“I’m not sure how I knew he was there. It was like knowing when someone is looking at you when they’re not in your sight, but stronger and urgent.”

  He nodded, “I’m not surprised. Your highest affinities are in psionic and nature. Both of those tie into those instincts, though the former more than the latter. I doubt a hunter could take you by surprise, if you’re paying attention and alert to those instinctual promptings.”

  That was food for thought, and perhaps explained why she could detect an unseen threat. She always had known even back at court, when one of father’s nobles were assessing her when she wasn’t looking. Picking up the focus of others.

  It was also encouraging, and it would make her a better bodyguard for the prince. As long as she remained vigilant those instincts would aid her. She just couldn’t depend on them alone. Though there was one thing she didn’t quite understand.

  “But he was focused on you, not me.”

  He shrugged, “Perhaps both of us, and he decided to take me out first as the greater threat. I have no doubt if you hadn’t foiled his first shot, he’d have made another. Or maybe your instinct to protect me allowed you to pick it up. Even wizards don’t understand everything about the mind, but we do know a human is aware of it when they’re being hunted. Ancient instincts that aren’t equal in all of us, though we all have them.”

  She thought he was angry, but not at her. Perhaps at his failure to detect the threat at all, his mind must be in turmoil right now.

  The conversation ended by necessity as they reached the doors and were stopped by the guard.

  The guard bowed, “Prince Sebastian, welcome to Castlerest.”

  A respectful greeting, but one with an implied question.

  The prince replied, “Thank you. I’m here to see Duke Embry. You’ll find out soon enough what’s going on but suffice it to say it’s an emergency. Otherwise I would’ve informed him of my imminent arrival as usual.”

  The guard nodded, and he waved at one of the pages inside the door, “Inform the Duke he’s needed in throne room immediately.”

  The page ran off and the guard turned back, “Do you need an escort?”

  Sebastian shook his head, “I know the way.”

  The guard assessed Luna’s dress, sword, forehead glyph, and stance, then moved out of the way.

  “You can leave your bags here. I’ll have them delivered to your suite?”

  She almost blushed at what that question implied.

  Sebastian said, “That will work, but put Princess Luna’s bag in the suite next to it.”

  The guard bowed again, and the two of them headed into the castle. She held her head high and remained vigilant. It was possible the prince was in even more danger inside the walls of the castle. He may have trusted Duke Embry, and she figured Sebastian was probably right about that, but she couldn’t afford to make any assumptions that way. Embry may have been a supporter, but how supporting would he be when Sebastian told him he was taking over his home? His authority, his throne room, and perhaps even the Ducal wing which was the old royal wing. If not forever, at least as long as it took another palace to be built as they rebuilt the capital city. Which would take at least a decade if not done with magic.

  There were also other nobles in the city she was sure, not to mention the castle staff, any of which could be spies for other kingdoms.

  Paranoid thinking perhaps, but that was the nature of guards and part of how they kept their charges safe. They’d been in the city for less than five minutes, and an assassin had already struck. Given the circumstances and risks, she couldn’t afford to put her trust in anyone but herself and Sebastian.

  She felt uncomfortable with that, because of her own uncle’s paranoia and the evil he had done because of it. But she wouldn’t act until betrayal happened, and her trust could be earned. She just wouldn’t assume it. She couldn’t afford to.

  The throne room wasn’t exactly difficult to get to. The main hallway led right to it, through some double doors all the way on the back side of the castle. They passed by many works of art, other doors and hallways, but they just stayed in the main corridor.

  The throne room was different than her uncle’s, though no less grand. There was more artwork on the walls, portraits of the old dukes and duchesses of Embry’s line. The dais and throne were clearly the focus of the room, but the room wasn’t nearly as stark as her uncle’s.

