Chapter 1
I woke abruptly in the darkness, startled awake and disoriented. Where was I? And what was that noise?
The rustling and creaking came again through the night as I slowly recognized my surroundings. Bookshelves cast shadows through the dim room, reminding me I had been reading in my family’s personal sitting room—a room my parents had turned into a small private library. I must have fallen asleep, the mage light winking out at some point in the unknown hours that had passed since then.
I squinted at the moon out the window. It must be nearing dawn from the faint hint of deep blue in the night sky. I groaned and stretched, sore from the hours spent slumped in the armchair.
A soft gasp made me sit up straight and peer around the room. I wasn’t alone.
Two frozen shapes, darker than the rest of the night, caught my eye. They stood near the small door that opened into the palace grounds.
“Who’s there?” I asked sharply, my hand reaching for the protective compositions I kept stored in my pockets.
The second gasp sounded so fearful that my muscles relaxed slightly. It was hardly the noise of an attacker, creeping into the palace with dark intent.
“It’s only Verene,” a voice whispered at the softest possible volume.
The words were clearly meant for other ears, but it was so quiet in the room I easily caught them. And I recognized the voice.
“Stellan?” I stood up and tried to peer harder through the darkness. “Is that you? What are you doing here?”
An exasperated sigh sounded, and a second later a light flared, illuminating the room.
“What are you doing here?” my younger brother asked. “You do have a bed to sleep in, you know.”
I ignored the question as I examined the two people revealed by the light. My sixteen-year-old brother looked irritated, but underneath it I detected a hint of real fear.
I frowned, a new wave of anxiety flooding me. What was Stellan doing creeping through the palace in the dark? And why was he afraid?
His companion looked outright terrified, and I had the overwhelming impression she was barely refraining from clinging tightly to Stellan’s arm. I didn’t recognize her from court, and her clothing suggested she was a commonborn. But what was my brother doing with an unfamiliar commonborn girl? A girl who looked around his own age and whose wide eyes and plain clothes did nothing to mar her beauty. A sense of foreboding swept over me.
“Stellan, what is going on here?” I asked, although my eyes didn’t leave the girl.
Her long black hair had been braided and pinned to her head, the effect almost regal, despite her plain outfit. Her golden skin and high cheekbones reminded me of our Aunt Saffron. Had she also come from the northern city of Torcos? Perhaps Stellan had met her through our aunt.
“Nothing to do with you,” he said, making my frown deepen. My brother wasn’t usually so combative.
“I’m Verene.” I kept my attention on Stellan’s companion, introducing myself since he didn’t seem inclined to do it for me. “Stellan’s sister.”
She immediately dropped into a curtsy. “Yes, of course, Your Highness.” She faltered a little, casting an anxious glance at my brother before adding, “I’m Elsie.”
My eyes dropped to her wrists, but her skin was clear and unmarked. If she was a commonborn, she wasn’t one of the fortunate sealed, able to read and write. As soon as the thought occurred to me, I gasped and leaped across the short distance to stand between the two of them and the small door that opened out into the palace courtyard.
“Stellan! You tell me right this second what the two of you are doing.” I hoped I was overreacting, but I couldn’t risk the chance my guess was right.
Stellan squared his shoulders, drawing himself up to his newly acquired height.
“I won’t let you stop us, Verene.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t like the sound of that. Is that a threat, Stellan?”
“Stellan!” Elsie hissed, and this time she did grab his arm, giving him a look that was half-afraid, half-reproving.
He looked down into her face with a determined expression. “I already told you. I’m not going to let anything—or anyone—stop me.” He glanced back in my direction. “Not even you, Verene. Even if I have to put you to sleep.”
“Well unfortunately for you, I have every intention of stopping you. And you’ll find I’m not so easy to put to sleep as that.”
Elsie pulled at Stellan’s arm, her eyes frantic. “I told you this was a bad idea.”
But Stellan’s face merely set into more obstinate lines. “This is our only chance. You know that. I’m not losing it.” He sucked in a breath. “I’m not losing you.”
She flushed, glancing at me and then quickly away.
“Stellan.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Are you or are you not attempting to sneak into the sealing ceremony happening first thing this morning?”
He said nothing in response, not meeting my eyes.
“Mother and Father have already told you they won’t consider letting you be sealed until you finish first year at least. You’re about to start at the Academy—is it really so awful to wait one more year?”
I glanced at Elsie and bit my lip. “And I really, really hope that Elsie is a friend, keeping you company against her better judgment. Because if she’s a commonborn, and you’re planning to sneak her into the ceremony as well, then you’re worse than a fool.”
“You don’t understand, Verene,” Stellan said, a hint of desperation in his voice.
I kept my gaze steady, not giving him even a hint of softness. “I understand that if you manage to do this to yourself, you’ll be in more trouble than you’re ready for. I can’t even imagine how Mother and Father would react. But if Elsie does it?” I shook my head. “If you care about her at all, Stellan, then you won’t want to see her suffer the sort of consequences that would fall on an unknown commonborn who committed the same offense. You’re a prince, Stellan, which means you’ll get leniency she won’t. And you should know that.”
He blanched, looking down at her with a protective expression that made his face both gentle and strong at the same time. But when he looked back at me, his eyes hardened.
“This is our only chance. I’ll deal with the consequences afterward.”
I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. I knew I was only two years older than my brother, but had I ever been that young? Darius’s face flashed in front of my eyes, and I nearly winced. I knew what it was like to throw caution to the wind and let myself be ruled by emotion.
Certainty gripped me. “You love her,” I said softly to Stellan, unable to resist another curious glance at Elsie.
The poor girl looked miserable—embarrassed and terrified at the same time. But when she saw me looking at her, she straightened.
“I told him it was a bad idea, Princess Verene. He shouldn’t risk all of this for me.”
“You’re risking more than he is.” I sighed, thinking of the risk he didn’t even know he was taking. “Or at least, more than he knows he is.”
Stellan’s eyes snapped to mine. “What’s that supposed to mean?”