While Jin blushed, he leaned down to kiss her softly. “I can think of no one I would be happier to share it with.”
Azara kissed him back. “And there’s no one I would rather share my blanket with than you.”
That drew a chuckle out of him, and she laughed along as well. This was the life Azara had never thought she’d have nor thought she’d wanted, but now that it was here, she was happier than she’d thought possible.
* * * * *
Now available from Carina Press and Lauren D.M. Smith
The bride candidates have been summoned.
Their numbers are many, yet only one is an Amazzi warrior.
Only one would give her life to protect him.
Read on for an excerpt from
THE EMPEROR’S ARROW
Chapter One: The Palace
Evony stopped across the road from her destination, tilting her head back to get a better look at it. With its high, sun-bleached limestone walls standing out palely against the harsh blue of the sky and a wide, barred gate bracketed by columns, the entrance to the imperial palace was an awe-inspiring sight. Evony’s gaze roved past the light stone structures and hints of greenery that could be seen through the iron bars, her eyes focusing on the closed gate and the uniformed guards in front of it. That paired with walls nearly an actus high and made of heavy stone had her nodding. She was glad that at least the mainlanders seemed to have some sense of proper defense.
She sighed and hiked her pack higher on her back, grimacing slightly as her thin wool cloak twisted underneath it. Not that she really needed it with the sun beating down as it was, quite a difference from the thick forests of her home. She inhaled and her nose was again assaulted by the mixed scents of refuse, hot earth, animals, and too many people. Evony hadn’t been in the city more than a few horas and she already hated it.
Still, there was no helping it. Keeping a wary eye on the horses, carts, and chariots that always seemed to come out of nowhere, Evony made her way across the street. Not for the first time she cursed her luck. Finally, finally she’d won an archery competition against her sisters but instead of a proper prize she’d been sent here. Under normal circumstances she might have considered it exciting.
But not when she was being sent as a potential bride.
Evony glowered, not that anyone could see her face under the cloak’s brown hood. Her sisters had nearly hurt themselves with laughter when they found out what her prize was. Then they’d had to go and tell her all the horror stories they’d heard about the beast-like emperor. He was power-mad and land-hungry which is why he’d conquered the whole continent, starting when he’d only been on the throne for a year. That he was an old man with a penchant for young girls. How he beheaded everyone who displeased him. At least Obelia hadn’t been completely heartless and had told her to stab the emperor if he tried to dishonour her.
It had only been three years since Emperor Galen had finished his war on the world, having conquered and absorbed every country on the continent so there wasn’t anywhere that didn’t bow to him as their supreme ruler. Evony wondered what kind of man this emperor was to have done such a thing.
Even more, she wanted to know why he’d decided now of all times to choose a bride. And why he’d had every noble family, even those who barely qualified like the Aurelines, send one of their daughters to him as a candidate. Evony sincerely hoped she was sent home quickly, even as she wondered how the emperor was going to be making his decision.
She shook herself free from the distracting thoughts as she came to a stop in front of the gate. Both guards, who had to be hot in their black tunics, iron chestplates and helmets, had their attention on her, one readjusting his grip on his pike, the other with his hand hovering near his sword. They were alert, she had to give them that. Evony was still pretty certain she could have taken care of both of them before they could yell the alarm, but she wasn’t about to test that theory.
“I’m Evony of clan Aureline,” she said, dropping her hood so they could see her face. “I’ve been sent to see the emperor.”
“Aureline?” said the man holding his pike white-knuckled. “Where’s that?”
“Doesn’t matter. The emperor doesn’t see just anyone.” His grizzled partner pulled his sword a digit out of its sheath. “Move along.”
Evony resisted the urge to challenge the man for his tone. She was tired, hot, and farther from home than she’d ever been in her life. And, as she realized, she’d forgotten to give them her title. “I’m Princeps Evony of Aureline. I’m from Silvinsula. I was summoned by the emperor so I would very much appreciate it if you let me in.”
“Ha! You expect me to believe you’re one of those crazed warrior women?” The older one had a smirk playing across his lips. “Try selling that story somewhere else. Unless you’re trying to sell something more...”
A muscle jumped in her cheek as she clenched her teeth, but Evony kept her temper in check. Barely. She couldn’t remember a time she’d been spoken to so rudely, especially by a man. This might be the mainland, but she’d expected better manners, especially when it was the emperor who had called her here. “I will not ask you again,” she said, her voice rising as her emotions bled through despite her best efforts. “Let me in, or you can be certain I will see that the emperor hears of this.”
The younger guard shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking towards his partner. The other man snorted. “You’re starting to become a lot less amusing there, girl. You’d best leave now, before we move you along.”
“Try it,” Evony snapped, temper breaking. One hand crept towards the large daggers she kept over each hip when a shout interrupted her.
“What’s going on over here?”
