EPHERIA

  Epheria recognized the voice and inwardly groaned. She and Yaz pulled away but didn’t let go of each other. She took his arm in hers and faced the speaker, her tone no-nonsense. “Go bother someone else. As I’ve said before, this is no business of yours.”

  Kree, the official Court Wizard of the Velvet Kingdom, was giving Yaz a cold look. Kree had arrived in the kingdom three years ago and immediately gained a position with the kingdom because of his magical abilities. He’d been named by her father to his current post only six more months after that. Half the population of the Velvet Kingdom was human from Drearia and non-magical, and the kanin people weren’t much more naturally able, so they were desperate for magic users of real ability, of which Kree most assuredly was. Her father thought very highly of the wizard.

  Epheria had readily become aware of Kree’s personal interest in her. Whether it was purely lust for her body or for gaining the throne through her, she wasn’t entirely certain, but despite his multiple attempts to build a relationship with her, she’d never sensed any real affection or sentiment from him. Her deep love for Yaz made it even easier for her to continue rejecting him. Not that those rejections seemed to dissuade his interest.

  Kree turned his head to her. “Hasn’t your father already made his feelings clear on this relationship?”

  Her ears tilted back, revealing her anger. One of her father’s criticisms was that she didn’t do better in controlling her emotions, or at least how her ears so publicly expressed them. “My relationships are my business.”

  He gave her a challenging look. “You are the princess of the kingdom.”

  She lifted her chin, defiant. “A kingdom the age of a toddler. Our grandparents lived in the wild. I think it’s a little ridiculous for us to pretend to silly rules and formal traditions like we’re some ancient regime. And I don’t see the value in such pretension anyway. Being a princess doesn’t make me any different from any other woman. I’ll love who I want and kiss who I want, and again, it’s no concern of yours.” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Yaz opening his mouth to speak. Before he could get into yet another argument with the wizard — for the two hated each other — she tugged on his arm to lead him away.

  Once out of earshot as they stalked down the hallway, she made a little growl of her own. “I’m so tired of his meddling.”

  “Your father wants to speak with you. That’s why I came to find you.”

  Epheria almost jumped out of her skin. She stopped in her tracks and turned her head.

  Kree stood next to her, looking cold but also smug. He’d obviously heard her; they hadn’t left him behind at all.

  Yaz released her arm and took a threatening step toward him, interposing himself between her and the wizard.

  She raised a hand. “Yaz…”

  The knight showed no fear at all. “Speaking of inappropriate behaviour, hasn’t it been made clear how inappropriate your own is?”

  Kree smirked. “Hmph. You really don’t understand how intimidation works, do you? Hit one too many times in the head, perhaps? You have to be stronger than the person you’re trying to threaten.”

  “Oh, I’m pretty sure I am.”

  Kree sneered. “As if a grunt like you would stand a chance against an accomplished wizard like me. Magic always trumps steel, musclehead.”

  Yaz laughed, apparently with genuine amusement, showing no trace of fear despite everyone knowing that Kree was a person of very powerful abilities, with more than a little lupus blood on his hands to prove it. Yaz grinned at the magic user, his energy suddenly restored, as if he hadn’t just spent two hours swinging steel. “Want to test it?”

  Kree grinned back, chest-puffing. “I’d like noth—“

  Epheria thrust an arm between them. “Enough.” She pulled Yaz away, feeling protective, even though she was pretty sure he would hold his own against Kree. Probably. Maybe? She nervously eyed the magic user, though she hid her emotion. There’d always been something odd about Kree, something dangerous underneath his normally calm and studied behaviour. Probably one of the qualities her father liked about him, which is how he’d gotten his position.

  She decided to go and see what her father wanted.

  *

  Epheria’s father, the king of the Velvet Kingdom, was fully human (her mother, Biantha, was mixed kanin-human). He stood in front of his wooden throne, beard gray and head balding, but with fire in his eyes, and impatiently scolded her. “I have told you, privately, time and time again, that this relationship is done. You didn’t listen. So I will tell you now, for the last time, you will cease having any relationship with this knight. Ever. Or there will be dire consequences.”

  She tried not to allow her own anger to rise in response to his, though it wasn’t easy. “Father—“

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  He snapped back, “It’s over!”

  She bit back an angry retort and tried to stay calm. “I’m not—“

  Her willingness to stand up to him only made him angrier, and he took a step forward and shouted at her. “You will marry who I tell you to marry!”

  Adrenalin flooded Epheria’s heart, and it fluttered with anger and panic. It was not easy to stand up against a parent, especially when they were really upset. But she firmed her voice and stood her ground. “I won’t be your pawn. I’m a person, not a game piece or furniture. You have no say in who I fall in love with.”

  He shouted at her, “I am the king! My word is law!”

  Yaz stepped forward. He looked far more deferential than he had when challenging Kree earlier, but he still didn’t show any fear. “Please—“

  The king dragged his gaze off Epheria and threw a look of scorn at the knight. “It’s Sire to you! Remember your place.”

  “Sire. Epheria is—“

  “Don’t you dare question or talk back to me. I am your king. You swore an oath to serve me!”

  Yaz raised a hand in protest. “To serve the kingdom, sire.”

  The statement seemed to throw the older man. “I am the king. I am the kingdom.”

  Epheria recognized how badly this was going and reached out to touch her love’s shoulder and restrain him.

  Reluctantly, Yaz spoke anyway. “No, sire. My loyalty is to the princess as much as to yourself and to the people as much as the rulers.”

