I stared at him, marveling at how strong he looked, especially for a boy of only eleven. His blue eyes were bright even in the fading light. “What is it?”
“You must wear it,” he answered instead. “It will show the realm that you are to be mine.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not yours.”
He took a step closer, holding out a necklace for me to take. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. When he acted like this, abrupt and demanding, he reminded me that one day he would be king. He might not be king of the realm or hold as much power as my father, but he would have plenty. He would have his own kingdom to rule.
“You will be,” he insisted. “Our fathers signed the papers this morning. That’s why we’re here. That’s why there’s a festival. When you’re of age, we are to be married.”
Something hot burned through me. “I think I will choose who I want to marry. That is not something my father gets to decide for me.”
“It is something your father gets to decide for you, Princess. We are betrothed. There is nothing you can do about it.”
I lifted my chin. “I can run away.”
“You think you can run away from me?”
I took a step back, suddenly wary of this boy I had known all of my life. He didn’t seem like a boy anymore though. He seemed like some other creature entirely. “Yes. I do.”
He followed my retreating steps. “I’ll chase you.”
“Then I’ll hide.”
He leaned forward, capturing my wrist with his bigger, stronger hand. “Then I’ll find you.”
My heart pounded. I decided to switch tactics. “Boys hate getting married. Alesk won’t stop complaining about his betrothal. He says he’s going to put toads in her shoes and paste on her hairbrush.”
He let out a rumble of laughter. “Alesk won’t feel that way when it’s time for him to get married. I’m sure he’ll leave the Princess of Kasha’s hairbrush very much alone.”
“How would you know? He’s an entire year older than you.”
“Yes, but he has annoying little sisters that make him afraid of all females. I have none. So I have nothing to fear.” I opened my mouth to argue with him but he cut me off with a flippant, “Besides, I’ve seen the Princess of Kasha. He will not complain once he’s seen her.”
Now I felt hot with anger for an entirely different reason. “You don’t know anything.”
He took another step toward me. “I know you’re even prettier than the Princess of Kasha. I know I’m to marry you. I know I have a present for you if you would stop arguing with me.”
“You may give me your present,” I told him with all the air of a woman already queen. “I’ll decide if I want to marry you later.”
He smiled warmly at me and held up the necklace. The two gems danced together on the gentle breeze, clinking against the silver teardrop background. “Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
He slipped it over my head. It was too big. It hung down to the belt on my velvet gown. “I want you to always wear it. Even when we’re older.”
I touched the pretty stones, one that represented my kingdom and one that represented his. “What if I decide not to marry you?”
His finger brushed the underside of my jaw and I looked up at him once more. “Then you can keep the necklace as a symbol of my broken heart.”
I smiled, despite the instinct to run away. “You could always marry the Princess of Kasha.”
His laughter filled the cool air with warmth and the darkness with unexpected light. “Tessa, I cannot wait for you to be queen.”
I slipped the necklace over my head and let the pendant and gems dangle against my breastplate. But I would not be queen of his kingdom.
I would be queen of mine.
4
“It’s too early to start a quest!” Oliver whined next to me.
As reluctant as I was to admit that he was right, the morning chill leached beneath my cloak, through my muslin traveling dress, and straight to my bones. I stumbled over rocks and wayward branches.
The Brotherhood did not have a horse to spare for our journey, so Oliver and I had been forced to set off across the nine kingdoms on foot. We carried with us only a few loaves of bread, six apples, some salted meat, and just enough coin to see that we didn’t starve should we survive the Tenovian forests.
To be fair, we didn’t have to cross the entirety of the nine kingdoms. Only three stood between the Temple of Eternal Light and the center of the realm, where Elysia sat as the crown jewel and Seat of Power.
Oliver’s voice cut through my mental calculations. “Are you listening to me?”
“Yes,” I answered. “It’s early. You’re cold. You’re tired. You’re all things cranky.”
He elbowed me in the arm and I almost tripped over my own feet. “I’ve been talking about the merits of caravan travel for at least seven minutes. I brought up several good points! Now I’ll have to begin again. Did you not hear anything I said?”
We’d been on the road for two hours and already I was exhausted from the trip. “Not a word, Oliver the Silent. It’s quite miraculous when you consider how very often and how loudly you are speaking. I’m surprised the houses we’ve passed along the way haven’t risen from their peaceful sleep to offer their own opinions on horse travel.”
He glowered at me. “You don’t need to be rude. I can be silent. When I want to be.”
“And I can be kind when I want to be.” I sighed, sorry for being mean. “I’m nervous for the journey.” The warming sun turned the gray sky to a panorama of soft colors. Fingers of pink, purple, and indigo stretched across the wakening expanse overhead, bringing the day fully to life.
He elbowed me again, his satchel shifting with the jerking of his body. “Oh, little royal, there is nothing to be worried about! These roads are well-traveled. Which means there will be plenty of travelers to keep us company and keep the rebels at bay. We shall arrive in your precious kingdom unscathed with only a bath to worry for.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “And how often have you traveled these well-traveled roads, little monk?”
His smile wavered. “You’re worrying for nothing,” he insisted. “We know how to take care of ourselves. There is nothing to fear.”
Two weeks later, Oliver realized that wasn’t entirely true.
We stood at the border between Heprin and Tenovia with not a clue which way to go. The road out of Heprin split, taking two equally twisting paths. Forest loomed over either road, blocking out the sun almost completely.
The two countries couldn’t have been more different from one another. While the landscape of Heprin had become clustered with towering trees and little sun, it wasn’t until we stood at the border between our idyllic kingdom of Heprin and the Blood Woods of Tenovia that the light seemed to wholly disappear. The road was no longer bordered by wildflowers and tall grasses dancing in the wind. The quaint cottages lining the road were no longer well maintained with flower boxes in open windows and vegetable gardens blanketing the small properties. The spacious hillsides boasting shrines to the Light gave way to gnarled patches of towering trees until finally they weren’t patches, but thick, untamed walls of deadly forest.