  The duke and a mage entered the room a few moments later. The duke was in his early to mid-forties. He was six foot one with blond hair and light gray eyes and a medium build. He was wearing a doublet and hose with shiny black shoes, with a rapier on his side. The mage was in light blue robes, and she looked to be a few years younger than the duke. She was attractive and in shape, with long blonde hair and light blue eyes.

  Sebastian nodded in greeting, “Embry, it’s good to see you. You too, Lissa,” he waved a hand, “This is Princess Luna, my bodyguard. We have a lot to talk about.”

  Embry smiled lightly, “Sebastian, be welcome here. You too, Princess Luna. Shall we retire to a more comfortable setting.”

  Sebastian nodded, and the four of them took the exit in the back of the throne room and went up the stairs to the second floor. After a few twists and turns they entered a reception room to one of the suites, though she wasn’t sure what one until she spied Sebastian’s bags in the corner. This was obviously his permanent guest suite.

  The three of them sat on the two couches across from each other with a coffee table between them. She’d planned on standing, before Sebastian caught her eye and gestured that she should sit down. After one more look around and straining her senses for any other presences in the suite, she took a seat on the couch.

  Embry said, “We’re aware of the capital, I’m sorry for your loss. We’ve also heard rumors of the evil races having an army thirty thousand strong in a valley close to the border. I assume that’s what brings you here?”

  Sebastian took the next few minutes to go over it all, and what they’d discussed back in Land’s End keep. That he didn’t plan to attempt to hold the empire together, which would only lead to a civil war that would ensure their doom at the hands of evil races. That to recover and deal with the issues he needed to be declared king and be crowned.

  Embry nodded with a frown, “It’s against tradition to crown you before the period of mourning is over, but it’s possible. I agree the coming invasion takes precedence, but we can’t ignore what the other kingdoms are sure to get up to. There’s a lot of built-up anger and resentment that’s bound to come to a boil.”

  Embry shook his head, “Back to the point. We would need to declare an emergency, and that Thaenid is currently in a state of war with the wasteland races. That would allow us to crown you and put you on the throne immediately, so we could focus on the real problems. The emperor could’ve done so on his own, but without someone on the throne it takes a majority of nobles from baron and above to agree to it. I can get the ball rolling on that and getting all our nobles headed here as soon as we’re done here. To declare the emergency and give their fealty.

  “Once that’s going, it should take a couple of days for them all to get here. It might not hurt to use that time to discuss what we need on the border to push them back and how to get it, as well as steps to securing Thaenid against any monarchs consumed with vengeance.”

  Sebastian nodded, “That was my intended plan,” he paused for a moment, then asked, “What kind of opposition do you think we’ll face? In declaring an emergency and getting me crowned so we can deal with the emergencies.”

  Embry exchanged a look with Lissa, then took a drink of the wine the servant had served to gather his thoughts.

  “Direct opposition won’t happen, I don’t think. The succession is pretty clear. You’re of age and the last of the imperial line,” he quirked a smile, “Perhaps more importantly you’re the most powerful wizard in our kingdom. Perhaps the most powerful in the seven kingdoms. No one is going to challenge you to a duel, it’d be suicide. They’ll all openly support you in public and to your face, even though your intentions to let the vassal kingdoms go will anger many of them, they should be smart enough to know there’s no choice in this situation. If you had died with your family, there would be civil war as several nobles vied for the throne, but those ambitions will be tempered.

  “So, our task then is simply to keep you alive from more clandestine means. I suspect there will be more attempts on your life through assassination. Not only from our nobles with ambitions to rule, but from the other kingdoms as well. The good news is once you’re crowned, and the other kingdoms learn your intentions to free them from the vassal oaths, those attempts should drop off precipitously.”

  She thought that made sense. The vassal oaths were to the imperial family, not necessarily the kingdom of Thaenid. Drop off was also right, kings always had to worry about assassination attempts. It was the nature of ruling, or a part of it. In essence, the trick of getting the crown on her charge’s head was in keeping him alive, not frontline and open politics.

