The Heart of a Wielder (Book One of The Wielders Trilogy) ✔️

Chapter Eight

To the Count and Countess Casteris From Lady Maren Casteris

Dearest Mother and Father,

Life at the palace is simply delightful. Everyone has been extremely kind. I spend most of my days in the gardens or the library, or, I am sure you will not be surprised to hear, the stables.

Mother, I think you would adore the gardens. They are massive and have the loveliest flowers and fountains I could have imagined. I would happily draw dozens of pictures for you, but as you know, my art skills are rather lacking. I will see if I can find someone more talented to make some drawings for you.

The horse master, a most exacting man, has been very welcoming, for which I am relieved. At first, he was skeptical that I could actually groom a horse and maintain tack, but he was soon convinced through my expedient seizure of a grooming brush. I expect he might even allow me to ride one of his lovely creatures eventually if I pass his muster.

The royal family has all been so welcoming, and I had the honor of attending a small dinner party at the King and Queen's residence. Prince Donovan, has proven to be a fine companion and excellent conversationalist. We attended a beautiful ball together not long after my arrival and had a fabulous time.

I do think of home often and miss you very much. I hope all is well at home. I love you both.

Maren

Maren surveyed the letter. It had numerous omissions and some gross exaggerations, but no outright falsehoods. Reading it over, she hoped it might assuage some of her parents' concerns. They had no idea the Prince knew about her, and she had no intention of telling them. It would just worry them needlessly—it wasn't as if they could do anything to help her in any case.

She had very much exaggerated her views on the Prince, but she couldn't really complain too much about him. He still was frequently rather rude, but he mostly left her alone. He paraded her in front of the Court every few days and occasionally invited her to dinner, but apart from that, she rarely saw him.

Maren sealed the letter and left a note to the staff directing them to mail it to her parents. It would take at least a week to arrive, but the post was fairly reliable. She checked the time and realized she needed to go to dinner as she was meeting the Prince in his dining room.

When she arrived, they performed the various ritual greetings and sat quietly sipping wine and waiting for dinner to arrive. They normally had little to discuss, but Maren didn't mind — silence was far superior to rudeness.

Eventually, dinner arrived. It appeared to be some sort of roast beef, which Maren generally enjoyed. They had only been eating for a minute or so when the Prince began to cough. First, he just cleared his throat a few times, but it rapidly turned into a fit of coughing.

"Are you all right?" Maren asked, alarmed. The Prince's face was turning bright red. Then he began to wheeze and gasp for breath.

Clearly, something serious was happening.

"I'll go get help," she said.

Maren leapt up from the table and was leaving the room when she heard the thump that could only be the Prince falling from his chair.

She cursed loudly and turned on her heel. He had collapsed on the floor. Maren knelt beside him, checking to see if he was breathing.

He wasn't.

She cursed again.

Should she perhaps run and find help? Would they make it back in time? She had absolutely no idea how to reach the Court Physician, and it would take at least a few minutes for her to summon a servant and then for the servant to find help. She didn't think the Prince had that kind of time.