My eyes widened as I peered at the map, drinking in the unfamiliar lines and words. It wasn’t Frasia—it was a region I’d never seen before. It looked mountainous, riddled with winding rivers and small lakes, with a jagged coastline. A few towns were illustrated and labeled, but I couldn’t read the language. Where was this? What kind of people lived here? Were they shifters? Mountainous —maybe dragon shifters? The thought thrilled me. I traced the path of the rivers, imagining I was there charting them myself. I saw it clear as day in my mind, myself in functional pants and heavy boots, standing on the bank of a freezing cold river as I gazed up at the crest of an unfamiliar mountain range. I imagined myself sketching the shapes of the mountains, adding detail to my maps.
“What do you think you’re doing?” a rough, unfamiliar voice said behind me.
It surprised me so much I nearly jumped out of my skin. I straightened up and whipped around, and found I was staring directly into a broad, leather-armored chest. The wearer was standing close enough that I could see the detail embossed into the leather, the delicate winding vines running down the sides of the metal and the crescent moon coat of arms right at the solar plexus. Did all the guards have this much detail in their armor? He wasn’t wearing one of the fine fur-line cloaks, though, despite the chill in the library, and his bare arms were thick and muscular. I had to tip my chin up to meet his eyes, and his face made my wolf whine with curiosity and a slight edge of anxiety.
This man had dark, thick hair falling loose into his dark eyes, a straight nose, high cheekbones. He would’ve been handsome if not for the golden flicker breaking through the chocolate-brown of his eyes like lightning strikes. When he smirked at me, I couldn’t tell if his teeth were sharpened or always looked like that. His wolf was close to the surface. My wolf could sense it—it woke her up, and made my hackles rise. Like this man could shift at any moment. I supposed this was how the guards of Nightfall behaved—like animals.
“I asked you a question, little wolf,” the man said. His voice edged into a growl.
I scoffed. Little wolf? “I’m a Lady of the Court Daybreak,” I said curtly. “I’m here at Lady
Glennis’ instruction.”
“Lady Glennis instructed you to stick your nose in the court’s private archives?” The man smirked. “I find that a little hard to believe.”
“I have the lady’s permission,” I said. “Is that not enough?” I wasn’t going to let some random guard bully me out of my map exploration—not when I finally had access to such beautiful and unfamiliar ones.
“Hm,” the guard said. He bared his teeth as he watched me, thoughtlessly, like he didn’t realize he was doing it at all. The expression sent a nervous shiver down my spine, and internally my wolf whined and lowered her ears. We were no match for this wolf—that much was obvious.
“I’d appreciate it if you left me to my reading,” I said.
He exhaled a short laugh through his nose. “I have no intention of doing such a thing.” He stepped somehow even closer, and I backed up until I bumped against the table behind me.
“Step back,” I said, low. “Or I’ll scream.”
“And who will come to save you, little wolf?” the guard said. His brown eyes swirled with gold, and I could smell the animal musk on him. He was about to shift, I could feel it crackling around me like an oncoming storm.
My breath caught in my throat. I was frozen with him this close to me, like my wolf was pinned in place by this show of dominance. Part of me wanted to run, part of me wanted to shove him away, part of me wanted to bare my neck in a show of submission. His gaze flickered to my neck, too, like he was thinking the same thing. Like he wanted to set his teeth at the nape and force me to behave. Something low in my gut tightened at the thought. It was so animal. Why did it make me so frozen? And why did it make my wolf so awake?
But then, the guard just stepped back and laughed. He brushed me aside and briskly rolled the map back up, sliding it back into the leather tube and returning it to its place on the shelf.
The spell he’d held over me suddenly shattered. “Hey!” I said. “I was using that!”
The guard shot me a look. His eyes were brown again, and slightly widened in disbelief. “There are plenty of maps in the public archive,” he said. “You’re free to peruse any on that shelf there.” He pointed to a well-stocked shelf on the other side of the table. “This shelf is off-limits to visitors.” I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. “Then why is it unmarked?” “Visitors rarely take interest in the archives,” the guard said.
