CHAPTER 2: TORRIN AUGUST 27, 878

Mira’s sword was redirected with a fantastic crash.

“Your Highness—” Mira began, but the princess cut her off.

“Mira stop,” Princess Adelyn commanded, standing between Torrin and Mira. The rest of the fighting had ceased. Silas’s men and the Linian guards were either incapacitated, or still trying to swim back to shore.

“You don’t understand!” Mira’s eyes glinted auburn, almost red, in the sunlight.

“And I don’t care!” the princess snapped. “Put your saber down and step away from this man.”

For a moment, it looked like Mira might strike the princess down where she stood. Her Highness didn’t even flinch when Mira raised her blade and flung it down so it was embedded in the wooden dock. She stalked away, moving like a tornado on a mission.

“Imi,” Princess Adelyn said to the cluster of female guards she’d brought with her. A Sendian girl with curly brown hair bobbed in a brief bow before pulling out the saber and chasing after Mira. Torrin stared after the two girls as they grew smaller in the distance. Mira had changed so much. She was so much older. After all, she’d only been fourteen when he’d seen her last. And he’d been sixteen, so he’d probably changed a lot, too. Her hair was shorter, as short as a man’s, and she wasn’t scrawny like she’d been before. And her arm . . . what had happened? Four years ago, she’d had two hands. It didn’t surprise him that the loss of the arm below her elbow hadn’t slowed her down in the least.

“Your Highness—” Torrin stopped when the princess held up her hand.

“We will worry about her later. First we need to get you two somewhere else so we can talk. We are beyond secrecy now. We need safety.” The princess and her two remaining guards led the way to the small palace of Corignis.

“What was all that?” Cedric muttered as they wandered through the halls of the palace. Torrin had dreamt of wandering these halls when he was a boy. Every child in Corignis wished they could live here with the young princess.

“This is fine, thank you. Kamala, Aruna, you are excused.” With a reluctant bow, the two guards left. Since there were no footsteps after the door closed, Torrin assumed they had remained just outside in the hall. “Please, have a seat.”

The room was small and a tiny round table sat in the center of it. Torrin had expected some kind of great meeting hall, but he was almost relieved to be in the smaller area. It made it feel like he was talking with a friend, not petitioning a princess. He sat down on the nearest chair, only to stand back up and turn to look at the seat. A stuffed doll rested on the cushion. He picked it up to find it was a mermaid with tanned skin and eyes the same blue as her fish tail.

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“I apologize. My daughter’s toys seem to find their way all around this castle.” The princess took the plush mermaid from Torrin’s hand and set it on the table as she sat down across from Cedric and Torrin.

Torrin sat down. “You have a daughter?” He had heard that the princess of Corignis had married the heir to the largest merchant business in Sendium, but never anything about a child.

“Camilla. She is turning three this year,” the princess answered. It was moments like this that Torrin truly realized how long he’d been in that Linian prison. Princess Adelyn pushed the mermaid to the side of the table and twined her fingers together. “Now tell me: what exactly is this project Silas was working on?”

“Cedric is the best Bone Jinura you’ll ever meet, so he was privy to all the information. Go ahead, Cedric,” Torrin encouraged.

Cedric cleared his throat nervously. “When we were still working for him, Silas was trying to create a poison that could specifically target Corridians, leaving Jinura unharmed and completely unaffected.”

“That isn’t possible,” the princess argued. Cedric heaved a sigh but said nothing to remind her that he’d already told her it was indeed possible.

“He had me working with an Earth Jinura to try to manufacture such a poison. The only thing he needed was something all Jinura were immune to that we could bond with the poison so it wouldn’t affect them.”

“Does such a thing exist?”

With a nod, Cedric continued. “Centuries ago, the god Hathos had pity on the humans. He had them drink his blood from the Cup of Hathos, and from that Cup the first Earth Jinura were born.”

“I may not worship your gods, Cedric, but I know the stories. Shortly after Hathos blessed mankind, the other gods followed suit until there were Earth, Water, Fire, Bone, Heart, Mind, and Tongue Jinura.” She recited this like it was a list she had to memorize in school. In fact, it probably was. Even though the Sendian Royalty traditionally worshipped the dual gods Shali and Shama, they must have studied the Jinura gods as well. “But that is all just legend. Surely the Cup isn’t real.” Cedric looked over to Torrin.

“We wouldn’t have come all this way if we didn’t think it was real,” Torrin insisted. “And we also believe that Silas may know where to find it.”

“Do you know where to find this Cup?”

“I’m afraid not, Your Highness,” Torrin dipped his head down, wishing he had more information.

“What were you expecting from me then? I don’t know where it is.”

“We were hoping you could ask the queen to form a team to challenge Silas, or to at least find the Cup before he does,” Torrin suggested. In all honesty, they had come to her because this was Torrin’s province. Princess Adelyn was the ruler he grew up with since she took control of the region at the age of sixteen. They were being chased by Linian soldiers and Silas’s men and there was nowhere else they could turn.

The princess scoffed at the suggestion of formal military action and Torrin’s face heated. He was foolish to have come. He should have hidden away in Kern when he had the chance.

“My sister would never agree to such an idea. If I’m not mistaken, Silas of Kavrille is holed up in Linia at the moment. If King Roderick found out we sent military to his kingdom, he’d start petitioning for war, even if it was to rid him of a rodent he’s been housing for over a decade.”

The princess was quiet for a moment and Torrin’s heart sank. “Well, thank you for your time, Your Highness.” He stood up.

“But I can spare a few guards.” Torrin let a smile spill onto his lips.

“That would be wonderful. More than we could have hoped.”

“It will have to be the best I have if you’re to succeed. Preferably one familiar with Linia . . .” she trailed off in thought. “I take it you are familiar enough with Silas that you’ll be able to track him? You’ll need to figure out how to find that Cup.”

“Oh, I’m plenty familiar with Silas. We’ll find him.”