Map of Ember and Moonlight

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lyv had just finished lacing up her riding boots when the door to her rooms opened. The swishing of skirts undoubtedly came from her mother as she sauntered in. And when she turned, the queen was just sitting down in one of the plushy chairs by the slightly opened window. The sun had yet risen and yet her mother looked like she'd been up for hours.

She looked pointedly at the chair next to her.

"What can I do for you, Mother?" Alyvia asked after sitting beside her.

"I thought we agreed no riding today," Guinevere stated, raising a blonde brow. Though she was in forty-sixth year, she was still as breathtaking as she had been at Lyv's age and every bit a queen. Her emerald green dress did wonders for her figure and bust.

"That was yesterday," she replied. "You had me help you with the menus for the next month's events with the cook. I thought we agreed..."

"Alyvia, darling." Guinevere sighed, reaching over to pick a piece of lint off the shoulder of her white shirt, which was tucked into her leather pants. The perfect riding attire...and her mother would burn every piece if she were given the chance. "You're eighteen and the last of my daughters to be eligible for marriage. I can't have you galivanting off to wherever it is you go, especially without the proper protection. You might not look like a princess in that...clothing...but you're a beautiful young woman."

"I can take care of myself."

"Yes, and you learned it when you train with the palace guardsmen. Exactly what I want you to be doing early in the mornings. And your father doesn't help the matter either with it being allowed. Don't even get me started on the riding trip you two went on after your sister's wedding. Gone for three days and I didn't even know where you were off to..."

Yes, her mother would rather have her doing needle work, preparing dinner menus, or off flirting with every eligible young man in Escarral with land and money. At least she hadn't noticed the dagger her father gave her years before on her waist. And she knew how to use it.

"I know I can't take these things away from you," her mother said finally, though the way she said it, is sounded as if she could if she absolutely wanted to. "But you give me tomorrow."

"And what will I be assisting you with?"

Guinevere smiled. "I'm not exactly sure just yet, but I'll think of something." She stood, smoothing out her skirts before heading for the door. "Oh, and I'll be sending two guardsmen with you today."

"But I'll..."

Her smile grew, knowing she still had a tight hold on her youngest daughter. "No buts."

***

She was wrong. It took all of three seconds for Lyv to lose the two guardsmen her mother had sent up. She had just slung her satchel over her shoulder and fastened her cloak under her chin when the knock sounded at her door. To anyone who didn't know who she actually was, she would be just another young woman out for a ride.

"Are we just going to stand here or are we going riding?" she asked as she pushed past them into the hallway.

They followed dutifully ten feet behind her as she walked down the toward the staircase to the lower level. She knew the palace like the back of her hand...including the secret passageways used by the staff years before and had been thought to have been closed off.