“I can also send you with minimal aid, and you wouldn’t tell anyone but me what you were doing, as reporting to our ally might lead to another betrayal through Hadrius’s mole. Minimal aid, because at your strength a score of soldiers is not beyond your power to remove alone.”

  He paused for a moment to let that sink in.

  He continued, “But your oath in service was per our conversation, with you as a guard. So I’m offering to release you from service now, if missions to secure Thaenid and our allies in the field aren’t something you’re prepared to undertake. Either way you decide, I’ll ink the last two rounds of six spells each when its time. Simply come to the palace, and I’ll get it done.

  “The truth is you’ve grown in power and no longer need me as shelter from your enemies, no more than I need a guard.”

  She was silent for a long moment, weighing his words. She also no doubt had caught the flaw in reason number one. If she refused the mission and future similar missions as his agent, then why couldn’t she stay at the palace as his advisor?

  So despite not wanting to talk about it, he wasn’t surprised when she asked the question at the end of her answer, “I understand. I don’t like the killing, but I can do something to stop the raiders’ depredations in Xevell, so I should. If for no other reason than to pay you back, for taking me in and helping to develop my magic as agreed before, but my respect for you weighs heavily in my decision as well. The second reason?”

  Sebastian looked away for a moment, the second reason was awkward. But… she deserved to know, even if he’d rather not talk about it.

  “Part of my duty is to secure more alliances. One out of six kingdoms isn’t enough to secure Thaenid from threats. I’ve been exchanging messages with Queen Ricola about a possible alliance. We came to a tentative agreement for mutual support and free trade. Ricola’s second heir, Jaelle, turned sixteen a week ago. She is currently on her way here, as part of that treaty.”

  He paused again, and she blinked as that information sunk in, as well as the implications of it. That Jaelle would become his wife and queen of Thaenid, in title if not authority.

  He said as delicately as possible, “We’ve never spoken of it, but our respect and friendship has grown over the last three and a half months. There is more there, unrealized and undiscussed perhaps, but there.”

  She bit her lip, the first true emotional reaction he’d seen from her during the conversation.

  She said, “I understand. It will be hard enough for her to settle into her new life with a stranger for a husband, without seeing the affections he holds for another woman. Something she would pick up, if I was always by your side, even if we never let it go anywhere. It would add complications you and her don’t need, and for very little reason since you don’t need a personal guard.”

  Yeah, she understood it just fine.

  Neither of them were happy with it. It never would have happened, but closing the door on a might have been, could be painful as well. He felt it too, she was a hell of a woman.

  By all reports, Jaelle was beautiful as well, if in a different way. Blonde hair, bright green eyes, and a lovely heart shaped face. Also intelligent, well educated, and by all rumors not at all spoiled and haughty like Valeria, who Hadrius had tried to force on him. He had high hopes for the match, but that didn’t take away from the loss he felt by closing the door on a road he could never take in the first place.

  There would be no courting, it was a political marriage. He’d meet her an hour before the wedding. He hoped for more later, as he got to know her, but Jaelle of Traeg would be his wife within the week. Although it wasn’t fair, he couldn’t have Luna there, or Jaelle would sense their connection and attraction for each other, which would lead to disharmony.

  It wasn’t just the alliance either that was making him accept it and act, though he didn’t speak the second reason there aloud. It was his family’s dynasty, it rested only on his single heartbeat. The sooner he had heirs on the way the more secure Thaenid would be from within.

  She added innocently, “I assume I’ll be getting hazard pay?”

  He laughed, charmed despite himself at her cheek and gall to haggle with a king, “Fine.”

  She asked, “My team?”

  He replied, “Four soldiers, all seasoned and at least sergeants of rank. Two of them are scouts, the the other two are guards. Try to keep a low profile, Xevell’s soldiers won’t be informed your acting on their soil, to prevent word from being leaked through the mole. I’ll teleport the five of you and horses nearby a village close to the capital that I’ve been to. After that you’ll need to hunt on horseback. After you get to experience the area around each village you’ll have your own teleport points.

