Page 1 of Thief of Hearts

Chapter One

Her blade sliced toward my face and I smiled as I moved out of range. She lunged again and I knocked her sword away with my own, as easily as I would a young Thracian child with their first blade.

She tightened her grip on her weapon, a sword that looked more like a dagger. I wasn’t deceived—I knew how deadly she could be with it.

Although she wasn’t being very deadly at the moment. I felt a bit bored.

Despite her skill, she moved as if trapped in a large vat of honey. I predicted each action she’d take and was there to counter before she had even finished lifting her sword.

“I seem to remember you promising me that you could hold your own against me.” I didn’t mean to tease her but couldn’t help myself. Her frustration was evident and she always rose so quickly to a taunt.

Which she did. She let out a curse word so foul that I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s not very becoming for the queen of Ilion,” I told her.

Lia took a step back and then bared her teeth at me before invoking her goddess. “Dea Soteira.”

Her eyes turned a bright green and my boredom fled. I had only heard about this ability; I’d never been on the other end of it. I shifted into a defensive fighting stance and readied my sword but Lia was everywhere, moving faster than anyone I had ever seen.

Including her husband.

My own gift was not enough to keep up with her.

For the first time in my life, I was going to lose a fight.

Before I knew what was happening, she had knocked my feet out from under me and had me flat on my back, her sword to my throat.

“We’re only supposed to be sparring. You’re not supposed to try and kill me,” I reminded her wryly.

“You’re still alive,” she said with a shrug, and I couldn’t help but laugh again. She smiled back but said, “Yield, Basileia.”

“I yield,” I said, letting go of my sword. Words I’d never thought I’d say. “But you cheated.”

She moved away from me, offering her hand to help me up. I knew she was strong enough to assist me but she looked as if she might fall over at any moment, so I got up on my own. I had no idea how she managed to keep her center of gravity, given how big her stomach was.

“I didn’t cheat,” she said. “You used your goddess gift, and I used mine.”

“Those two things are not equal,” I said. The strength and quickness my goddess had blessed me with couldn’t match Lia’s invocation. “I am not my goddess’s savior.”

“You can’t be sure about that,” she said in a singsong voice. As if it were my fate to follow a path similar to hers.

If there was anything I was sure about in this life, it was that my goddess did not have a plan for me beyond fighting.

It was why I was determined to chart my own path. I wanted to take over my clan after my mother passed. That day was far off in the future, but I intended to be every bit as good a leader as she was.

Lia repeated the phrase she’d said earlier, turning the power off, and her eyes returned to their normal shade. She brushed a long strand of red hair away from her shoulder. When I had learned of her magic years ago, I had been the only one not surprised by her abilities. Among the Thracians, red-haired women were often battle-favored, meaning they had extraordinary strength and speed while fighting. The Ilionians called those with that gift “goddess-blessed,” and unlike us, both men and women could have the ability.

Like Lia’s husband, King Alexandros of Ilion, or Xander, as he was known to his friends and family, was goddess-blessed. I had often wondered how I would do in a fight against him but our mutual brother, Thrax, had forbidden us from sparring. He was worried we might do actual, permanent damage to one another.

He should have been more worried about Lia and her savior power. She could have killed or dismembered me without effort.

“Not to mention that I’m almost as big as a palace. I needed the extra help,” she said, placing a hand on her very round stomach. When she’d suggested we spar, I had tried to convince her that we should wait until some point far in the future, long after her baby had come. I had no desire to face Xander if I somehow damaged his beloved wife.

The idea of sitting out seemed to personally offend her and she insisted that we fight. She said she didn’t want to lose any of her skills, but since she had her goddess-given power, I guessed that it wouldn’t ever be a problem.

She’d said, “I like to reassure myself that it’s still there if I need it.”

I understood that completely. I had never taken being battle-favored for granted. What would I do if it were gone? If I couldn’t protect the people I loved? I couldn’t imagine myself without it.

It meant everything to me.