The Kingdom Chronicles Box Set 1

by Camille Peters

  She made it sound so easy to kill parts of oneself and become a different person. “I can’t just stop.”

  “You’ll have to.” The princess stepped forward to rummage through her trunk and withdrew two of my favorite insect anthologies, which she tossed aside. “No more of this nonsense. The moment you leave, your entire collection will be thrown out.”

  I tightened my jaw. We’d see about that. Princess Lavena eyed my hardened expression and her own softened slightly.

  “Stop pouting, Anwen. I have a surprise for you. I’ve arranged for your brother to be appointed to the position of Royal Hunter. Now he’ll be occupied and not even notice your absence.”

  Archer! In all my worrying about myself I’d failed to consider how my disappearance would affect my only remaining family. “I have to tell him, Your Highness. If I disappear without a word he’ll be worried sick.”

  “He’ll be much too busy to worry about you since he’ll conveniently be out of the picture. See? I’ve thought of everything.”

  Everything but the pain of losing my dearest friend. “Just because you and your brother aren’t close doesn’t mean—”

  “Stop whining, Anwen. I’m not completely heartless; I’ve arranged for him to meet you in the servants’ quarters so that you can say goodbye.”

  And with that she shooed me away. I trudged from the room, tears burning my eyes that this would likely be the last time Archer and I ever spoke. My heart ached at the thought of his inevitable worry, but I forced myself to blink my tears away. He couldn’t see them, couldn’t know anything was amiss, not when I was bound by a magical contract to remain silent.

  As I descended to the servants’ quarters, I silently said goodbye to everything having to do with Anwen: a brother I cared for, my common status, my fellow servants greeting me by name, my handmaiden outfit…I said a longer goodbye to each of my character traits and interests before they were stolen away forever. I felt as if I were killing off parts of myself, slowly casting away my very identity so Anwen no longer existed.

  But I refused to let myself slip away completely. Instead, I’d lock Anwen away in a strongbox buried deep in the recesses of my soul. Knowing a part of me was there would give me enough strength to put on my permanent mask and begin my new identity. But not yet. Right now, I was still Anwen with a beloved brother to see.

  My breath hooked when I spotted him waiting for me. I studied him, attempting to memorize each of his features to sustain me for however long my new life of deceit would be. Our features were quite similar—same dark hair and dark eyes—only his expression was drawn and serious, his brow furrowed and his shoulders in a stance that revealed he’d witnessed too much heartache in his life.

  But he always had a smile for me. He gave it to me now as he held his arms open. “There’s my Anwen. Have you heard of my royal appointment? Isn’t it exciting? I’ll be going on all sorts of adventures and need a hug from my favorite sister to wish me luck.”

  I ran into his arms and burrowed myself against him, inhaling his woodsy scent as his firm arms held me close.

  “Are you going to miss me, Anwen?” he murmured.

  I choked back a sob. I couldn’t cry. “You have no idea how much, Archer. I love you.”

  “And I love you, Pillbug.” It had been his nickname for me ever since I’d immersed myself in studying insects, one I’d likely never hear again. “But I’ll be back soon. Someone has to keep me out of trouble.” He cupped my chin.

  If only he knew how much trouble I was about to find myself in. The secret burned on my tongue as the princess’s ring seared on my finger. I tried to make myself form the words to tell him what was happening to me, but my tongue turned to lead and my words became trapped in my throat, the power of the ring forcing my silence.

  “Her Highness informed me of your release,” Archer continued. “I’m relieved you’re finally free from her, Pillbug.”

  My stomach jolted. Princess Lavena had said what? I yanked away with a gasp. “She’s releasing me?”

  His brow furrowed. “She hasn’t told you? Yes, she said after the wedding she’ll no longer have need of you.”

  My heart beat wildly. Had the princess no compassion? If Archer had believed I was still the princess’s servant, my remaining behind in Draceria after her wedding wouldn’t have alarmed him, but now he’d return to Lyceria following his upcoming hunt to find I’d vanished.

