If I Know You

Chapter 1

The day that Besnik, the sweaty mattress my parents call their court wizard, shuffled up to me and handed me the piece of paper that told me it was my destiny to awaken The Sleeping Princess, marry her, and produce several adorable heirs had been the second-worst day of my life.

I thought nothing could replace the day that my older brother Tory tripped and accidentally pulled down my pants in front of an entire monastery, but that had been moved to third place.

The announcement had been the absolute worst until today.

Today was the day that I had to go do it.

The Summer Solstice would happen tomorrow. The only day of the year when the fae would allow a lone human to pass through Senya's Narrows and get to the tower where the cursed princes and princesses slept.

Unfortunately, getting ready hadn't taken very long. My dressing routine had been too short. I had my bags packed. A weapon. My books. A laughably small amount of food.

Unless I could figure out a way to break my leg, I had to go, and I had to go now.

I ran my hand over the doorframe of my chambers and bit my lip ring. This room had always been my refuge from talking to people, but this would be the last time I'd walk through the door as an unmarried man. The God of Marriage had always been my least favorite, and now I knew why.

I stepped out of my cave of safety to see everyone waiting for me in the candlelit corridor.

Great.

My mother and father were standing hand-in-hand, beaming at me. Tory's black hair was falling in his eyes, barely disguising how he clearly wanted to murder the wizard next to him. That stupid wizard with his stupid robes and stupid beard and stupid oldness. How could one person even be so old? How could someone that's supposed to be so wise be... so stupid?

The sight of Besnik, with his red nose, big belly, and warm, grandfatherly smile, made me want to punch something with my little weak arms.

The irritation vanished when I saw the leaky, hopeful faces of the King and Queen of Marden. Phillipa's parents.

How could I tell them the truth? How could I do that when they hadn't seen their daughter in fifteen years? All I could do was hope that whatever broken thing inside of me was fixed when I got to that tower.

"Think I'm ready now," I mumbled, biting the inside of my cheek, trying to seem excited at all. "Got all my food and stuff. Sword. Pants. All the important things."

"Roran, thank you. There's no payment we can give you for this." Queen Elia wiped a kerchief over her cheeks with one hand, placing the other over her heart.

I could hardly understand her with how high-pitched and squeaky her voice had become after days of crying, but I already knew what she was saying. It was exactly what they'd been saying for four days straight, ever since the announcement ceremony.

They'd been waiting for fifteen years. We'd all been waiting. Six-year-old Phillipa had been taken by the fae, just like dozens of princes and princesses before her, and put into a permanent sleep, waiting for true love's kiss. But something was different this time around. Something happened that had never happened before.

The Mardenians had been begging to gods for years, and the gods had actually accepted their offerings.

We'd been visiting their kingdom, and a scroll had appeared on an altar in front of our very eyes, showing the name of the person who would be her true love. Who would get her out of the fae's grasp and make her a queen, marry her, give her children.