  Her father grew suddenly calm in a very dangerous manner. All his attention zeroed in on Yaz. “That sounds a lot like treason, boy.”

  “No, sire. I meant no disrespect. Only that I swore to uphold the laws and values of the kingdom and the welfare of the people above all. I obey your commands, but I could not do so if it meant being unjust or hurting a citizen of Velvet. If it meant hurting our people. Including Epheria.”

  Epheria watched with dread as her father’s hand twitched as if he was too full of emotion to control himself, a rare thing. She murmured, “We should—“

  The king snarled. “You would defy me? Admit that you would be willing to betray me?”

  Yaz wisely took a step back so that he was beside her again. “I’m only trying to say that Epheria—

  “Princess Epheria!”

  “Princess Epheria loves and respects you and surely wants you to be happy, as I do, as any citizen of Velvet does. But forcing her to marry against her will would be an act of cruelty. If there is something about my character, a worry that I won’t treat her right—“

  Her father barked a nasty laugh. “You are just a lowly knight. A tool. She is a princess, and she will marry who I say and when I say for the benefit of this kingdom. And it will be to a prince, someone worthy of her station, someone that will bring with them the finances and power necessary to help us hold off our ancient enemies. You, peasant—“

  Yaz blinked in surprise. “Peasant?”

  “—will stay away from my daughter, or I will have you drummed out of the order and cast out of my domain.”

  Epheria nearly shook her head before stopping herself. Notions of class were uncommon in the kingdom, and her father’s insistence on creating such distinctions, with the royal family and himself at the top, was something that had only begun in earnest once he’d been given the throne and this form of government had been established, a reflection of his personal interests. Many people of Velvet, like Yaz and Epheria, found the idea of class unappealing, to say the least. Unfortunately, the democratic faction had lost the political battle during the formation of a formal nation.

  It seemed as if Yaz had had enough of treading carefully. He straightened, and his voice grew harder. “Respectfully, sire, though you can exile me, only the order itself can dismiss me from their ranks.”

  Seemingly taking that as insolence, her father’s eyes widened in rage. “You—!“

  “Please, sire! I do not wish to fight with you. I only ask that you consider your daughter’s heart! Perhaps her life-long happiness is worth more than a temporary treaty or purchase of land our rivals will simply fight us over later.”

  The king’s face was turning purple. “You truly forget your place, boy. I’ve had enough—“

  Epheria jumped in, alarmed at the dark and angry tone her father’s face had undergone. “Father! Let’s not be rash. We shouldn’t say or do things when we’re upset. Any of us.” She motioned for Yaz to quickly leave. “Go!”

  He looked at her and hesitated but must have realized the wisdom of her actions. With a deferential bow to the king, he backed away and left the throne room.

  Epheria spent another hour trying to calm her father and prevent him from ordering Yaz’s execution. It was not easy to cut through his fury nor to ignore her own. But she had to, for Yaz’s sake. And her own.

  That night, as she dismissed her maid from her bedroom and climbed into bed, it was with a heavy heart. Her relationship with her father had always been fractious, without the kind of love and affection she yearned for from him. It seemed as if things were finally coming to a head. Her father was forcing her to make a choice she didn’t want to: choose her father or the person she wanted a future beside. She was going to have to lose one of them.

  And that was a really lousy choice for anyone to have forced on them.

  A tap on the glass of one of her windows caught her attention. Assassins wouldn’t knock, and only one person ever dared climb up the side of the castle to see her in the middle of the night. She threw the bed covers aside and ran to the window to draw back the curtain.

  Yaz hung outside the glass. He gave her a sad smile. “Hey.”

  She slid the window open sideways, drew him in, and they wrapped their arms around each other. Her ears drooped and hung down the sides of her head. She struggled not to cry.

  Yaz patted her ears and head and hugged her close to his warm body. “I’m sorry, Effy. I shouldn’t have spoken up. I just made things worse.”

  “No. It wasn’t your fault. I’m glad you stood up for us. And me. My father’s unreasonable.”

  They stood in silence for a long while, just holding each other.

  Eventually, emotions having calmed down, she tilted her head up and looked into Yaz’s brown eyes. But when she opened her mouth, he spoke at the same time.

  “I’m not giving up on us.”

  “I’m not giving up on us.”

  They both grinned at each other.

  Yaz squeezed her tight. “I love you, my bunny girl.”

  Her ears straightened, and she crinkled her nose and touched it to his. “I love you, too.” Her sadness melted away, as it so often did whenever she was with him.

  *

  The next day, Yaz returned to the practice court with renewed vigour that led him to take on three men at once—and give them all a thrashing. The display of martial skill impressed even those he’d beaten, and plenty of praise went his way from the two dozen knights training in the yard.

  When Dir Ghenli noticed the high spirits, he waited until Yaz had a moment alone and came over with a touch of surprise in his lowered voice. “Heard the king was involved in quite the conversation with the princess yesterday. Didn’t think I’d see you this feisty this morning. Figured you might be angry.”

  Yaz turned a youthful grin on the head knight. “I guess I had my faith boosted.”

  Gus found that puzzling. He frowned. “Faith in what?”

  “In my oath as a knight.”

  “Really? But the king…”

  “I didn’t swear an oath to the king. Like I told him yesterday, I swore an oath to the people of this kingdom. All of them. And that’s who I fight for.”

  A slow, proud smile spread over Gus’s lips. He reached up and clapped a hand on Yaz’s shoulder. “You’re going to be a great knight.”

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