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1
“You’re not going to believe this,” I said. I leaned towards the map I had spread out on the oak desk. We were in the library, a round stone room with high ceilings and books lining every wall. I loved to read, sure, but the court cartographer had uncovered this map from deep in the archives just for me.
Barion sighed dramatically and looked up from the novel he was thumbing through. He sank deeper into the overstuffed armchair.
“What now?”
His lack of interest didn’t deter me. I was used to this kind of reaction from Barion — he’d been my tutor in sword fighting and strategy since I was knee-high. He’d been the one to first encourage my burgeoning interest in cartography when I was a little girl. Now he had to deal with the consequences. I smoothed out the edge of the parchment and traced the faded ink with the tip of my finger.
The map didn’t look too different from the ones I was familiar with. My country, Frasia, looked similar to its state today. The capital of Efra was still marked in the center. The mountain range between the capital and Starcrest on the northwest side was still immense and imposing, even when sketched out in ink, and the fertile fields of Duskmoon were once apparently forests. Dawnguard on the northeast was marked as flat and dry, a vast prairie one traversed to get to Daybreak and the castle in which I stood now. Daybreak still had its lush forests and winding coastline, and it already had a port marked on the chart. It was much bigger now, I assumed. But it did thrill me to see that the Daybreak pack was leading coastal trade even hundreds of years ago.
Right now, though, something on the east coast had caught my attention. Instead of the bay that was situated there today, there was a narrow land bridge on the map linking Frasia and nearby continent Askon.
“Look,” I said to Barion as I peered at the map. “Frasia and Askon used to be connected.”
Frasia was the kingdom of wolves. Five packs controlled its various territories and resources. Daybreak was on the coast and focused primarily on trade, so I had some familiarity with the other kingdoms accessible across the seas. Askon was the land of jaguar shifters. Cruora, to the north, housed the kingdom of eagles; close to Osna, of the shark shifters. And to the west was Shianga—the kingdom of dragon shifters. I longed to see it for myself one day though I knew that was a pipe dream.
“Thrilling,” Barion deadpanned. “I’m glad it sank into the sea, we have enough trouble with the wolves alone. Last thing Frasia needs is jaguar shifters on our land.”
I shot him a dark look.
“This is an important discovery,” I said. “If the other continents were more connected than we thought, it’s worth examining. There may be parts of our own shifter culture that feel inherent to our way of life but are just as constructed as…” I floundered for a metaphor. “As our ships.”
Barion sighed and went back to his book. He was used to hearing this rant from me. No one ever cared about my studies, matter how hard I tried to engage people. Meanwhile I couldn’t help but wonder why no one else seemed to get bored simply navigating court. There was a whole world out there—one Frasia was once apparently connected to! -and everyone in Daybreak society was happy to just keep up with the routine every day, without question.
“You’re missing the point, Barion,” I insisted. “What if I could get to the west coast and see where this land bridge once was? Maybe I’d be able to—”
The heavy wooden door to the library clattered open, interrupting the scholastic trip I was already crafting in my mind. I sighed when I saw who it was.
“There you are, Lady Reyna,” Vuk, my father’s butler, said curtly as he strode across the stone floor. His boot heels cracked the silence with each step. “I’ve been looking for you.”
He said that as if I didn’t spend nearly every afternoon in the library. “What is it?”
Vuk adjusted the labels of his fine linen jacket. He always acted like his butler’s uniform was the peak of finery.
“The duke has requested your presence in his study,” he said. “Now, please.”
“Right now? What does he want?” I glanced at Barion, as if to ask, did you know about this?
Barion only shrugged. He seemed barely interested at all. He was far too big for the armchair he was seated in, wearing his usual plain outfit of a dress shirt and loose trousers, so the functional warrior’s arm muscles were on open display. At least he’d been to the barber recently so his beard was a little more tame than usual. When he had the wild hair and the jagged, faded scar lanced across where his right eye once was, he really got looks out on the streets of Daybreak.
“Lady Reyna, he only asked me to come fetch you,” Vuk said with no small amount of irritation in his voice. “I was not given the specifics.”
Somehow that made me more nervous. I delicately rolled the map up and slid it back into its archival tube.
“Barion, would you take this back to the archivist?” I asked.
Barion raised his eyebrows at me and slowly closed the novel. I met his gaze steadily. He understood my meaning—I did want to meet with my father alone. The last thing I needed was the duke thinking I needed Barion’s presence to steady my nerves in front of him.
Even if that was partially true.
“Certainly, my lady,” Barion said.
Vuk cast him a dark look and sniffed. He’d never liked Barion. He found him to be too boorish for the refined Daybreak Court—and he didn’t like that Barion had insisted on teaching me swordcraft from a young age.
I paused and glanced at my reflection in the mirror hanging above the fireplace in the library. My father preferred not to look at me at all, but when he did, it was easier if I looked presentable. I tucked the strands of white-blonde hair that escaped from my long plait out behind my ears and removed my reading glasses, meeting my own sharp blue eyes in the mirror. There were ink stains on my fingertips, but luckily I hadn’t gotten any on my white linen shirt and long brown skirt. My father would’ve preferred if I’d worn a bit of jewelry to show my rank. But that was his fault for summoning me on a day when I didn’t have any court responsibilities scheduled.
Vuk cleared his throat.
