Oath of Rings

Chapter 1

Charlotte couldn't remember ever seeing so many people in Castle Flair before, and yet she had never quite felt so alone in her ancestral home. Perhaps that was because, if left to her own devices, she had spent as much time away from it as possible. Whenever she could get away, she had been doing combat training with her brother Reid, which made his sudden death all the harder to bear. No one would say it to her face—even if she didn't always act like it, she was still the princess of the castle, after all—but she knew that some of Reid's knights wondered if he had been so busy training her that he had neglected his own duties. The mere thought that she could be in any way responsible for her brother's death made Charlotte hang up her sword and retreat to castle life, even though it chafed at her spirit, and this banquet was worse than a month of embroidery lessons.

"It must be such a relief to have an occasion to wear your dresses again." Stephanie, daughter of the visiting King Vincent, approached but kept a sensible distance away from her. Like Charlotte, she had grown up in a family whose legacy was centred on fighting, but Stephanie had shown little interest in taking part in battles herself. She was all too happy to procure the best warriors and let them do combat on her behalf.

Charlotte tried not to let her gaze harden. If it had been up to her, she would have kicked the McMahon clan members out of Castle Flair and their lands, but she also knew that everything she said and did—or didn't say and didn't do—reflected back on her father and would affect his alliances. "I did my initial sword training in a dress." She tried to make it sound more like an interesting fact to share than a blunt correction. "One never knows when they might have to defend themselves, and that is especially true of a princess. I can hardly ask an invading heathen to wait while I change into my fighting attire, can I?" Her laugh sounded brittle to her ears, as ready to shatter as her temper, but the surrounding din must have masked most of her disdain.

Stephanie's answering smile was just as forced, and twice as obvious. "Well, it won't be long until that's no longer a problem for you." There was a cloying sweetness to her voice that made Charlotte want to drink all the wine she could find.

It was very tempting to summon the winds outside Castle Flair and get them to blast Stephanie down the hall, but Charlotte forced her hands flat against her sides. It wasn't a well-known fact that she was an air-archer—in fact, she didn't even know if that was the right term, since such powers were so rare. Her father had procured tutors for her to help her control and hone her gifts, but he also didn't talk widely about them. Charlotte wasn't even sure if anyone in Clan McMahon knew about her ability. "What do you mean?" She hated not knowing something that Stephanie clearly did.

With a falsely bright laugh, Stephanie gestured at the banquet behind them. "You know why everyone's here, don't you? Your father is trying to find a suitable husband for you. When you were playing with swords with your brother," she added, nose wrinkling up in disdain, "it was far more difficult, but now that you're settling in to life as a proper princess, several suitors have shown interest." Her smile was as sharp and lethal as any sword Charlotte had ever wielded. "Randall seems to be the most favoured candidate, though. Then again, your father always did have a soft spot for him. Why, he's practically like Ric's son." With that parting jab, Stephanie sauntered off, merging with the festive crowd before Charlotte could react.

Fervently hoping that her father wasn't talking to Randall, Charlotte surged through the crowd as best she could, murmuring apologies and promises for dances that would never come to pass, at least not if she had her way. "Father," she said at last, gripping his arm tight enough to get his attention. Whenever King Ric was the centre of attention, it could be almost impossible to tear him away. "May I speak with you in private?"

"Charlotte! The lady of the hour!" Ric sounded like he had finished a barrel of wine all on his own. "Hello, sweetheart. Let me introduce Theodore—" Ric wobbled on his feet and if Charlotte hadn't been at his side, he likely would have fallen in a drunken heap.