She flicked her eyes towards the tall man striding towards the gate from the other side. With his black tunic embroidered with gold and with an elaborate chestplate, even Evony could tell that he was of a much higher rank than the two in front of her. They turned to look and stiffened, saluting. “Legate,” they chorused.
Evony eyed the man, noting the wide streaks of grey in his brown hair, the lines in his weathered face, all above a body still that of a warrior despite his age. He was a man who would have been in high demand at home.
“This woman—” said the grey man, jerking his chin in her direction “—claims she’s been summoned by the emperor but has no documents or anything.”
The legate kept his stare on the man long enough for him to shuffle his feet before the legate turned to look at Evony. “And you are...?”
She tossed her head, the curly mass of her hair, barely contained by the horsetail she’d tied it in, slapping against her back. “I am Princeps Evony, daughter of Princeps Zarina, leader of clan Aureline. I have been sent to answer the emperor’s call.”
“Forgive me, but we’ve had several people try to trick their way into the palace lately. Do you have proof that you’re an Aureline?”
Evony’s eyes narrowed as she considered her options. This man at least seemed to have some knowledge and was reasonable, which was more than could be said for the other two. She reached behind her, untying the strings that held her favourite recurve bow to her pack. She slipped her other hand into one of her belt pouches and pulled out a string, smoothly fitting it onto her weapon with the ease of long practice.
With the men watching, she opened the closed quiver attached to her belt and put an arrow to her bow. Then she turned back towards the legate. She noted his gaze was on her leather wrist guards, while the other two stared at her. She jerked her chin at the tree just visible from behind the wall that separated them. When the men turned to look, she said, “I’ll hit the dead leaf.”
She exhaled, pushing all her emotions out as she did so. She needed to be calm. The tiny patch of brown amongst the green was a bit of a stretch but she didn’t want there to be
any doubt that she was a true Amazzi. She properly nocked the arrow and aimed, feeling for the wind and trying to account for the drier air here, glad she’d done some practicing on the way over and since arriving on the mainland or this might have been more difficult.
Once she felt everything was perfect, she let her arrow fly. It sped through the sky and sliced straight through the brown leaf before burying itself into the thick branch behind it. She lowered her bow, letting it hang parallel to the ground with one hand while the other went to her hip. “I hope that is proof enough.”
The guards looked at her with wide eyes while the legate nodded. “You are truly of the Amazzi,” he said to her, then his stare went to the other men. “Let her in. She is one of the bride candidates.”
The youngest man hurriedly scrambled for the keys at his side, his face pale as he unlocked the gate. Evony paid him little attention, focused on carefully unstringing her bow and putting it back on her pack. When she finished, she found the legate’s gaze still on her. He seemed to be studying her. She returned the attention briefly, taking better stock of his weapons, a long sword and dagger, and she stepped through the now open gate.
“Allow me to lead you to the main hall.” The man swept a hand out to indicate the palace.
“Thank you,” Evony said, following him inside. To her left lay an open green space that stretched out for a few actus prior to being interrupted by a long wooden building while to her right rose the palace proper. Alabaster columns with elaborate capitals marched along the breezeway that lay between the buildings and the grounds that surrounded everything. The main building rose two stories above her, made of the same stone as the walls with arched doorways and windows that lay open to catch the slight breeze that fluttered through the leaves of the scattered trees.
The palace was more of a complex, with several buildings attached by covered walkways with gardens and courtyards interspersed between them. Evony only got a hint of all of it as the legate led her into the closest building.
It was cooler inside, out of the sun’s glare, though still too hot by Evony’s standards. The hall they entered was tiled in cut rock in shades of brown and yellow, laid out into circular patterns. This hall was delineated from the centre with more columns, leaving walkways around the periphery of the middle rectangle.
There were plenty of people hurrying by, their long robes flapping as they hurried or shushing as they glided by. Most of the men seemed to wear long white robes over a shorter undertunic of various colours. The women dressed the opposite way, with a long white inner dress over which a variety of styles of overdress was placed, generally in bright colours.
To Evony it looked hot. She much preferred her knee-length chiton. It was cooler, easier to move in, and required a lot less effort to get into than some of the things she saw the other women wearing. She didn’t even know how you fastened half of them. Only the warriors and guards she saw wore the shorter tunics. They were definitely the sensible ones as far as she was concerned.
Her musings were interrupted with the legate stopping and pointing across the centre area to a man who stood near the top edge of the section, a board with several papers in one hand, a bronze stylus in the other. “Speak to him. He’ll have someone take you to where you need to be and make the appropriate arrangements.”
“You have my gratitude,” Evony said, clapping a closed fist over one shoulder in the Amazzi gesture of respect.
The legate’s lips quirked up into a half smile and he gave her a little bow before walking off. She watched him go. So far he was the only decent man she’d met and that worried her. If his type was a rarity on the mainland then her secondary mission was going to be hard. And she’d been so excited about finding a worthy man to serve as stud to her, to finally experience the pleasure of two people instead of what she could bring to herself. Evony sighed. This whole trip was a disaster.
