

A small bag filled with gold coins hung from my waist, along with a dagger that wouldn’t attract notice. My long black hair was tied back, and I’d removed all my jewelry—the diamond earrings and gold rings I’d always worn. It would only draw attention and, more importantly, it felt like clinging to some version of a life that no longer existed. One that might never exist again.

After lifting the barrier to the castle door, I headed outside, Kianna close on my heels.

“Are you sure about this, Your Highness? What if there are more men likehimout there?”

“There will always be men like him out there, Kianna. Staying here won’t change that. We need to eat, and we need to break the curse. You stay here and watch over my family. If I don’t come back, then I guess you’re free of all of this.” I shrugged.

“Your Highness, don’t say things like that.”

I offered her a wan look and then stalked to the stables. I knew tending to the horse had been a good idea. I glanced at the boy asleep against the back wall. I was doing this for him, too. If I didn’t break this curse, Mare would kill this child who was absolutely innocent of everything. I could not let that happen.

Leading the horse outside, I turned to Kianna. “Go inside and bar the door. Don’t open it for anyone but me. Do you understand?” I didn’t like leaving her behind, but a Faerie would only attract attention, and I was reasonably sure Mare wouldn’t meddle until my time ran out. She wanted to watch me squirm.

Eyes wide, Kianna nodded as she studied me with trepidation. Lips parted, she appeared on the verge of speaking.

“What?” I asked.

“You are very different, Your Highness. Than before, I mean.”

I stared at her, a memory surfacing of a day when I’d been fourteen, and Kianna and her sisters had been trying to teach me the finer points of attending a royal state dinner. Viviane had rapped my hands when I’d picked up the wrong fork for the salad and chosen the wrong glass for the apéritif. Eleven more Fae had loomed over me, correcting my every misstep. The way I had sat, the way I’d picked up my napkin, the way I had rolled my eyes at everything. I’d hated every minute.

“Poise!” one had shouted at me, followed by “Elegance!” from another. My gifts. The treasures they had so selflessly bestowed hurled like cannonballs as I’d failed to live up to their standards over and over.

I gave Kianna a look hard enough to compress coal into diamonds. My relationship with the Fae was not one I ever thought of fondly, more often than not rueing their presence in my life. They’d claimed they were protecting me, but all they had done was make me miserable. In a life already cut short, they had stolen so many seconds I’d never get back, wasting them on lessons I would never need. Time I could have been soaking in the tiny drops life offered a girl like me. Being stuck here now, with one of the Fae as my only companion, seemed like another cruel twist of fate.

“I’m not different, Kianna. You’ve never actually seen me before.”

Before she could respond, I mounted the saddle marked with the same crest the intruder wore on his tunic. He’d carried no provisions, and I hoped that meant he hadn’t come from far. There were once towns and villages nearby, but I worried about how much had changed in a hundred years. Time had stood still behind these walls, but the same couldn’t be true of the rest of the world.

---