  “Also, the last place to be attacked is fifteen leagues northeast of that village. So you can head that way. If that changes at anytime I’ll contact you via a communication spell.

  “As far as Jacinta and I can determine, there are five platoons acting independently in Xevell. Except for when they double up for those wicked traps to take down Xevell’s defenders a small bite at a time.”

  She nodded, “I’ll go pack.”

  There was an awkward silence for a moment, but she left before it grew too thick. She’d be around of course, and as far as he was concerned, she could continue living in the castle between missions as long as she was in his service for the next five years. He may even seek out her advice in the future on occasion.

  But, he’d miss her constant presence, which ironically, was the most compelling reason that he’d had to send her away. Not that helping Jacinta wasn’t important, it was extremely important, and Luna had the perfect skillset for the job and risks, but he’d have made other arrangements if it wasn’t for his pending nuptials with Jaelle.

  Chapter Five

  Luna wasn’t quite sure how she felt as she packed for another mission. It was only a few minutes later, and she’d managed to hold herself together and keep the stupid words of denial in her brain from exiting her mouth during the talk. It all made perfect logical sense to her mind, but in her heart she was angry and felt ill-used being sent away, even as she knew that simply wasn’t true.

  She didn’t need him anymore, not really. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t be a friend or ally. The fact she wouldn’t be on duty twenty-four hours a day also opened up opportunities for her. The ability to pursue other things, and to practice on her own schedule. It was also something she could take a modicum of pride in, that in just three and a half months she was strong enough to stay alive despite her uncle’s determination to see her dead.

  She’d miss him though. It felt almost wrong being in her room while Sebastian was out and about in his palace. Despite the logic of it. She’d thought she’d been over the idea of them getting together, because it was impossible, but the disappointment sitting on her chest said otherwise. The jealousy at the idea of another woman laying with him on his wedding night said otherwise.

  She’d get past it.

  She turned her mind toward the mission which she felt a bit conflicted about as well. She did feel it was something that needed to be done, and she owed her service to the king, but her hunting down small enemy groups of soldiers wasn’t something she’d ever imagined herself doing. Taking human life weighed on her. It was also something she feared she’d enjoy, not the end result of death at her hand, but the challenge and danger of it.

  Still, soldiers who raided defenseless villages and murdered the guards were little better than raiders. War was an ugly thing, and she had no trouble justifying it in her mind. She’d be protecting innocents, by removing those stains from humanity. It was only her heart that stood in doubt.

  She would have the advantage over a mage and a score of raiding soldiers. The quick magic casting as an ink sorceress would have a large impact. That said, she also had disadvantages and couldn’t take anything for granted. The largest one was she couldn’t sense magic, and a mage could. She might be able to send an earth elemental to track them physically from one of the villages they’d raided, but the mage would feel its fleeting presence before it came back to report its findings.

  A clever and vigilant mage would take that as a sign to set up a trap. She might have the advantage in battle itself, but the mage would have time for preparation unless they were stupid, or asleep. Hmm, that last had possibilities, maybe she could stay the night at the ransacked village and send the elemental out looking in the middle of the night.

  Once they’d gotten to that spot, if the enemy had moved, then she could depend on her two scouts to track them the rest of the way using less than mystical means. As long as the mage didn’t erase the tracks with magic, that is.

  Regardless, no matter what she did, the point still stood. She wouldn’t feel any magical traps coming, when she moved in to end the threat to the defenseless commoners of Xevell. She’d be as clueless of it as she was the huge magical aura of the palace she stood in at the moment.

  She’d have to be vigilant, but what else was knew since her sixteenth birthday?