  No, I refused to allow that. I opened my mouth to tell him I’d be remaining in Draceria indefinitely, but the ring brandishing my finger thought even this much information a breach of its sadistic contract. It burned once again, silencing me.

  Archer lifted my chin, eyes concerned. “Are you alright, Pillbug? Has the princess been horrible to you again?” As usual, he referred to her like an expletive.

  If only he knew just how horrible she was currently being. Frustration swelled within me at my inability to tell him. I burrowed myself against him instead.

  He sighed at my silence. “She’s awful to you. Whatever your new position, I’m so relieved you’ll at least be free of her. With my appointment to the royal hunt, I’ll finally earn enough coin that we can soon return home to our meadow and your geese. It’ll be alright, Pillbug.”

  No, it wouldn’t be alright. How agonizing I couldn’t even tell him so. I bit the inside of my lip to keep my tears at bay.

  “Can you say my name?” I whispered, needing to hear it from him one last time.

  “You don’t like that nickname anymore? I suppose whether or not I want to admit it, you’ve grown up.”

  “I love the nickname,” I said. “I want you to always call me that. But I want to remember you saying my name before you leave.”

  “Very well, Anwen.” He kissed the top of my head and released me, obviously feeling he’d been affectionate enough to satisfy his brotherly duty. “I’ll return to Lyceria within a fortnight. In the meantime, keep your chin up, Pillbug. Anwen.” He gave me one of his rare but sweet smiles before cupping my chin again and leaving. I watched his retreating form, my secret fighting to escape but the enchantment holding it back too powerful a barrier.

  And then he was gone.

  I finally released my tears as I walked slowly back to Her Highness’s quarters. She didn’t seem to notice or care that I was crying as I helped her get ready for bed before returning to the tiny room attached to the princess’s guest suite.

  I stood in the doorway and slowly looked around it, a room I’d stayed in multiple times over the years whenever accompanying the princess on her obligatory visits to Draceria. Despite always hating the room, I suddenly didn’t want to let it go, considering it was yet another part of Anwen I was about to lose. I said goodbye to it and everything it contained, each farewell stealing another small portion of myself I didn’t want to give up.

  I knelt beside my bed and reached beneath it. There I stored my entomology things—my books on insects, each scrimped and saved up for with my minimal wages, treasured and reread dozens of times until I had nearly every word and fact memorized; my glass cases of specimens I'd been collecting my entire life, all carefully categorized and organized; and my notebooks of drawings and observations, chronicled from my childhood until now.

  I reverently stroked my books and glass cases before tightening my jaw. I refused to relinquish myself completely. I carefully packed my entomology things at the bottom of my trunk. I’d keep my treasures close to me, hidden away so they wouldn’t disappear, no matter how much of Anwen did.

  As I clicked the lid of the trunk shut, the first sense of calm managed to penetrate my frazzled nerves. I wouldn't be lost completely, no matter how much I feared I gradually would be as the princess’s scheme unfolded.

  There were some things even the contract ring couldn’t take from me.

  Chapter 3

  The soft rose-blue light of dawn bathed me as I sat on Princess Lavena’s balcony, hugging my knees to my chest as I watched the sun rise. With their golden light er
asing all evidence of night, sunrises had, for me, always represented promise…until today, for this sunrise represented not a wondrous beginning but an ending, the day Anwen would officially begin to disappear as she was swallowed up by the princess.

  I extended my hand and glared at the ring, my ball and chain. Why did I have to bear such an uncanny resemblance to Princess Lavena? If only the princess had never discovered me all those years ago. Then I wouldn’t be in this mess now.

  I still remembered the day I’d met Princess Lavena. I’d lived in a tiny village in a meadow in our mountainous kingdom, enjoying my life as a goose girl, where my days had been spent outdoors in the sun, surrounded by geese, fauna, and of course my favorite insects…until the chance encounter that had changed everything, one the princess had always deemed destiny, but which I considered rotten luck.