“Who are you to establish these rules, then?” I asked. My wolf was settled again, easy to ignore, and now my irritation was taking the forefront in my mind. “The cartographer?”
“Something like that,” he said with a smirk. He flashed his teeth at me again, and a shiver rolled across my skin. It wasn’t an entirely unpleasant one though. “Stick to the shelf I showed you and we’ll have no trouble.”
Before I could argue further, he strode back through the door and closed it behind him. Part of me wanted to pull out the map he’d snatched away, but I knew I’d pushed my luck enough today. I still had to represent Daybreak well, and I didn’t want this interaction to make its way back to the king. So I pulled a few scrolls from the shelf he’d directed me to, and tried not to think about the man behind the locked door.
4The richly detailed Frasian maps made it easy to lose the hours. It wasn’t until my stomach rumbled demandingly that I finally was able to pull my attention away from the richly detailed representations of cities and coastlines I’d never seen. With some regret, I rolled the maps backup and slipped them into their leather tubes.Downstairs, I found Fina curled up in an overstuffed chair by the fire, entranced in a novel and already three-quarters of the way through it.“Hey,” I said.She jolted so hard she nearly toppled out of the chair. “Oh!” She blinked rapidly. “Wow! What time is it?”I bit back a laugh. “Looks like you’re enjoying the book,” I said.She brandished it at me. “It’s about a wolf who falls for a dragon shifter,” she said. “Very intense.”“Sounds like it.”“And I thought the king was intimidating,” she said. “Whew. At least he’s a wolf.”“I don’t know,” I said, “I think I might prefer a dragon. At least then you don’t have to deal with the rest of the pack.”“What?
I hurried to the guest dining room, following Amity in her wolf form as she trotted briskly through the darkened halls. When I stepped into the dining room, small and cozy save for the vaulted ceilings and extravagant albeit dusty chandelier, the four women were already seated at the table.“I’m so sorry,” I said as I hurried in. “I was writing a letter and lost track of time.”“No worries,” Fina said with a smile. “We only just arrived as well.”Rona sucked her teeth. “Just like a princess to invite guests and show up late.”I started. Rona said that with such venom it shocked me. “It’s just as I said, I was only—”“Evening, ladies,” Lady Glennis said as she strode through the back door of the dining room. I wasn’t expecting to see her but I was grateful for the interruption. I took my seat at the table and took a quick sip of wine, avoiding Rona’s burning gaze. “I heard you had decided to dine together. I hope I’m not intruding.”“Of course not!” Fina said brightly. “The more the me
“Well, I’d only intended to give you this.” He pulled a small sheet of folded parchment from his pocket and offered it to me.Against my better judgment, I took it from his hand, and inhaled sharply in surprise when I unfolded it. It was a carefully drawn copy of the map he’d snatched from my hand earlier. Smaller, less detailed—but certainly the same. I gaped at it for a moment before I remembered myself, and straightened back up. Yes, I would definitely be spending time reviewing this copy in my room. But that didn’t make his behavior any more acceptable.“Thank you,” I said. “But I would appreciate it if you would refrain from bothering me further.”“Oh, I didn’t realize I was bothering you,” the guard said. He looked so damn pleased with himself, with his eyes flashing gold.“And I won’t be here in Efra long,” I said. “Better not to waste your time.”“And why’s that?” he asked. “You just said you were here for the Choice.”“The king won’t be choosing me,” I said. “I’m here to repr
The manor was quiet as I made my way to the nearby guest quarters. If I was going to get put in the stocks today, I should tell my escort about it. That was the right thing for a lady to do, wasn’t it?I cringed. Not that I knew a lot about being a lady, apparently. It’d taken me a grand total of two days to ruin my reputation with the court.“Barion,” I whispered as I rapped on the heavy wooden door to his quarters. “Barion, it’s me.”From inside the quarters, Barion heaved a great sigh. After a few moments of rustling around, he opened the doors and squinted blearily at me. “What is it?” “I need your help,” I said.A furrow of concern formed in his brow, and he stepped aside to motion me into his quarters. They were much smaller than mine, but the bed was still huge, and coals glowed in the hearth. I sat down at the small table, and Barion sat across from me. He was still barely awake, in a loose tunic and slacks. He glanced around the room like he might be able to will some coffee
