I’m only hoping that Inaba and the others of my honor guard decide to stay until we reach Kenric’s keep and train his men. Kenric’s right in saying we need to prepare for what we know is coming. I spent seven hundred and twenty-three years fighting a war, and I have no problem fighting for a few more months if it means keeping Kenric safe. I’ve memorized the palace map that Grethe sent me. I know all the exits, and I’ve wandered around enough to have multiple routes back to my rooms memorized. We’ve got a random schedule for which entrances and exits to use.

  In short, I’m as prepared as I can be for the wedding and for Oskar’s attempts to bed me afterward. Without this ridiculous ritual to prove my virginity, I’m sure Oskar would already be trying to push himself into my bed. He hasn’t realized that the first wedding took place in Imelenora with my parents and my king, so that our Fey kingdom would acknowledge it. This is just a stipulation of the trade agreement, something that Ellisar included at Kenric’s request to ensure that Centis and Oskar recognize me as Kenric’s wife.

  Given how women are treated here, Kenric wanted to ensure that I was protected from any of the predatory lords who outrank him. He’s a viscount, so he ranks below the dukes and earls, many of whom are almost as predatory as Oskar. Kenric says that it will save a lot of trouble. It will keep them from trying to have Oskar void the marriage. I am Fey. It will take more than stone and iron to bind me. I doubt any of them could force me to stay anywhere I didn’t wish to be.

  These thoughts all run through my mind as I sit writing a letter to my mother. Most of it pours out onto the page in Old High Court Fey, wrapped in magic so no one else, except my father, can read it. I know that Oskar’s spies will try to open it when I give it to Duke Jellema to send on the next ship back to Imelenora. They’ll want to know whether I’ve changed my opinion of their financial situation. I’d say they’re slightly better off than I thought, but knowing what I know about the coming storm, I still wouldn’t recommend anyone giving them credit. Centis might not have enough time to pay it back.

  Everything spills out onto the page to my mother. I doubt any of them can read it, but I still write in code and wrap it all in magic, down to the seal, when I’m finally done with my letter. I’ll know if it’s opened, and anyone, aside from my parents, will see nothing but a lot of prattle about the wedding. Another Fey might be able to tell it’s spelled, but this was another thing we got pretty good at during the border wars. We passed messages that those things couldn’t read, even if they managed to acquire them. Many of those things also had magic.

  Writing in code in all but dead language, known only to the court officials and a few scholars, and then wrapping it in magic to seem like something banal was something we came up with during the border wars. It let us leave messages for the other war bands without fear of those things finding them. Those who didn’t know High Fey were taught it. It’s pretty standard among veterans but relatively rare elsewhere. I doubt any of these humans would know, and fewer still would be able to sense the magic. I feel reasonably confident that my letter will arrive.

  Kenric flops into a chair as the ladies swirl around, throwing open trunks and unpacking everything. He grins at me as I write. “Be sure to thank your parents again for everything in Imelenora.”

  I know what he’s referring to, but I dare not mention it. Even Grethe warned me about breathing a word about it inside the palace. I nod. “I will let my mother know of your appreciation for her hospitality.”

  Kenric smirks and nods before telling me that he needs to see Duke Jellema. “With Eldert indisposed, the duke is filling in for your father, and it seems that he means to take that seriously. He’s throwing my stag party.”

  I arch a brow at Kenric. I’ve already heard about this tradition from Melina and the other ladies. None of them like the custom, but all of them have been forced to tolerate it. “And where is this stag party being held?”

  Kenric scrubs his face and shrugs. “I think he said the name of the place was The Night Garden.”

  Lilli stops in her tracks and stares at Kenric for a moment. “Duke Jellma is taking you to a brothel?”

  Kenric shrugs. “I’m not sure. It might be. How do you know what it is?”

  Pia smirks at Lilli and nudges her. “Go ahead. None of us judges you.”

  Lilli stares at her feet for a moment and grimaces. “After everything happened, they approached me with an offer of… ah…. employment.”

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  Kenric’s eyebrows go up. I’ve acquainted him with the history between my ladies and Oskar. If Lilli is ever to have any life at all in Centis, she has to keep forging ahead and making her own way. Her family isn’t going to help her at all. That much has become painfully obvious. Her own brother, Dietrich, snubs her even though he’s benefited from it. Once Melinda told me part of her story, I knew she’d be perfect for what I needed, and it would be helpful to her, as well.