With a last glance back at the door she’d come through, Evony strode towards the man the legate had pointed out and whatever nonsense this competition had in store for her.
* * *
Evony tugged at the long chiton she wore, not liking how it encased her legs. That and an overdress of golden yellow completed the outfit she’d been presented with as something all candidates had to wear. Evony had at least been able to fit several knives under everything, and two of her longer daggers with their sheaths in crossed belts over her hips.
Despite the look the maid had given her, she’d refused any hairstyle more than her usual horsetail. She didn’t have the patience, not when her hair fought her doing anything to it. Evony shook herself free of her thoughts, cursing not for the first time the way her mind wandered. She concentrated instead on the scenery she passed rather than the far more boring back of the guard she was following. He’d swallowed when he’d noticed her weapons and so far hadn’t done anything to improve her impression of him.
The breezeway they walked down was limestone, like all the buildings they passed. To their right, a line of evenly spaced alabaster columns separated the walkway from the gardens. The ones they passed now were filled with white and yellow flowers heavily attended to by bees.
Rounding a corner, Evony could see their destination to the left. At least, she assumed the garden filled with what looked like two dozen women dressed in outfits identical to hers in a variety of colours was where they were headed.
The inner garden was surrounded on three sides by limestone walls that held a variety of arched doorways while the last side was the breezeway that Evony was just now leaving. The guard gestured towards the assembled women before turning and hurrying back the way they’d come. Evony snorted at his lack of manners and not properly conveying her as she was sure he’d been ordered to. Still, maybe this was normal for mainlanders.
She strode towards the other women, noticing the rainbow of colours. As she got closer, she found she was the only person in yellow. She realized then that their dress colours had been assigned by their provinces. And as the Aurelines were the only family from Silvinsula, she would be the only yellow among the group.
That accounted for the stares she was getting. Several of the other girls whispered behind their hands, while some were clearly avoiding her stare. Sweeping the whole lot with her eyes, Evony noted that in addition to being among the oldest, she was the only one armed. That had her frowning slightly. She’d heard that most warriors on the mainland were men, but this was the first time she’d really felt that difference.
She wondered how the other women defended themselves. She supposed they could have unarmed defensive skills, though that would make keeping oneself safe from an armed attacker all the harder. Evony mentally shook away her distracting thoughts as she came to a stop at the back of the crowd of women, near a girl in red and another in blue. The girl in red glanced at her briefly, but when Evony met her gaze, the girl ducked her head and stared at the ground.
Shrugging, Evony took a better look around the courtyard garden they were in. Several serving girls stood along the wall to their right, while directly in front of them was a small portable wooden dais flanked by two guards on each side. Even as she watched, a man climbed up the few steps it took to reach the platform and looked down at them all.
His red-brown hair and thin features were visible to everyone, not just Evony’s elevated vantage point. Though she had noticed at least two other girls who were of a height with her. “Welcome,” the man said, his voice deeper than Evony had expected. “I am Rakin, chief aide to his imperial majesty, Emperor Galen. In his name, I thank you for journeying such great distances to be here.
“We are most honoured to have you all with us. As you are aware, his majesty has decided it is time he takes a bride and has summoned you all here with that in mind.” Evony couldn’t help the face she made. While her honour wouldn’t allow her to deliberately attempt to get sent home, she still hoped she would be amon
g the first released from this insanity.
“To ensure that the most appropriate choice is made, we have prepared a variety of competitions to decide the suitability of each of you. These contests will continue until such a time as only one of you remains or until his majesty makes a choice. I hope you all find that satisfactory?”
Rakin didn’t wait for a reply. “Our first competition is simple,” he said as several of the girls leaned in, eager looks on their face. Even the girl in red beside her looked up. Evony kept a calm expression on outwardly while inwardly she wrinkled her nose in distaste. She was all about competition, but not for something so important and so deeply personal as choosing a proper lifemate. There was a reason so many of her clanswomen only used men as studs instead of bringing them back to their island. It was hard to find someone you could share the rest of your life with, someone who you were sure of.
She focused back on Rakin’s words as he continued, “We want each of you to go out and find something that is important to being an empress. You must bring that object back here and offer an explanation as to why you believe it is important for an empress. You will all have a time limit of one hour. Anyone who does not return here at the end of that time will be automatically disqualified. Is that clear?”
Head nods and soft murmurs of assent seemed to be enough for him. Rakin glanced briefly at something lying in front of him then he looked at the women before him. “Then you have until the second hour as the sundial has it. Begin!”
For a moment, the whole crowd of women froze. Then, like some loud noise had startled them all into flight at the same moment, they sped off. Evony stood where she was, watching with some amusement as the others hurried past, heading for every doorway like water heading for a drain. It was obvious from the way they moved that more than a few were unaccustomed to running.
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