My wolf urged me to bare my teeth, growl back, show this woman that I was just as capable as she was. For a moment, my wolf surged dangerously close to the surface—my skin prickled and my adrenaline surged with the desire to show dominance. It was close enough that Rona sensed it. She smirked.But this was exactly the kind of woman I didn’t want to be. Angry and conniving, using my wolf to get what I wanted. I was a lady and I was going to act like one, even when my wolf wanted otherwise. She was so active internally, more demanding than she’d been in years.Efra was bringing out the worst in me.Before I could say anything in response, the door opened, and Lady Glennis stepped back inside. “Ladies,” she said.The air in the room crackled with anticipation. The three other girls hurried to the table, setting their coffees down, and stood near Rona and me. My wolf settled back down, cowed by the knowledge of what was about to happen.Lady Glennis stepped aside. The King of Frasia strod
Rona looked inordinately pleased with herself as she talked up Duchess Alana more—her embroidery skills, her fine tea sets, her knowledge of Frasian civic matters. “The duchess seems to think the Dawnguard pack needs to develop newer training techniques—”“Speaking of techniques,” Wynona interrupted with a cool glare, “Your Highness, how are the affairs of the Nightfall military?”The king hummed thoughtfully. I realized Wynona was the first contestant to ask the king a question. And it seemed like she’d asked the right one, from the way the king began to speak casually about his plans for developing the Nightfall troops. Lady Glennis watched him carefully as he did so, as if waiting for him to let some confidential information slip. But the king was a skilled conversationalist himself—he seemed to be discussing the intricacies of the military without actually saying anything of detail. It was hard to focus on. These were matters I had no hand in within the court of Daybreak. I couldn
His smirk turned to a grin, and he raised his eyebrows at me briefly, almost playfully, before he turned and strode away down the hall. He left me dumbfounded, standing in the hallway like my shoes were nailed into the floor.“The most interesting thing here.” I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or a threat.6The next day, mid-morning, I was seated in a hard-backed chair against the stone wall of a narrow corridor. The ceilings were high, and the stained-glass windows were thankfully uncovered, letting sunlight sluice into the room. It was gorgeous, but so, so quiet, and neither I nor the two other contestants seated next to me were looking forward to what was behind that ornately carved wooden door.It slammed open. Rona strode out, her hands balled into fists at her side. She swore colorfully as she passed us, eyes blazing with fury.“Guess it didn’t go well,” Fina murmured next me.Rona left the hallway and Lady Glennis stepped out of the room with her trademark notebook in th
“Just fine,” Fina said. “Not my strongest area, of course, but I doubt the council members know how to rotate a field to keep it producing properly all year. We all have our strengths.” She linked an arm through mine. “Listen, we have the rest of the afternoon off while the council is doing their important deliberations, and I want to go into town. I need to see the dressmaker.” She sipped her coffee. “Not want. Need. I did not bring enough warm clothes for this climate.” I laughed. “I don’t know, that seems like it might be a bit of an ordeal…” “Adora, will you go?” Fina asked.“Of course,” Adora said. “The town square is beautiful in the snow.”“Come on, Reyna,” Fina said. “There’s a bookstore.” She grinned at me.That got my attention. Adora must’ve seen it on my face, too, because she broke into a laugh.“Fine, fine,” I said. “I’ll go. I’d like to see what kind of work the tailors do here, anyway.”“Right?” Fina said. “We have to learn about our potential new kingdom. Let’s finish