I tossed uncomfortably in my bed, gripped by a dream that followed all too closely with my true memories, despite the years that had passed. I had dreamed thus every night since my foolish agreement to accompany the Tour. Lanover held too many places I didn’t care to revisit. Too many places from my past.
This night was one of my more unusual dreams. I huddled in a small woodshed trying to block out the sound of the other children hammering on the thin boards that made up the walls and calling taunts. I clenched my hands into fists, determined not to let the tears fall. If only I were bigger, or stronger, or not alone. Then I wouldn’t be hiding in here in fear. But I was alone. And in here was safer than out there. At least until one of them grew bold enough to knock down the door and face their mother’s wrath over the destruction.
The dream veered suddenly away from reality as a flicker of heat touched my side a moment before bright flames consumed the wall of the shed. I gasped and scrambled away from them. The knocking grew louder and more frantic until I awoke with a jerk to stare stupidly around an unfamiliar room. A second later memory returned, and I slid out of my bed in one of the guest rooms in the palace’s servants’ wing. Flinging open the door, I had to half-catch a serving maid who almost toppled inside. The young girl looked half-terrified, half-thrilled, and the candle in her hand told me my mind hadn’t deceived me—morning hadn’t yet broken.
“What is it?” I asked. “What’s wrong?” I had been up late working on an outfit for each of the princes, and my mind felt sluggish.
“The Tour is leaving at once. It’s one of the towns. Tolon. Or possibly Medellan. I can’t remember now. But everyone is gathering in the gardens in front of the palace. The steward nearly forgot about you, so you’ll have to run or be left behind.”
Her final sentence killed the questions hovering on my tongue. I almost slammed the door in her face as I scrambled back into the room, nearly tripping as I threw myself into my clothes. I was thankful now that I had taken the time the night before, despite my fatigue at the late hour, to deliver the princes’ outfits to the appropriate places and lay out my own garments.
My personal bag took only a moment to assemble, and then I was racing through the corridors. I burst out into the pre-dawn night in time to see the princes ride out at the head of two columns of riders. The ground in front of the palace, lit by countless lanterns, churned with wagons and carriages. Despite the beginning of the train already departing, chaos still reigned at the back. I looked around frantically until I heard a voice call, “Evie!”
I turned to find Celine riding toward me. “There you are! The steward almost forgot you, the idiot. Can you ride? I hope so, since I’ve ordered them to saddle a horse.”
I nodded, still catching my breath, as the princess beckoned a groom forward. Celine, obviously unsure of my riding skills, had selected a placid-looking mare, and the groom threw me up into the saddle before I had time to gather my thoughts. A moment later, I was trotting out the gate beside the princess.
Everything had happened so fast that our procession had made it half-way through the dark, quiet city before it sank in that I was leaving the capital. The strength of the pang I felt at my departure surprised me. Lanare had been a refuge for me where I had found—if not friends—at least success and security with my dressmaking shop.
I tried to comfort myself that I would be back soon enough—the Tour was scheduled to last months, not years. But my mind couldn’t force my emotions to believe it. I had plenty of experience at leaving homes, but I had never returned to one.
When I had arrived in Lanare, my expectations had been low. But I had surprised myself by how much I enjoyed life in the sprawling capital. The air here didn’t have the same suffocating heaviness that it did down south in the jungles, but it still carried enough moisture to prevent the burning dryness of the Great Desert that ran the length of eastern Lanover. And while it didn’t have the beauty of Largo, or the turquoise seas and pristine sands of the western isles, it had a beauty all its own. I had become accustomed to the reddish sandstone of the buildings. And the bright flowers and greenery that still burst forth wherever they could find root reminded me of the jungle without overwhelming the buildings with their presence.
Even the palace was constructed of the same sandstone, a single-story building without even a wall to protect it like those apparently surrounding the palaces of the northern kingdoms. Instead it was placed on a large hill, encircled with living gardens instead of stone, the views encompassing the entire city. And, best of all, commoners making deliveries to the palace were permitted to wander around the gardens at will. I had often delivered my royal commissions myself just so I could spend an hour soaking up the view and the colors on my way out.
But despite the unexpected emotion, my thoughts could not linger long on Lanare. Not when I had still received no proper explanation of our rushed, early morning departure. The maid had mentioned Tolon and Medellan, two of the towns directly south of the capital, but I had no idea how either of them could precipitate this unexpected haste.
I was considering the question when Celine, who had ridden up the line to talk to her brothers, returned to position her horse beside mine.
“I’m so glad you can ride, Evie. Just think how awful it would be to be cooped up forever in one of those carriages with all the fusty old nobles.” She wrinkled her nose and shuddered at the thought.
“Your Highness…I mean, Princess…I mean…” I gave up on the correct address altogether. “What has happened? Why are we rushing?”
Celine stared at me. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”
I shook my head, and she sighed. “Because you were forgotten, I suppose. You must have had to rush even worse than the rest of us.” Her expression grew somber and still. “Medellan has burned.”
I gasped. “How…how much of it?”
She turned saddened eyes to me. “All of it.”
“All…” My voice trailed away as I considered the horror of it. I had passed through Medellan on my way to the capital. While it was considerably smaller than a regional center like Largo, it was one of the larger towns close to the capital, home to hundreds of people.
Questions ran through my mind, but it took me a moment to decide which to ask first.
“The people?” I asked eventually, voicing my primary concern.
“The messenger who reached us didn’t know anything for certain.” Celine swallowed audibly. “But he seemed to think the losses were minimal given the level of destruction. We don’t understand what happened yet, or how a whole town could be lost. But they requested a large contingent of royal guard to assist them.”
Her hands on the reins twitched. “With so many guards already committed to the Tour, Father and Cassian didn’t want to leave the capital too depleted. Not after the attempted coup last year.”
She looked down at her mount’s head, her brow furrowed, and I remembered hearing rumors that she had been involved in foiling the despicable plot against her family. I had been newly arrived in the capital then and had heard only distant tales of the clean-up required to sweep out the traitorous members of the guard. City gossip said the royals were still rebuilding the guard numbers.
Celine looked up, recovering some of her natural bounce. “Frederic said there was no need to empty the capital or delay the Tour when we could simply leave immediately and begin our travels in Medellan. What better way to show ourselves to our people than by arriving with assistance in their hour of need?” She stilled slightly. “It was a good thought.”
It was a good thought, and I admired the prince for it. Not all nobles, let alone royals, were so willing to get their hands dirty.