I chose my words carefully. Nodded gravely, as though I agreed with this insanity. “Perhaps you could describe the criminal to me. Then I’ll be able to steer clear of him if our paths cross on my way to see the uh... the Oracle.”
His shrewd black eyes bored into mine. “There’s no need to humor me. I may be middle-aged, but I haven’t begun losing my mind,” he replied tartly.
Middle-aged? I bit back a retort. It was the least harmful of the delusions he seemed to be suffering from.
“You will meet the Oracle soon enough. She will tell you of the great evil that has slumbered for a thousand years. The prophecy that says it will awaken one day to destroy the world of the Seven Stars.”
His next words sent a chill through my bones.
“You needn’t worry about crossing paths with your father’s murderer. No human hand was raised against him. He was struck down by an evil spell woven by a practitioner of necromancy. The blackest of magic. We do not need to track down your father’s killer, my lady. As I told you, I already know his identity.
“It was the Lord of Darkness.”
Chapter Two
Six years later
Melisandre
“Ooof!”
I crumpled to the ground, struggling to take in a breath, my mouth flapping open and shut like a fish hauled out of the water.
“My lady! Forgive me.”
Curled in a ball with both hands wrapped around my middle, I couldn’t draw enough air in to respond.
“You oaf! You careless ass! Forgive my language, my lady.” The last words were addressed to me. Then Pieter, captain of the Royal Guard, went back to berating the poor lad assigned to sparring practice with me today. “Are you daft, Henry? You know you’re to control your force when you spar with her, especially when striking at the solar plexus.”
To prove his point, Pieter whirled his bowstaff and jabbed the tip of it into Henry’s midsection, the move so sudden the younger man had no time to block it. At the last second, Pieter stopped with the tip digging only an inch into Henry’s belly. “That’s how it’s done,” he declared scornfully then tossed the staff aside to help me up.
“It…it’s all right, Pieter,” I managed to gasp. I waved his hands away and stubbornly struggled to my feet, hunched over and cradling my stomach. “He only…knocked the wind…out of me.”
Only? Hah. I’d never felt such pain. Radiating through my body, taking me to my knees. Driving the air out of my lungs with a whoosh, then robbing me of the ability to draw it back in for what seemed like forever. I shuddered to think how excruciating it must be to take the thrust of a sword in one’s belly. Where did wounded warriors find the courage to go back into battle?
Pride forced me to square my shoulders and stand upright, though every breath sent a stabbing pain through me. I wondered whether he’d cracked a rib then dismissed the thought. I was being a baby. The pain would ease eventually – I hoped.
I had something more important on my mind at the moment. “Did you tell Henry…” I stopped, took a few shallow breaths. “Did I hear you’ve been instructing the guards to pull their punches when they spar with me?”
“No, my lady!”
His protest was a bit too earnest. I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Yes, my lady. But not enough to keep you from learning how to block and parry. Only to keep from hurting you.” Pieter had the grace to look ashamed.
I hobbled over and sank down onto the stump of a log at the edge of the clearing where we trained. A stone’s throw from the palace walls, the ground there was uneven enough to offer practice in keeping one’s balance, yet soft enough to provide a bit of cushioning when I was knocked off my feet.
I thought I was learning to fight. And all this time they’d been going easy on me. I was torn. Insulted to learn I wasn’t as skilled as I looked, yet relieved. I’d taken my share of falls, gotten nasty bruises that turned frightening shades of purple. Had they fought me in earnest, I realized, I’d have endured far more agonizing blows.
“Come here, Pieter.”
He came toward me. Bowed his head. “I apologize, my lady.”
“It’s all right, Pieter. I’m not angry with you,” I said gently. “But you need to understand something. I’m not doing this as a lark. There will come a time…” I stopped. I mustn’t reveal too much “You and the other members of the Royal Guard may not always be at my side. There might come a time when I need to really fight. Thinking I can defend myself or attack an enemy based on mock sparring matches could get me killed.”
“I pray you will never be forced to fight an enemy yourself, my lady. Ten thousand soldiers of the realm are ready to be called into battle at a moment’s notice. And the Royal Guards would willingly give their lives to keep you from harm. I myself would kill with my bare hands anyone who dared to lay a finger on you.”
I took a deep breath. Cleared my head of the violent, bloody images the Oracle had implanted there. “I believe you, Pieter,” I replied gently.