  During a royal tour five years ago, the princess had ridden through our village on her majestic white horse, nodding to her subjects with a bored, dutiful expression…until she’d spotted me. She yanked on the reins to stop the royal procession in order to stare at me, her eyes wide with astonishment. Shock rippled over me as I stared back. It was almost like looking in a mirror.

  His Highness Crown Prince Nolan noticed his sister’s distraction and urged her to resume the procession. She obediently did so, stealing several backward glances at me until she was out of sight.

  I’d foolishly thought that encounter would be the only one I’d have with Her Highness, but later that day she managed to track me down while I tended my geese in the meadow surrounding our cottage. The darling, mischievous things waddled around me as I sat with my journal in my lap, eagerly sketching a nearby cicadellidae I’d just spotted.

  Someone loomed over me, blocking out the light of the sun and casting my sketch in shadow. I looked up and was startled to see Her Highness before me, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  “There you are, peasant girl. I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”

  I gaped up at her. What was the princess doing here, speaking to me? I cast a nervous glance at a guard who’d accompanied her and he made the motion that I was supposed to rise and curtsy. I hastily stood—causing my journal to slide off my lap—and dipped into an inelegant bob.

  Princess Lavena bent down to scoop up my journal. She wrinkled her nose as she examined my drawing. “What’s this?”

  “A leafhopper, Your Highness.” A leafhopper that had sadly hopped away at the princess’s arrival, leaving my sketch forever unfinished. “A sharpshooter, specifically.”

  I bit my tongue to keep my usual monologue about all their fascinating features at bay. The princess obviously didn’t care for insects. I ached to snatch my journal back from her. I clenched my hands to resist the impulse.

  “Fascinating,” she said in a tone indicating she didn’t find it fascinating at all. She tossed my journal aside and stepped closer, her eyes bright and eager. “We look very much alike.”

  The similarities were even more striking up close. We could easily pass for sisters. Uncanny. “Indeed we do, Your Highness.”

  She smiled but it looked more like a smirk, as if she were plotting something. “It’s providence. Thus you must become my new handmaiden.”

  She wanted me to become what? “But Your Highness, I’m a goose girl and couldn’t possibly—”

  “That wasn’t a request but a command,” she snapped. “It’s a great honor to be selected as my handmaiden, especially for a lowly goose girl such as yourself. So I strongly suggest you silence your protests and accept my generous offer.”

  I gritted my teeth against the arguments eager to burst free. Because she was a princess I had no choice in the matter.

  I’d been serving her ever since. It had quickly become clear why Princess Lavena had been so eager for my appointment—I was to be her reluctant accomplice in taking advantage of our strong resemblance to take her place whenever she saw fit.

  And now, these many years later, we’d make our final switch, this one permanent.

  I longed to remain lost in this final sunrise before my life changed forever, but as the sun rose higher in the sky, I was eventually forced to stir. I trudged into Princess Lavena’s room, where she waited for me with her usual disapproving scowl.

  “Watching the sunrise again, Anwen?”

  I closed my eyes to bask in one of the last times I’d ever hear my name.

  “I hope you enjoyed it,” the princess continued. “Because once you become me, mornings will be a thing of the past.” As if mentioning the early hour reminded her of how much she hated them, she yawned.

  I gritted my teeth. “I won’t give up my sunrises.” Especially when I was already forced to give up everything else.

  “You have no choice. You’ll have to accustom yourself to my habits and begin sleeping in. Surely, you’ve seen plenty of sunrises to satisfy a lifetime.”

  Her words were a reminder of one of many things I was giving up with this scheme of hers. “Your Highness, do see sense. You can’t toss aside your birthright just because of your distaste for your arranged marriage.”

  “You’re so selfish, Anwen. As if I want to spend my life in a loveless union when I can be free with my minstrel.”

  Her relationship with her minstrel would likely not last a week. It hadn’t taken her past beaus long to realize that the princess’s pretty face wasn’t worth the trouble. “What will you do once you tire of him?”

  “I won’t,” Princess Lavena said. “He’s different than the others.”

