Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
The second time I traveled from the land of Parnesia to the shadowed forests of Raine, I was sixteen, and no longer a child. Instead of fearing the evergreen trees looming over the long road that ran from the town of Portknowe to the castle, I welcomed the sight. For the depths of the Darkwood was home to Thorne, whom I had not seen in months.
My heartbeat quickened at the thought, and I shot a guilty glance at the young man sitting across the coach from me. Prince Kian of Fiorland, with his golden hair and generous nature, was the complete opposite of quiet, dark-haired Thorne. And yet, despite my yearning for Thorne, I had to admit that Kian and I had grown close during our recent ordeals in Parnese.
Sensing my regard, Kian looked at me with a questioning smile.
"Are you ready to be home, Rose?" he asked.
"Yes," I said fervently.
While Castle Raine wasn't quite the home of my heart, it was far removed from Parnese, and the threat of the red priests who'd tried to capture us there. Besides, I really had nowhere else to go.
"I'm glad to hear you say so," my mother said tartly from her place beside me on the velvet-upholstered bench. "Perhaps now you'll appreciate what it means to be a princess living in a castle, rather than a fugitive of little means, running desperately through the streets."
As ever, my mother knew just how to jab at me with her words. Only the presence of Kian, and the dour Sir Durum, captain of the king's guard, kept me from a rude reply. No matter what responses the wicked little voice inside of me whispered I should make...
That voice had grown quieter in recent months, however, and I was grateful. Perhaps due to my recent illness, or perhaps because I was growing older, it lacked the violent force that had spurred me into foolish acts in the past. I hoped it would fade away altogether.
And yet, I also hoped it didn't. There was a certain wild zest in heeding its promptings toward recklessness.
"I wonder how Neeve is doing," Kian said.
I scanned his face, searching for a hint of fondness for my stepsister. "Did you miss her?"
Now it was his turn to look guilty, though the expression passed almost before I could see it.
"I just don't want her to get ahead of me in sword work," he said.
I let out a short laugh. "I doubt that's possible. Are you fishing for compliments?"
"Are you giving me one?" He winked at me, and I felt my cheeks heat.
Oh, but this was no good.
Kian was never meant for me. He was fostering at Castle Raine in order to promote goodwill between the kingdom of Raine and his home country of Fiorland. That result of which, I'd been explicitly informed, was his expected marriage to Neeve.
Why? I railed inside. Why did my stepsister get both Kian and Thorne, while I had no one?
Because you don't deserve them, the echo of my voice suggested. I ignored it and clenched my teeth against the bitter reminder that, as usual, I was on my own.