  She turned her head as a man walked in wearing elaborate Ducal armor. He looked to be in his late forties and very in shape.

  Embry turned, “Captain?”

  The captain of the guards bowed, and after rising spoke, “We’ve questioned the assassin, your grace. He was hired in Doryn. We were unable to learn who hired him, outside of a rough description he doesn’t know himself.”

  She nodded thoughtfully. That meant they had no proof to accuse her uncle, though it probably was him that sent him. It could’ve also been another kingdom hiring a foreign assassin to muddy the trail though. That was also fairly standard. It wasn’t easy backtracking the employers of assassins, if they used a modicum of caution in hiring them. Even with spell craft to guarantee truthfulness.

  Still, she feared her uncle would have to be dealt with one day. That she even had that thought frightened her a little, was she changing? The thing was, there was a difference between him hunting her and him hunting her charge and the soon to be king of Thaenid. It was frustrating, and ironic. It was his paranoia that could drive her to become the threat to him he already feared her to be. When if he just left her alone then she’d be happy never seeing him again and letting him live to a ripe old age.

  Despite what he’d done to her parents.

  Although it worried her, it hadn’t been a thought generated from bitterness or thoughts of revenge. Merely in self-defense and in defense of the man she’d sworn oaths of protection too. She wasn’t perfect, she was angry with her uncle, but she didn’t think she was turning into him.

  Sebastian asked, “You have a thought?”

  She shrugged, “Whoever hired him was a mage or wizard. By the captain’s word it wasn’t a long-term spy placement that was burned. How else would the assassin get here from Doryn in the span of a few hours, except teleportation? That means it could’ve been a magic user capable of teleport from any kingdom, though my uncle seems obvious we won’t find proof. It was also someone that knew you’d likely go to Duke Embry, and powerful enough to learn of what happened in the capital earlier today in the first place.”

  Duke Embry nodded, “Given all that it seems unlikely anyone but a monarch with a competent spy service could’ve learned of it and acted on it in so short a time. That still leaves us six suspects.”

  Sebastian said, “I’m fortunate to have such allies to keep me alive. I also agree with your assessment, Embry. We won’t face open opposition from the nobles.”

  The duke said to the captain, “Double the guards on the castle, let’s not make it easy for the assassins to get in.”

  The captain bowed low, “At once, your grace,” and turned smartly and moved toward the door.

  They all took a drink of the wine as the captain left.

  It was later that evening just after dinner and she was walking next to the prince back toward their assigned suites. For the rest of the afternoon, she’d learned a lot about the nobility in Thaenid, as they discussed things in detail while Lissa used magic to summon all the nobles to Castlerest. As well as the strict procedures to keep Sebastian safe until the crown was on his head. Assassination was always a possible danger, but for the next few days she suspected it would be happening often. It was all about getting the crown on his head while keeping his head attached to his shoulders. They’d put off discussing anything about interkingdom threats with the fall of the empire and the wasteland races’ army invading any time now. They’d discuss that tomorrow.

  They were both tired and sleep deprived after a night of marching last night and the crazy day they’d had, which was why they were retiring so early in the evening. She was alert at the moment, though it was starting to be a struggle to remain vigilant. It was hard to believe she hadn’t slept since they’d taken out a score of goblins and giants, when they’d gotten a look into the valley.

  A lot had changed in a short time, yet it felt so long ago. She pushed thoughts of her pillow out of her head and focused on their surroundings.

  She prompted, “You’ll put up a ward that will notify us both of danger?”

  He smiled, “Yes, including you is part of my ward spell device now. I just need to power it before I turn in. You don’t think we’re safe with all the extra precautions on the castle?”

  She shook her head, “From foreign assassins slipping into the castle, it will help a great deal. That’s only one option.”

  He nodded in agreement.

  He said goodnight as they split up and went into their suites, she returned the sentiment.

