I wiped my sword clean on the cloak of the corpse of an enemy soldier and reviewed the skeleton army I had amassed. I checked my pouch. I had enough components for another casting. “Inmithus mancitem!” I saw the soldiers that picked through the dead for armour and weaponry dance back as the corpses of their enemies expelled their flesh and rose as skeletons. “Tell Ruelke she can add two hundred odd skeletons to her tally,” I said to Leongrad. “She’ll be happy about that,” he agreed. “They probably don’t eat much.” I laughed - my laughter sharp edged. I saw Aurien land, and the soldiers called Diandreliera’s name in triumph, as she again raised Intuin Desparen in salute of the victory. We left the strongholds sieging, not interested in taking them, and instead occupied the next large town along the road. The residents welcomed us, greeting Diandreliera as the True Queen. Narayan managed to arrange a bath for me in one of the private hou

“Looks like you’ve already done the fun part,” Akyran sat next to me. I tossed the first rock back into the river before taking up the second rock. “Cloth soaked in children’s tears,” Daerton watched with interest. “That’s some serious spell casting.” I threw the next rock into the river. “It needs to be.” “So, we’re creating a dam,” Daerton observed. “The bank is going to be slippery.” “I will dry it.” “You will need… ah,” he glanced at Akyran under his eyelashes. “I guess you have that in ready supply.” “Yes,” I murmured. “What?” Akyran looked between us. “I need some of your blood,” I held out my hand. “My blood?” he repeated but placed his hand in mine. I stabbed his finger with my dagger point, and he exclaimed. “- Ecaeris,” he protested. I squeezed his finger, to get the blood to bead, and then let it fall onto a cloth I held ready. When I released his hand, he put his finger in his mouth and sucked it. “T

The water was bluer thank Akyran’s eyes and sparkled like it was scattered with diamonds. I watched another ship move into the bay. The port and city were busy with traders moving in and out. A strange place, this, I thought, watching the movement from my perch in the open tower window. Isolated and surrounded by a deadly desert, the people who had colonized this spot had been foolhardy and determined. They had come from further inland, following the fertile land off the riverbanks until it disappeared into the ocean. The people were brilliant and deadly, like the environment. Their clothing was brightly coloured, finely woven, and designed for the heat of this land. They wore their wealth in gold heavily around wrist and throat, and their weapons in plain sight to deter thieves. Life came and went quickly. The Fae Courts intrigues did not hold the brutality of these beautiful and charming people, who would take a hand for a theft, and an eye for a trespass.

A skeleton rat skittered across the road before me, disappearing into the shadows. I paused, surprised that one still survived. Vienthrey was frosted as I strode through streets that layered memory of war against present time. There was no sign of the war that had waged here now, it existed only in my mind’s eye. The streets were all but empty, the residents seeking the shelter and warmth of their homes as day turned to night. There was a storm coming, the clouds over the city were heavy. The cobblestoned streets were slippery with ice underfoot, and the chimneys in all the houses streamed smoke. I heard the dragon roar and lifted my face to the sky to watch Aurien wing in towards the inner courtyard. Getting a last flight in, I thought, before he became snow-bound by the storm. The tavern was easily found, the light and revelry from within spilling out as a man left. He looked at my company with alarm, glanced over his shoulder at the occupants of the tavern

The bedding tangled at my feet annoyed me. I was cold and it was frustrating that succour was so close, and yet unattainable. Someone applied a wet cloth to my forehead. The water running down my face burned like acid. Dark hair fell across my face as the bedclothes were drawn up over me. “Akyran?” “No,” Daerton was amused. “But you can call me that if it makes you feel better.” “F-k you,” I said without heat. Everything ached. I shook with the cold. Fever, I assessed. A bad one. “Oh, come now, princess, is that any way to speak to your devoted nursemaid?” “Am I dying?” “Not on my watch, Ecaeris,” he promised. “Go back to sleep.” Dreams and nightmares interspersed with moments of lucidity. I could hear the echoes of my screams in the room, and found my bedside crowded with people: Fae. Their hands were linked, murmuring incantations. My mother was amongst them, and Daerton, looking exhausted, stood at the foot of my bed