Prologue
A lone, horse-drawn carriage sped down an unevenly paved road, flanked by a contingent of horse-mounted guards. The thunder of the horses’ galloping hooves echoed through the night, broken only by the occasional crashing sound of a stone bouncing off a wheel and into the body of the carriage.
A servant peeked out of the carriage’s rear window, looking down the road behind them. To the right was a sprawling riverbank; farther along, the serene, orange glow of the setting sun reflected off the surface of the Xpitol River. To the left rolled gentle, sloping hills, where herds of animals could be seen grazing in the distance. Trees and other shrubbery lined the road intermittently, casting long shadows on the ground before them.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and the only sounds that could be heard were the rumbling wheels and the galloping horses. However, those inside the carriage, and the guards riding alongside it, were blanketed in a thick, oppressive silence, undoubtedly due to the series of bizarre circumstances they had just encountered.
The carriage bore the mark of the Luvierte family, royals from the Rhoden Kingdom. Lauren Laraiya du Luvierte, the eldest daughter of the Luvierte family, sat inside, a pensive look on her face as she watched the scenery roll by through the window.
A young woman of just sixteen years, Lauren had long, chestnut-colored hair, though her current unease seemed to have robbed it of its usual sheen and luster. Beneath long eyelashes lay wavering, ephemeral hazel eyes set deep in her delicately shaped face. She was dressed in a beautiful gown made of powder-blue silk, which was accented by the deep reds from the rays of the setting sun cast through the carriage’s window.
Lauren had attended an evening ball held by the Diento family, serving as a representative of the Luvierte. On her way home, a gang of bandits—at least twenty by Lauren’s count—had been lying in wait for her. Nine of her guards fell back to hold off the bandits’ advances, though they could no longer be seen. Now only the carriage, its five-guard contingent, and one knight remained.
The servant who sat inside the carriage with Lauren was Rita Farren, a chambermaid who served the eldest Luvierte daughter. She had short, red hair and distinct green eyes that projected a strong sense of determination. Rita sat quietly next to Lauren, taking the uneasy girl’s hand in her own.
“We’re safe now, Miss. I don’t see any pursuers, and we’re nearly back to town.” Rita held Lauren’s gaze, smiling at the girl and stroking her hand in the hopes of comforting her.
“Thank you, Rita. You’re… You’re right. We’re almost at Father’s estate.” Lauren smiled and squeezed Rita’s hand back, though her anxiety remained.
Suddenly, the carriage slowed down dramatically, and the horses could be heard whinnying lightly from outside. The carriage driver opened the small port behind him and turned to Lauren.
“I’m sorry, Miss, but the horses can’t keep running like this. We’ll need to go at a walking pace the rest of the way.”
The horses had taken off at a full gallop to pull the carriage away from the bandits’ ambush. Now, it seemed, they could no longer keep up the pace. Even carriage horses had their limits, though the burden on the horses carrying Lauren’s guards must have been even greater.
Rita glanced out the carriage window where she spied a middle-aged man riding alongside them, affectionately patting his horse. His name was Maudlin, one of the Luvierte family’s knights, and he oversaw the contingent of guards accompanying the carriage. Though born a peasant, Maudlin’s talent for battle had been discovered at a young age, and he was trained to be a knight.
Maudlin reached down and wiped away the sweat from his horse’s neck with a towel. Complementing his short-cropped hair and carefully groomed mustache, his well-toned and muscular figure could be seen even through the light armor he wore over it.
“Do you think we lost the bandits, Sir Maudlin?” Rita stuck her head out of the carriage’s window, looking back behind them as she addressed the knight.
“Few of the bandits had horses, so if they haven’t followed us this far, I dare say we should be fine. Pass the message along to the madam.” Maudlin gave Rita a wide, toothy grin in the hopes of putting her at ease.
“In that case, perhaps we can finally breathe easy.” Rita’s expression relaxed as she let out the breath she had been holding. She glanced up the road.
A dense clump of trees stood along one side of the road ahead. On the other, the sloping hills seemed to encroach even closer. The sight of that alone left Rita with an indescribable feeling of being confined. Her eyebrows narrowed as the muscles in the back of her neck tensed.
Noticing Rita’s expression, Maudlin also began scanning the scene in front of them. He seemed to spot something, but before he could get any words out, a volley of arrows cut through the air toward them. The carriage driver screamed as two arrows struck him in the chest.
At the same moment, one of the carriage’s wheels struck a stone, sending the driver’s body out of his seat. Rita, who had been watching through the window, was thrown back onto the carriage’s floorboards. The driver’s lifeless body got caught in the carriage’s wheels, causing it to grind to a halt.
Another volley of arrows flew from the woods, this time striking two of the guards.
“Damn, another ambush?! This can’t be happening!”
The sound of galloping hooves filled the air as six mounted bandits crested the hill and rushed in for the attack. They closed the distance to Lauren’s guards, whose backs were exposed as they defended against the onslaught of arrows, swiftly dispatching two who had been injured by the arrow volley, along with a third.
A bandit galloped toward Maudlin, though the knight used his sword to knock the rider off their horse. Maudlin spotted two men running out of the forest and approaching the carriage.
“Miss Rita, take the reins!”
Brought back to reality by the sound of Maudlin’s voice, Rita hurriedly hopped out of the carriage. She found the driver’s body lying between the front and back wheels, so she shoved him farther under the carriage to prevent him from catching on the back wheels. As she was about to climb into the blood-drenched driver’s seat, a hand roughly grabbed her servant uniform from behind and forcefully threw her to the ground.
Rita’s back hit the earth with a thud, knocking the air from her lungs and sending her into a coughing fit as she gasped for breath. At the edge of her vision, she witnessed yet another guard being surrounded and killed. She also saw a bandit—likely the one who had thrown her down—standing over her with a crude grin on his face.
“Grwaaaaawh!”
Just then, Rita heard a man scream out in agony. When she looked toward the source of the scream, she was met with a sight that defied belief: One of the guards had stabbed Maudlin in the back, right where the plates of his armor met.
Maudlin seethed, his raw hatred for the man behind him apparent in his contorted expression. “Causdah?! Why you traitorous…!” He raised his sword as he turned, ready to strike down the disloyal guard who had stabbed him from behind. However, Causdah merely grinned as he ran his own horse into Maudlin’s, sending them to the ground from the force of the impact.
A handsome man—or at least, as handsome as bandits got—came rushing in on his horse. Upon dismounting in front of the fallen knight, he ran the rest of the way on foot and stabbed Maudlin in the neck. Blood sprayed everywhere, staining the earth under the knight red.