Page 106 of Follow Your Bliss

The top shelf was a jumble of armor, crowns, and baubles. A crude wooden box under a bronze shield looked as good as any other place to start. I pulled it out, blew the top layer of dust off, and popped it open: dozens of rings. Hooking my arm on the ladder, I tucked the box close to my breast and dragged my fingers through the top layer. Dust motes swarmed in the light streaming through the stained-glass window overhead. Most of the rings were golden and gaudy, encrusted with precious gems and centuries of neglect.

Nes-reeen!Ady called out to me mind to mind, drawing out the last syllable of my name.We’re waiting!

Can’t you deal with him this time?I answered, taking advantage of her dragonian telepathy to steal a few more minutes at my task. I slipped a dragon-shaped ring onto my finger and rubbed off the dust with my thumb. Its miniature golden scales shimmered, undulating around the shank. Maybe Veytian, from the style of it.

Ady’s voice popped into my head.No.It’s your job now: I’m the welcomer, you’re the defeater.

Fine, I huffed. I climbed down and tossed the box on my worktable, the rings popping out andtinkingas they scattered. My leather boots clomped a quick pattern on the stone floor of the treasury and echoed among the columns of the Great Hall as I jogged toward the armory. Once there, I strapped on basic armor, tightened my bandolier, and grabbed my sword. By the time I got to the stables, Ady’s magic had my dappled mare tacked, a lance attached to her saddle.

I urged Pistachio gently out of the stables, creeping her one hoof at a time beneath the low canopy as a brisk autumn breeze stirred a mini whirlwind of red and gold leafmeal on the forest floor.

“How dare you disturb the Dread Dragon Adydorrstea?” Ady’s professional, man-eating dragon voice resonated through the forest, deep as bronze windchimes.

Stop riling him up!I grouched. As I came around the base of the steep monolith to approach him from behind, the prince’s baritone voice carried through the forest.

“I’m Prince Forth of Oprolodas, and I’m here to rescue the fair maiden, Nesrin of Araven!”

He already sounded like a prick—young and privileged, as if he’d come of age, was gifted a fine horse from King Daddy, and immediately set off to abduct me. I peered up through a hole in the pied canopy. Ady held court on the open landing balcony chiseled high into the nearly vertical front face of her mountain, massive, feathered wings tucked in and front legs resting on a balustrade twice my height. She was swift and fiery death on black feathered wings, and she was flickering out a quiet laugh at my expense.

Her voice in my head shimmered with loving mockery.Should I tell him you’re neither fair nor a maiden?

I approached the line of poplar trees encircling the glade before Ady’s front gate.Since you can’t see me, shall I describe the ugly face and hand gesture I’m making at you? You overgrown lizard bird.

Her appreciative laugh echoed in my head like a pattering of muted bells as she turned her attention back to the imbecile on the muddy clearing. “Welcome to your doom, Prince Fifth!”

“It’s PrinceForth,” he asserted.

“That’s what Isaid,” Ady replied, setting a small, already-charred tree ablaze with her sibilance. Her intonation was not unlike that of an heiress with sophisticated manners and a questionable past.

I smirked and peered through the trees, close enough to see but not be seen by Prince What’s-His-Name to get a read on him before I engaged. He sat tall and dressed in full metal armor atop the requisite majestic black stallion, which was large enough to bear his weight another time over.

“No, you didn’t,” he argued back.

Actually, thatwasa nice horse. He tossed his mane, and the feathering around his feet fluttered as he stepped high and proud around the clearing.

“Doom awaits you, Prince Third! You have to fight to bring Princess Nesrin away with you.”

The prince whipped his horse, coercing it closer to the cave, and my nostrils flared. That stallion was definitely going to be mine.

“I’m ready,” he called up to Ady, unsheathing his sword. “Come down and fight me!”

Ady glanced behind herself as if she wasn’t sure to whom he was speaking. “Me?” She raised an obsidian talon to her feathered breast. “Oh dear. You thought you had to fightme?” She tutted. “You’ve been misinformed. How embarrassing for you.” Her eyes flickered to where I emerged on the ground, twenty feet behind the armored git.

I nodded to her once. I was in position and ready.

“You see, Prince Second, the princess may occasionally take a lover, but she doesn’t wish to leave. To make her leave, you’ll have to fight her yourself.” Ady tilted her slender head toward me, her black and burgundy head feathers dancing around two gently curved horns. The prince turned quickly, startling at the sight of me.

“Princess Nesrin?”

I wiggled my fingers at him in a bored wave. His head bobbled down then up, no doubt taking in the horse clad in armor and the lance captained by a very unprincess-y woman dressed in fighting leathers instead of a flowing gown.

“Can we get this over with?” I tossed my long braid behind my back. “I’m very busy.”

As much as I resented this intrusion into my carefully scheduled day cataloging the treasury, I had to admit this was my favorite part. Every man had the same reaction. I didn’t have to see this one’s face to know what passed across it: confusion, disbelief, then irritation. Hopefully this one wouldn’t balk at having to fight a woman.

Prince Forth’s eyes darted between Ady and me. “Surely you don’t expect me to fight the princess?”

I grimaced. “Look out, Forth!” Urging Pistachio into a trot, I steadied the lance for impact.

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