Trepidation filled every waking moment of the fourteen long days it took to reach the northeastern stronghold of Ferren’s Keep.
Most of my trip was spent deep in thought, watching the passing of croplands and riverbeds of the country mainland. With the growing rebel attacks, Jerar’s impending war with Caltoth, and my new position close to the border, the Crown’s advisors had decreed that one of the King’s Regiment remain with the future princess at all times. So, like the pack of guards that had once accompanied Darren to the Academy many years before, I now had Paige, a young knight four years my senior, for companionship. She wasn’t very talkative, and what little sentences she did speak were of basic necessity.
When I had tried to expand on our conversation, the girl just frowned. I sensed she wasn’t shy, but it was clear she hadn’t warmed up to me either. The knight was sharp-tongued when she did utter an opinion, and I found myself regretting almost all of my attempts.
Paige was tall, brawny, and almost the female equivalent of Alex in stature. She only packed chainmail and men’s clothes to dress. She had stunning brown locks she kept hidden in a braid to the side, and narrowed eyes that seemed to pass judgment the second they looked at you.
She was lowborn, but she was unlike any lowborn I had ever met. She despised small talk, scoffed at all my suggestions, and eyed every traveler—noble or not—with the same suspicious edge.
The third time I tried to engage her she snapped at me to pay attention to the road, and followed hastily with an unfeeling apology, “my lady.”
I didn’t know what to do. With all of our shared background, I had assumed a friendship was in order. Both of us were women who had risen above our station through hard work, and we were both young and stuck together for as long as the king ordained her presence necessary. It would have only made sense for us to bond—if for nothing else than the eternity we had ahead. But it was clear my companion had other ideas.
The rest of the time we traveled in silence, with the exception of one or two disagreements over direction.
I spent most of the hours enjoying our scenery. Which was very easy as we drew further and further west. Plains gave way to pine and thick clusters of sweet-smelling grass, thin streams joined and became one large coursing current. Foliage sprouted up along the banks, first and foremost my favorite: the dense green tree with its large, shiny leaves and clusters of tiny red flowers that dotted its branches.
The clove tree.
Before I knew it we had arrived at the small village of Demsh’aa. Home.
We were only supposed to be passing through for the night, but much to the chagrin of my traveling guard, I insisted on one extra day to visit with my parents. I hadn’t seen either since my first-year trial four years before.
Paige left me to visit, scouring the local shops to replenish our supplies, and I took a tour of the new changes in my brothers’ and my absence. I was pleased to see how much better we fared. Previously the apothecary had been an extra room in my parents’ house, but because of the coin Alex and I had been sending home (Derrick’s soldier salary was much less than that of a mage), they had been able to purchase a small building close to the center of town, and they had already apprenticed two young girls who had chosen to pursue a local trade instead of a trial year in one of the country’s three war schools.
My parents apologized for missing Alex’s and my ascension, but I had already known it would be too much to leave the store in the midst of the new apprentices’ training. Besides, the mages’ ceremony wasn’t open to the public, and while I was sure they would have been able to attend the feast, it would have been a long journey to take for such a short event. I was just happy my parents had supported my studies.
Of course, I came bearing news…
But it had actually already arrived by Alex’s envoy a week before. Although that didn’t make it any easier to accept.
My father was in a constant state of shock. During my apprenticeship all my letters home had refrained from mentioning Darren—mostly because I hadn’t known what to write—so to hear the prince and I had been falling in love all this time was something my father had never considered.
My mother was much more understanding, stating that she had suspected as much during the week of our first-year trials. “He wouldn’t stop staring at you. I knew there was more to it than your friend led us to believe… I just never expected this.”
It was a hard notion to ponder. A prince of the realm had chosen to take their lowborn daughter not as a mistress but as his wife.
My parents were happy, but confused. And I didn’t have five years to explain exactly how it came to be. To be perfectly honest I was still reeling from the news as well.