Chapter One
Luna
I prayed to the fates that morning. I pleaded for their favor.
I was terrified all the same.
My heart pounded in my chest as I adjusted the hood of my long gray cloak for what felt like the millionth time. Shoulders brushed against mine as I tentatively strolled through the gates of Valgertha. I muttered a quiet apology, trying to disguise the feminine sound of my voice with a deeper one. Even though I was pretty sure that the guards posted at either side were more concerned with the people coming into the city than those leaving its gates, it still made me anxious. I was worried that my absence had already been noticed, that Queen Freya had come to find me and found my chambers empty or that the sweet maid Ariana who had been attending my quarters had realized that my bed was unslept in since I had been gathering supplies all night.
“Halt!”
The guards shouted out behind me and I froze. I turned my head and was careful to keep my face covered in case they recognized me or were already looking for an omega on the run. I was a political refugee, rescued from the hands of an abusive alpha and brought into the foreign city of Valgertha, and they hadn’t given me a choice about any of it. They’d given me the best medical care, food, and living quarters, but it was all an elaborate ruse to cover up the fact that I was still their captive.
I wished that they’d just left me bound to the wall where they’d found me, but Freya heard none of my protests, nor did the alpha Floki who carried me most of the way. I’d been weak before, battered and beaten by King Thranar’s hands, but now I was much stronger.
There’d been guards posted at my doors every night. If I left my chambers, there was a man who tailed me everywhere I went unless I was in the company of another maidservant or the queen herself. It had been tremendously difficult losing him today, but I’d used the crowds at the Central Market to hide and duck out into dark alleyways in order to make my escape. I’d waited a long time to see if he had followed, but after more than an hour, I hadn’t seen his large dark form anywhere. I’d decided that I needed to get out of the city and back home to Ravenrath.
“Stop. Don’t take another step,” the guards roared, and I swallowed heavily. Had I been discovered? Were they looking for me already? Had they circulated my picture amongst the guards? Was it too late?
I prayed it wasn’t so. I hoped the guards didn’t know what I looked like.
I lifted my eyes only to see a rather drunken Valgerthian warrior stumbling through the gates. I had to stifle a laugh as I watched him amble into the city, swinging his sword back and forth as if he was fighting some terribly dangerous monster that wasn’t actually there. I hadn’t planned it, but he was creating quite an elaborate diversion and I swiftly took advantage of the opportunity he presented. With haste, I adjusted myself by tying my hood a bit tighter and tried to act as if I wasn’t the most suspicious person in the world. I hoped against hope that I was doing a good enough job to fool anyone watching, that their eyes would just pass over me without a second thought. Just like everyone else around me, I shook my head and laughed at the drunken display the man was putting on before turning back toward the city gates and the wilds that lay beyond it.
The walls rose high to each side of me, formidable defenses that would challenge even the greatest army to break through. I counted at least five guards on either side appointed to protect the gates, each of them armed to the teeth.
I knew enough about Valgertha to know that none of them would miss once they zeroed in on a target. This was a warrior city. The people here lived and died by the sword. It was an honor for them to die on the battlefield. They believed it brought them closer to the gods, that it gave them glory in the afterlife.
I had a dagger hidden inside my boot, but I wasn’t a trained soldier like they were. I wasn’t weak, but I wouldn’t be able to beat warriors like them in a fight, no matter how crafty I made myself out to be.
“Put the sword down, Arden!” one of the guards yelled and I huffed in amusement. Apparently, they were familiar enough with the swordsman to know him by name and I was worried for nothing. They hadn’t noticed me. I was still safe. I took a deep breath, drawing in one lungful of air after another until my heart beat at a more normal pace.
There weren’t a lot of people leaving the city at this time of day, but I did my best to tail a few of the larger groups without being detected. Before long, I had made it quite a way down the road and the ancient trees of the forest were looming high overhead. Thick tree trunks that were more than ten times the diameter of my waist rose far above me, shrouding me in deep shade and protecting me from the harsh rays of the sun. I watched as the rest of the travelers continued on down the road while I stepped into the forest. I knew that it wouldn’t be long until I disappeared into the shadows and the people of Valgertha would never see me again.
I had to get back home. I had to make sure that my daughter was alright, that they hadn’t hurt her because I’d been taken against my will away from Ravenrath.
Very powerful people had held sway of my life ever since she’d been born. In exchange for my full cooperation, she had been allowed to live. I had done what a queen should never have done. I had given the king a daughter and not a son. I had been punished for it time and time again, but despite Thranar’s constant efforts, I hadn’t borne him a child since. And now that he was dead, I never would.
I didn’t know if the next appointed king would kill her since her very existence threatened his reign. Should my daughter ever give birth to her own son, he would have a claim to the throne and to a king, that was very dangerous indeed.
For all I knew, she could already be dead.
I stifled a cry.
I started to run, shrubbery smacking against my arms and scratching through the thin fabric of my hooded cape. I shrugged it up higher and the hood fell back. No longer in danger of being spotted, I let my hood stay where it was. I needed to make as much headway as I could tonight before the sun set on the horizon.
I had to get back before the Cult decided to do something to my daughter because they no longer had me.
* * *
The walk seemed endless. I’d made this journey once before, but the alpha with me had already known the way. This time I got lost several times and had to wait for the light of the moon and the stars to guide my way. Once a long time ag
o, someone had told me that I could use the moss growing on the soil below in order to determine my direction, but it grew everywhere in these ancient woods. The ground was laden with it and it seemed to me that there was no rhyme or reason to its growth pattern. Along the way, I ate several varieties of berries and mushrooms that I recognized as safe to eat in order to stem off the pangs of hunger.
The solitude was oppressive for a great while. The only sounds that surrounded me were the gentle hum of bugs and the musical songs of the birds for the longest time. On the third day, I had stopped for the evening to build a small fire and cook a small rabbit that I’d found caught in a hunter’s snare along the way. Using my small dagger, I skinned the animal and placed it on a skewer, leaving it to roast over the heat while I gathered extra wood and some soft moss to prepare a comfortable bed for myself for the night.
I was gathering firewood at the edge of the clearing when I reached for a long branch and heard a soft mewl. A pair of glowing feline-like red eyes met mine, unblinking and curious. I sensed no danger, just simply an inquisitive and inquiring creature, but in the darkness, I couldn’t quite tell what it was.