  The suite was typical of a castle, with a large entry room with both comfortable furniture and a hardwood table and chairs to take a meal in privacy. The table was a dark rich redwood that was finely made with elaborate scrolling on the legs and edges. It was meticulously polished to the point she could see her reflection in it. The leather couches and chairs looked extremely comfortable as well. She found her pack on a side table but left it there for now.

  She felt stiff, and started to stretch out her muscles, before moving into the flowing movements of her sword and martial forms. They hadn’t practiced that day, for obvious reasons, but they had fought. Still, a lot had happened that day, and going through her sword forms relaxed her muscles and cleared her mind. It was a comforting routine of sorts, and she felt centered and relaxed as she finished her physical workout.

  She’d also used a lot of magic that day, and technically didn’t have to practice. On the other hand, she had four new spells she needed to cement as habit, so her mind would subconsciously cast them when appropriate. So she wouldn’t forget in the heat of battle, and picked the right spell for the right situation. It didn’t seem right not to start that process on the day she got the spells. It also wouldn’t hurt to exercise her magic a little more.

  She used the hearth and fireplace to practice pyro-kinesis and web over and over again. The fire consumed the webs so there’d be no mess to clean up. She laughed, a little punch drunk perhaps from lack of sleep, as she summoned an earth elemental and sent it into the bathroom to draw her a bath. She also used the sturdy stone walls to practice telekinetic punch, it was blunt and spread out enough, and cast weakly enough, that she didn’t do any damage or make all that much noise.

  She stripped down as she walked through the bedroom that she hardly looked at. The four-poster bed was large enough to get lost in, and there was a dresser and vanity desk that was made of the same redwood used the entry room. Through the other side was a small hallway sized walk-in closet, with another door in the back of that which led to the bath.

  It was another comforting daily routine as she got into the bath, washed the clothes of that day and brushed and wiped down her leathers and boots. Then she cleaned herself up.

  Luna put on fresh small clothes but hesitated when she grabbed her sleeping shift. It seemed almost guaranteed the prince would face more assassination attempts, and the idea of rushing out in a thin cotton sleeping dress made her blush to the roots of her hair. She pulled on her leather pants and a blouse instead, like she’d slept when camping, then got into the bed. If anything happened, she could pull on the leather vest as she ran to the door.

  It’d been a long day, and a surprising turn of events. Her life had grown even more dangerous that day. Yet she couldn’t find any regrets inside of her. She was proud and felt good about what she was doing and where she was in her life. Sebastian was a good man who deserved her loyalty and protection, she was making money, and he’d help her grow into her full potential as an ink sorceress. She wasn’t overconfident, but she was confident they had a chance to overcome these new challenges, and that she could keep him and herself safe. Especially with his help.

  What’d happened today to the imperial family was horrible, but they were strong enough to pick up the pieces and she believed they’d keep all seven kingdoms safe from annihilation. They had to.

  She was asleep moments after putting her head on the pillow.

  Chapter Four

  Luna’s eyes snapped open and a surge of adrenaline pushed out the sleepiness as she felt the tug of Sebastian’s wards. She felt like she’d barely even closed her eyes, so not much time had passed, but she rolled out of bed and her magical ink array powered up before the thoughts to do so even solidified. She ignored her boots, every second counted, and she merely pulled on her vest and grabbed her sword and dashed for the door.

  She brought up a shield as she ran out of the bedroom and then stopped in shock as her mind skipped. There was someone in her room as well, and it took her by surprise.

  The ducal guard lunged toward her with sword point leading, and it wasn’t until the tip of his blade skittered to the left along her shield that her mind struck out. If she hadn’t been shielded, she’d have been dead. She sent a telekinetic punch followed by web a split second apart. Her reflexive action was to capture, not kill. The guard would need to answer some hard questions. The guard flew backwards mightily and raced her web spell to the wall. His back and head slammed into the wall and a split second later the web covered his body, constricting around him and sticking him to the wall. He couldn’t move at all.