  Why? He possessed a higher tolerance? Doubtful. I gave her a skeptical look.

  She shrugged. “Even if I eventually tire of him, I’ll just find someone else. Anyone is better than Liam; he’s so childish. You should be grateful for the opportunity I’m providing for you—it’s not every day a common girl can become a princess. This arrangement is perfect for both of us.”

  No, it was only perfect for her. Not only was she putting me in danger, but I had no desire to be a princess. I wanted to continue arguing, but the rest of my protests died in my throat as Princess Lavena tugged me over to her wardrobe and began readying me for the wedding that would seal my fate.

  The princess pulled off my handmaiden dress. “After the wedding, you’ll immediately leave with your new husband for your honeymoon at the summer palace. I’m so relieved you’ll be enduring that instead of me. I can’t imagine being stuck at that ancient palace with only Liam’s company for an entire month.” She wrinkled her nose.

  My stomach knotted—not because I disliked the prince, but because the thought of pretending to be someone he hated sounded unbearable. “Surely, a month together is enough time for him to notice our switch. Whatever will I do then?”

  The mirror reflected the princess rolling her eyes behind me. “How many times do I have to tell you? He won’t. Nobody will.”

  “Why wouldn’t he? I’ve been in his presence several times while serving as a chaperone for you.”

  “Yes, but you’re a servant. No one notices your kind.”

  My heart sank at this argument, which was unfortunately all too true. As a servant, I was insignificant and not worth the notice of anyone of the upper class, especially a prince. Once again, my attempts to fight against the princess’s ridiculous plan had failed.

  I stared gauntly at my reflection as the transformation took place—my servant uniform replaced with a gorgeous silk wedding dress, cosmetics put on my face, the sharp stinging pain as Lavena not-so-gently pierced my ears for pearl earrings, my usual handmaiden bun tugged free, and my thick brown hair twisted into an elegant style. Despite my nerves, I secretly loved the feeling of silk against my skin. Would I ever grow used to it?

  Princess Lavena stood back to survey her work with a critical frown. “You look ravishing…except for your hair; I don’t quite have your talent. No matter, your veil will cover most of it. Liam wouldn’t notice it even if it didn’t; he never looks at me. That’s why this will work.”

 
; “Prince Liam may not notice our switch, but Their Majesties certainly will.” It was the biggest flaw in her plan.

  “They won’t. I’ve already given them my farewells, you’ll be veiled during the wedding, and things will be too hectic after the ceremony for them to greet you.”

  I wouldn’t give up. “Their Majesties will visit Draceria,” I said with more feeling than I felt.

  Princess Lavena’s hands shook as she pinned the veil into my hair. “My marriage won’t make them suddenly eager to spend time with me. In truth, they’ll be glad to be rid of me.”

  “They’re your parents, Your Highness.”

  “That doesn’t make any difference.” Her voice wavered and she fiddled with her hair, a nervous habit of hers. “I’m merely a means to an end. They don’t care for me.”

  Despite my annoyance with her, sympathy washed over me. Could the princess’s habits of constantly finding new men merely be her attempts to seek affection any way that she could? She caught my gaze and her vulnerable expression hardened into a cold mask of indifference.

  “They do care for you, Your Highness,” I said gently. “Thus they’ll visit you, and when they do, they’ll detect our switch with a single glance. Any parent would recognize their own child.”

  The princess ignored my comment and surveyed our reflections standing side by side in the mirror, analyzing them with a critical air. While our features were very similar, they were arranged differently enough to make us not identical. Acquaintances—including Prince Liam—might not be able to decipher the subtle differences in our appearances, but her family and those who knew the princess well would definitely notice I wasn’t her. It might not be today, but it would happen, that much was certain. I ached to escape that inevitable fate, but the contract ring tightened around my finger at my desire, representing the noose that would one day be around my neck.

  As Princess Lavena finished helping me get ready, I stared at my reflection and watched the last bits of me slip away, likely forever. My dangerous charade was about to begin.