Page 2 of Tournament

The guards turned to me with grim faces, but it was Saffron who spoke. I had no idea how old the patient, capable, long-suffering man was, since he was full-blooded fae. But his eyes had fine wrinkles around them, and the corners of his lips formed deep grooves when he was beset by powerful emotions. Like he was now. Kind blue eyes stared into mine as he spoke.

"Lady Katrina, I'm afraid we've just received news that there has been an accident." He didn't beat around the bush or draw things out for my benefit. He knew I had no patience for that sort of thing. "Your stepmother…." His voice wavered, and he paused to compose himself. "Lady Rose is dead. An ill-timed encounter with a passing fire lizard on her way back from town this afternoon."

I shook my head at him. "No. There aren't any fire lizards in Larkwood."

"A swarm came through sudden-like," one of the guards said, his gravelly voice trying its best to be gentle, when I got the feeling he was more used to barking orders. "A migration event, we think. They hied on off through the territory and into the mountains over in Trollheim right after, according to witnesses who saw them pass through."

I swallowed hard. Tears were already spilling down my cheeks, but I refused to sob out loud in front of these men the way I wanted to do. I was Lady Rose's daughter. I knew how to keep my composure. There were questions I needed to ask.

But for some reason, I couldn't say anything at all.

"Lady Katrina?" the other guard said with an apologetic note in his voice. "I know you need time to process what has happened, but we've been sent here to retrieve you."

I looked at him in confusion. "Retrieve me?"

He nodded. "The king and queen wish for you to visit the palace for a time. The two of us came to give you some warning, but there will be others joining us shortly. An escort to ensure no harm comes to you on your way to the capital."

I blinked at him. "I can't go visit the capital now. I need to…I have to…there are…things that need to be done here. I—"

Saffron put a hand on my shoulder, interrupting my rambling attempts at forming a thought, and drew my attention back to his steady gaze. He had to be as heartbroken as I was right now—maybe more so, since he had been my stepmother's most loyal servant and friend for decades. But he only showed me solidarity and calm as he tilted my entire world on its axis.

"Lady Rose named you as her heir and recommended you to the royal family as steward of Larkwood, should anything ever happen to her." He gestured to the guards. "You need to report to the capital to be formally approved by the king and queen and sort out your inheritance, my lady." He gave me a sad, fleeting smile then, clearly aware of how utterly confused and shocked I was. "I know that Lady Rose had every faith in you. Surely you know she has been training you to be steward for years now. Though I think we all rather thought you wouldn't need those skills for quite some time to come."

The sob finally escaped then, loud and gasping, as if I'd been stabbed. He was right. She had been grooming me. I knew it in my heart. And I had always been so happy about that. So thrilled that she hadn't turned me away, that she clearly thought of me as her own daughter, even once my father was gone. Even though I was a lowborn mix, with little magic and only my character to recommend me.

But despite that, I had never really let myself dwell on the thought that I might be steward of Larkwood one day. It seemed such a distant thing. Lady Rose was relatively young, and she was a highborn fae, born of elven and other high fae blood. She might live for a couple of centuries, at least. I thought I'd simply help her out, serve as her right-hand one day, the way my father had. I thought I had a lifetime to learn everything she had to teach me about caring for the land and its people.

But now I was alone. A lowborn left on my own with this huge and wholly unwanted new position. And I was only eighteen years old. Larkwood and all of its people were utterly doomed if anyone honestly thought I could take on this responsibility.

"Come along, my lady," one of the guards said, patting my back in an almost fatherly manner. "We don't want to keep the king and queen waiting."

Chapter 1

Five Years Later

I tried to maneuver the overflowing basket of apples and fish through the barn door, skinning my knuckles in the process. "Fern sucking son of a twice-fucked toad!" I muttered, kicking the stable doors wider so I could stagger over and plop the basket down onto a nearby table.

The work surface was scattered with tack that someone had been polishing recently, and I pushed it out of the way. Motes of dust and straw chaff danced in the air like pixie dust, glowing in the afternoon sun that filtered in through the open door and the skylights above. Balefire, currently in stallion form, stretched out his long neck toward me. His velvety black lips twitched over his razor-sharp teeth as he sniffed at the basket.

"Yes, you spoiled brat," I muttered to the shape-shifting beast. Pressing my poor, skinned knuckles to my lips, I muttered a minor healing spell before I lifted the basket again and took it over to the pooka's stall. There was no heat in my words, and I knew that Balefire could sense my fondness for him, even through my grumbling. Pooka were cleverer than most of the wild fae creatures that roamed Elfhaven. Sometimes that was more of a curse than a blessing, but I wouldn't trade him for a calmer, more predictable pet for any amount of gold or jewels in the world.

I was bent over depositing the basket of fish and fruit into the feed trough in Balefire's box stall when a clear, cultured female voice spoke from right behind me. "Surely you have grooms and stable hands who could do that, lady steward. How undignified."

I rolled my eyes and straightened, turning to face my best friend as I wiped my grimy hands on the rough fabric of my worn and faded work pants. "You know me," I drawled as I arched a brow at the vision of beauty who stood framed in the doorway of my stables. "I'm always so concerned about appearances."

Amaryllis laughed, the sound like tinkling bells. Then she came to hug me lightly, despite the fact that she was wearing ice blue watered silk and I was covered in mud and dust, and probably had twigs and leaves sticking out of my hair. "It's what I love most about you," the princess of Elfhaven assured me. Releasing me, she went to take a seat on a nearby stool, not at all concerned about her fine clothes or my mucking about in the stables. "It's refreshing to spend time with someone who has their priorities straight," she said with a little lift of her chin. "Much better than spending time with the rest of the stuffy court."

I shook my head at the highborn fae princess, wondering what mischief she was up to now. "What important meeting are you missing to be here giving me commentary on how I take care of my horses, Ama? I don't want your parents blaming me for your slacking off. Again."

Ama and I had been friends ever since my father married the steward of Larkwood. We had met during some stuffy business meeting or other, ransacked the palace kitchens, snuck out into the gardens and been fast friends ever since.

She huffed and lifted her perfect nose in the air. "Ha. Shows what you know. The meeting was over an hour ago." Then she tucked a lock of her honey-gold hair behind one tall, pointed ear before shooting a glance my way. "I'm here on official business. The king and queen asked me to speak with you. Which is just such a chore."

I raised my eyebrows at her as Balefire noisily dug into his fruity, fishy treats. A little shimmering coil of shadows danced around the pooka as he shook his head in delight. "Your parents sent you?" I asked Amaryllis, a bit of anxiety settling low in my belly.

If the king and queen were using my friend as a liaison, then they must be certain that I would hate whatever message she bore. And if she had left her meeting only an hour ago, that meant she had used a portal spell to get here. One cast by the high cleric at the palace in Brightfall. "What did I do now?" I quipped, crossing my arms over my light cotton shirt and staring her down. "I swear, whatever it is, it wasn't me."

I was joking, mostly. Amaryllis's parents were wonderful rulers, kind and just, and the queen had been my late stepmother's best friend all their lives. They had fully supported me taking over for Lady Rose as steward of Larkwood, even though I was so young. They had guided me every step of the way. I didn't fear the king and queen, or really hold them in the same awe that most people did. But that little nervous tell, the way Amaryllis was having trouble meeting my eyes…that didn't bode well.

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