  The second major disadvantage was she could end the soldiers but needed to preserve the mage’s life to question him on Xevell’s mole. While the mage would be trying very hard to kill her. She did have psychic punch, but unlike a regular human the mage would be shielded. That meant hitting hard enough to break through a shield she couldn’t feel or measure, but not hard enough that the spell still had the strength to kill.

  Not an easy thing to accomplish. In fact, it simply wouldn’t work. The risk of killing on accident would be too high. She’d have to act defensively only with magic and beat his shields down with the flat of her sword. She’d know the shield was gone when she broke a bone, then and only then could she knock him out with psychic punch, and then tie and blindfold him for the questioning.

  Although, maybe not. An elemental could feel his magic strength and potential. Perhaps orders to disable but not kill to an air elemental could lead to his capture in a safer manner. Or at least help the process.

  The last two minor disadvantages was there’d be no possibility of surprise on her side. The mage would feel her coming the last quarter mile or so and give the alarm, even if he wouldn’t have time to adjust his tactics or trap, to cast more magic, or anything else. Although, he wouldn’t know what kind of magic user she was, until he’d laid eyes on her face and saw the ink array tattoos.

  The last one was tied to the first. He’d know exactly how powerful she was, and she wouldn’t know that about him. He’d know if she was stronger than she was, while she could be walking into a very powerful mage blindly. The only counter there was he’d have no idea she was a sword master.

  She wouldn’t dismiss the soldiers either, though with her magical shield those truly shouldn’t be much of a threat unless they managed to corner and surround her. Her shield could only take so many strikes, before she’d run out of magic, which was best spent toward the mage anyway.

  The unsurety was still there, but she felt better having thought it through, and coming up with a plan to address those weaknesses. Now all she had to do was be vigilant, and confident without arrogance. Brave through fear, and not foolhardy arrogance without fear. Not easy perhaps, but she’d had a lot of practice in being so lately.

  She packed up a single change of clothes in her pack, as well as a few canteens and enough simple food for a couple of days. She considered putting the spare set of leathers Sebastian enchanted for her in her saddle bags, but they wouldn’t take long to retrieve if her current set got damaged. Not now that she could teleport herself.

  She also wondered how well four experienced veterans of war would take orders from a sixteen-year-old princess bodyguard turned king’s hunter. She’d find out in the morning. There was no use in worrying about it now, and she had some experience with finding that balance from her first mission ever in scouting the wastelands.

  All set, she started her nightly magic and dagger throwing practice early. It was a good distraction for her thoughts.

  She met both her guards earlier than expected. They both sought her out during her morning sword workout, perhaps to take her measure in bladework. As for Sebastian, she was perversely both disappointed and relieved the king wasn’t in the practice yard that morning. Perhaps he was sparring indoors that morning, and would every morning, where he was safe inside the palace.

  Liam was a mountain of a man, with brown hair and eyes. He wielded a large one or two-handed bastard sword and was extremely aggressive in a fight. Not an uncommon tactic, and despite his expertise her yin style and whip fast sword proved his undoing.

  It was only then he introduced himself.

  “Your highness. I’m one of your guards for the mission. Liam,” he said in a deep voice that was slightly gravelly. He waved a hand behind him to the next soldier in line as he stood aside, “This is Anisa.”

  Anisa was a redhead with light gray eyes, and her style of fighting was similar to Luna’s. They started out with probing attacks before settling into a true contest of arms. It was invigorating, and ironically harder to defend against her own style as she was used to yang style opponents. After several passes with no winner, Anisa grinned and gave her a light bow as she sheathed her sword.

  Anisa said, “It’s nice to meet you, your highness.”

  She shook her head, but wore a genuine light smile, “Same, but no titles between us please. Get into the habit of thinking of me and calling me Luna, so we don’t make a mistake on mission. You’ll also want to remove your Thaenid accents from your armor. The military in Xevell doesn’t know about our mission, and we’ll be acting as a group of hunters to slip under their notice, and therefore the enemy’s notice. We’ll even be checking out the wanted posts outside the jails to backup that impression.