  Lilli’s family. What can I say? I don’t even have words for what they’ve done to her. It makes me want to growl, just thinking about it. They didn’t even tell Lilli or give her a chance to object. This king, in addition to everything else, is a rapist. They agreed that Oskar could do whatever he wanted in exchange for Dietrich’s elevation from Baron to Viscount. At least it’s a prize that will be passed on down the family line, even if the price is terrible for Lilli. Her family set everything up so that Oskar would be left alone with her. According to Lilli, he started off trying to seduce her. When she refused, knowing it would keep her from ever being able to marry, Oskar overpowered her and forced the issue.

  First times are nerve-racking enough. I can’t even imagine how much extra trauma it is to be forced like that the first time. I think her family would prefer it if Lilli vanished so they could forget their part in the whole rotten affair. Lilli doesn’t know it yet, but she’s coming back to Imelenora with me. No one will shame her there, and she won’t be ostracized. I can smell the distress every time someone’s rude to her or ignores her. Her family had to know what the outcome would be for Lilli. The least they could do is try to be supportive, but they are not.

  It’s just more proof that these humans don't value their females. I have come to hate many things about this place in the short time I have been here, but the treatment of females is second on the list, right behind the treatment of magic users. Magic users are burned alive, and females are property to be bought, sold, and traded. Gods alone know what they do to females who have magic. These people are barbarians, even though it would make them angry to be called that openly. I wasn’t too far off in my original assessment.

  Kalimbor, indeed. Trolls might be kinder, and even goblins show some respect for their females. Yet, we are still here. Kenric is here and refuses to leave. I won’t go without him. Kenric insists he needs to return to his holdings to manage them. These humans use tenant farmers, but the families might stay on the same lord’s land for generations. Kenric doesn’t want to hire a manager. He’s afraid that a manager would run them off so they can make a more lucrative deal with a shorter-term tenant. Kenric would rather have tenants he trusts than ones who might pay a little more or give a little more of the harvest.

  These tenants reside on his land, and their families work in the keep. I understand the reasoning, as many of them also live there. You want trustworthy people so they don’t let enemies in. I’ve suggested that Kenric release them, but he says that’s not an option. If a war truly occurs, he’ll be expected to provide men from his lands for fighting. They’ll be among the first sent to battle. All we can do is prepare as best as we can and hope we make it through. One thing I know is that we’ll probably have some time.

  Ellisar’s games rarely play out quickly, so there will be at least some time to prepare. I want enough time to get used to this place, to Kenric, and to the idea of having a husband. I need to come to terms with the fact that my war band isn’t my only family. I know them better than my own blood. A few sentences, a change in their scent, a gesture, a body posture — and I understand what’s on their mind. They also know me that well, too. We’re all very close to the point that our families are often jealous or resentful.

  My mother wasn’t thrilled when I invited my war band to my wedding, but excluding them would have been too insulting. I didn’t go home often on my leaves because I was dueling those Lawless scum who had been selling entire villages for food. We’d been fighting those bat-like creatures. They were huge, almost Nieven’s size, but skeletally thin with large leathery wings. They had long spiked tails, sharp claws, and a pointed snout filled with dagger-like teeth. Their bite dripped acid, and they reeked something awful, like a sewer combined with swamp rot and dead things.

  Chasing after them wasn’t easy since they could fly. While we were pursuing them, I got separated from my war band and stumbled upon one of the rape camps. I had already learned to wrap myself in shadows to hide. I got as close as I could and tried to cut the fence to open the pens. I couldn’t break whatever they’d done to the fence. The girls inside were terrified. They knew what was coming for them. I couldn’t rescue them, and it gutted me. One of the girls grabbed my hand through the fence and told me to leave them, or I'd end up in the pen with them.

  I dropped my shadows trying to open the pen one last time. The Lawless scum spotted me, so time was up. I promised them that I would get the ones responsible for this and make them pay. Then I slid one of my daggers through the fence and ran. It was the only mercy I could offer those girls, and it made me angry. Since I was faster, I led those Lawless on a merry chase right back into the hunt for those bat things. I was quick and quiet, while they were not as fast and quite loud. Since the bat-things used sound to hunt, those Lawless imbeciles drew them out.

  They ended up making excellent bait. The bat-things took care of most of the Lawless that were chasing me, and we handled the bat-things when they landed to attack and feed. When we were done, there were only two of the Lawless left. My war band was shocked, at first, when I struck them, but I wasn’t about to let them get away. We fought, and I ended up taking both their heads. Then I led my war band back to the rape camp.

  What do you think of her oath to those girls? Let me know in the comments...