Page 118 of The Crown’s Temptation

There was no warning. There rarely was. One moment the tree line was still and the next it was not and the sound of it reached the house before anyone had time to think. The Baron moved immediately, not toward the girls but toward Yvara, his hands already pulling her in before his mind had caught up with his body.

Hara moved toward me.

The arrow found her before she reached her.

She fell without a sound.

Servants came rushing over as the Baron stood with Yvara in his arms. They picked Hara up immediately.

It was starting to rain. One of the servants reached for me. “Leave it outside,” the Baron barked. The servants looked at each other and quietly shuffled inside. Moments later, two servants snuck out of the Baron's house and quietly lifted me out of the rain.

“Lady Hara died protecting her. She must have made a promise, and if it isn’t kept, she will not rest well.”

The other woman nodded. I recognized her as Emva’s mother, Judice. She had always been kind to me until she had been too sick to stay in the manor. “Look,” she whispered. “Golden eyes, this one has. The veil will do her good, it will keep her from jealous eyes.”

The other woman reached into the basket I had arrived in and pulled out a small envelope. “What is inside?” Judice asked. I almost laughed, her eagerness for news was exactly like her daughter’s. The other woman opened the envelope. There was a silver pendant inside and a folded note. She handed it to Judice, “Save the necklace for the girl. The note has words I cannot read. Tell me what it says.” Judice leaned over and read silently.

Your name is Asharanis. You have only a pendant for now and the clothes on your back. But a kingdom and army and a family that loves you await you one day.

A promise was made. When it is offered, accept it. It will keep you safe from rooms that seem light but are full of darkness.

You are more than most. Do not let anyone convince you that you are less than that.

If you are reading this and hold my daughter in your arms, burn this. Give her the pendant.

She is smart enough to figure out the rest.

And one day she will hear this letter.

No one can keep me from her.

Love,

A Queen to a Queen

“Well?” The other servant said. “What does it say?”

Judice frowned just briefly, and I heard her mutter under her breath. “Asharanis is for Alarna.”

She understood. The name itself was dangerous. Too many Alarnan royal women carried that same ending. Ryaranis. Jularanis. Asharanis would have marked me as something more than the bastard daughter of a cruel man.

She was not only hiding the letter. She was hiding me.

She turned to the other servant. “She says the girl should be called Asharin, and that she loves her very much.”

“All those words and that is all it says?” The woman sounded skeptical.

“Aye. Fancy words telling the girl not to spread her legs too soon like she did.” Judice shrugged. “I’ll use it for kindle later, the wind has been strong lately and it’s bad luck to keep a whore’s words in the house.”

The other servant nodded. “Sounds about right. Every whore wishes for her daughter not to be one.”

Judice's fingers tightened around the paper before she tucked it in her breast and let the other woman walk ahead. Then she pulled me close and said “If only she knew, little one.”

That was why the Baron hated me. Because his sister had died reaching for me.

The memory dissolved.

I lay in the dark of the guest chamber and did not move for a long time.