  “Granted, I kind of stand out with the ink array on my face, but I’m not the only ink sorceress in the world and I doubt many in Xevell know my face. I have a good idea what we’re facing, but any advice is welcome. I’ll get into further details when our scouts are with us.”

  Anisa nodded, “Except all the Xevell soldiers that were stationed in Land’s End. Chances are you won’t run into one, but if we do word will spread fast.”

  “Good point, I’ll try to keep my head down. A helmet with a nose guard would help, and it’d hide my forehead tattoo as well as the vines on the far sides of my face.”

  Liam replied, “Good idea. I think I can scare one up from stores in your size before we meet after breakfast.”

  “See you then.”

  They split up as she took on her next practice opponent.

  She walked out into the courtyard and it was coldly brisk day. She hoped it was a bit warmer over a hundred leagues to the south and west, but she’d survive. Their mounts were already prepared, and she recognized the roan she rode last time.

  There were four people there already, and she wasn’t late, so they were early. Liam held a helm in his hand, so that was one problem solved, though it wouldn’t quite match her riding leathers it wouldn’t look too odd.

  He tossed it to her, and her hand easily snatched it out of the air. Perhaps another test to see how she’d handle it, or if she took offense by it. Which she didn’t, in her mind things were going well. She didn’t mind the measures of the nobility, but out in the field was no place for it. These were her comrades. They were a small team, and although she had to lead they were too few for formal leadership. That wouldn’t fit the mission profile anyway.

  The other two men must’ve been her scouts. One had black hair and dark gray eyes, and the other blond and blue. Other than those differences, and the first having a darker skin tone, they were cut from the same cloth. Both of them were wiry and in shape. They wore light leather armor with bows and quivers on their shoulders, and a cutlass on their belts.

  She didn’t know why, but she had the impression these two weren’t just military scouts, but also trained spies. She just accepted it, as she’d come to trust her enhanced instincts when it came to measuring others as well as detecting threats.

  The black haired one nodded at her arrival, “Luna,” then frowned, “That’s going to take getting used to, but Liam told me your orders. Anyway, I’m Kade, the pretty one. This misfortunate one here is Jonas.”

  The man wasn’t being arrogant, he was being funny, or at least trying to be. Because clearly Jonas was the attractive one while Kade had a jagged scar on his cheek and was rather plain otherwise. Not unattractive either, just neutral.

  “Well met. Let’s get our stories and overall plan straight before the king arrives to send us on our way,” when they all nodded in agreement, she continued. She discussed what she’d already told the guards that morning, as well as her thought process and vague plans from the previous night.

  “Any questions or advice about our general plan, now’s the time. Of course, there’ll be time to discuss particular tactics when running down one of the five target groups, but once there we become a simple hunting team. Out for gold, and not kingdom.”

  Kade chuckled, and his voice changed subtly, “I’d suggest letting me or Jonas do most of the talking and haggling in the villages for food and checking into an inn, as we can pull off a respectable Xevell accent. Don’t even try to fake it though, it won’t seem too odd. As long as people hear us first, they’ll assume we’re from there and have accepted three foreigners into our hunting group. It’s not unheard of, since a lot of lifelong friendships were forged in the old empire units.”

  She nodded in agreement. His knowledge and ability to fake the accent so well was also circumstantial proof that reinforced her feeling that they were also trained spies.

  Anisa said, “Simple plan, and it works as a cover.”

  Liam interjected with a slight edge of humor, “Kade is disreputable enough to pull it off, but I wonder how Jonas and I got roped into it.”

  Anisa snorted a laugh, then challenged, “And me?”

  The humorous banter was a little forced, but promising. They were all probably a bit nervous, not only at her young age, but her being a princess. But she’d obviously taken the right approach and tone, if they were making the effort at all. They all hardly knew her yet, after all, or what might set her off. They didn’t know she wasn’t like that, and many officers and commanders were.