by K. A. Linde
The sight of the sky-high towers had been a fixture throughout Cyrene’s entire life, yet the grandiose structure always managed to elicit gasps of awe from her. As they approached, the girls gazed up at the impossibly tall barred doors.
“Do you think we’ll make the First Class?” Rhea whispered.
Cyrene looked at Rhea whose ever-present pallid complexion had only turned more ashen with fear. The touch of rouge on her cheeks couldn’t hide her waxen appearance. In the faint carriage light, her hands visibly trembled, a problem she’d had since childhood.
“How could we not?” Cyrene asked with a false sense of confidence.
“What if we don’t?”
“Don’t even think about it, Rhea. We’ve been together this long…”
She couldn’t imagine life without Rhea. Cyrene knew that the First Class children were rarely placed into a lower Class, but it had happened. Only last year, a girl from Cyrene’s own neighborhood had been selected into the Third Class.
Cyrene shuddered at the thought. She had worked and studied too hard to spend the rest of her life reaching for a place where she already belonged.
The three carriages swiftly passed through the gates, entering the lush garden paradise. As far as the eye could see, the royal grounds were covered with flourishing trees, brightly colored flowers, acres of fresh green grass, and even a slowly trickling creek with a stone bridge. Birds chirped overhead as the carriages rattled forward through the sprawling garden. In such a natural habitat, the drone of city life was all but obscured.
A footman descended the castle stairs and opened the carriage door. Cyrene dropped Rhea’s hand and exited first. She regally tilted her head up as she placed her expensive Biencan gold slippers onto royal land. The corners of her lips turned up, and years of etiquette training took over.
A gentleman directed her inside, and Rhea followed behind on the arm of another escort. Their families had already entered the castle and were being ushered into the Grand Hall.
Allowing her escort to lead her away from Rhea, Cyrene silently wished she had told her friend good luck. Each Affiliate was given his or her own Presenting chamber, so Cyrene wouldn’t see Rhea until this was all over.
Cyrene’s escort walked her through several winding hallways to a broad stone door. With anticipation, her heart thudded wildly in her chest. This was the entrance to her Presenting chamber.
Richly colored curtains and tapestries hung on the walls. The cost of the thick Aurumian carpet could provide a year’s worth of meals from the Laelish Market. An ornate silver pitcher and several crystal glasses sat atop an artfully constructed mahogany table against the back wall.
Cyrene poured herself a glass of water and brought the cup to her lips.
The room reminded her about the ancient history of the reign of the Doma court under the dreaded Domina Serafina. Nearly two thousand years ago, Byern had been ruled by an aristocracy that took everything for themselves, laid waste to the land, and starved the populace they deemed to be lesser. Then Viktor Dremylon had risen up against the court, seized Byern for the people, and freed the realm from oppressive rule. All the Doma’s horrible practices had been reversed, and the prosperity of the past two millennia had validated the Dremylon victory. Now, only rare artifacts, history lessons, and folktales were left of that time period.
A rustling of the carpet drew her out of her thoughts, and she turned quickly.
Shrieking in surprise, she nearly dropped the glass. She rushed across the room and threw her arms around her older sister. “Aralyn!”
Aralyn held her tightly.
“It’s so good to see you,” Cyrene gasped out.
“I’ve missed you.” Aralyn examined Cyrene at arm’s length. “Why, you are positively gorgeous! And in red! Did Father approve this color?”
“Of course.”
“It’s not a court color.”
Cyrene ignored her sister’s slight. “Forget about the color, Aralyn. I haven’t seen you in a year. What is it like in Kell as an Affiliate Ambassador? Tell me everything!”
“I didn’t come to discuss my travels with you. I came to make sure you were prepared. I have your Presenting letter.”
Aralyn extracted a letter from the sash on her gown. Cyrene reverently took the letter in her hand.
“You don’t have much time before they call. I came to be your Advisor.” A small smile played on her features. “I couldn’t miss my little sister’s Presenting.”
Questions bubbled inside of Cyrene, but she held her tongue.
“What you read inside that envelope may not be spoken of to anyone, save other citizens in kind as well as King Edric, Queen Kaliana, and Consort Daufina, but know that they might not hold any answers, or they might even lead you astray. Do you understand?”
No. How could I possibly understand until I read the letter? She prayed to the Creator that she’d become an Affiliate, so she could ask Aralyn all these pressing questions.
“Cyrene, do you understand?” Aralyn repeated more sternly.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Very well. After you read your letter, proceed to the far door, and wait for an official to open it for you. When you are given the signal for dismissal, return to this room to await your Selecting.”
“Will you be here?” Cyrene blurted out.
“No. You must await your Selecting alone.”
Cyrene glanced down at the letter within her hands and back up at Aralyn. “Do you think I’ll make First Class?”
Aralyn produced her first real smile. “I’ve no doubt you will be selected to your proper place,” she said, pulling Cyrene into a hug. “You’ll do fine. Now, I must go. I’ll see you on the other side.”
Aralyn placed a peck on each side of Cyrene’s cheeks and departed the room.
A weight formed in the pit of Cyrene’s stomach. It was judgment day. The small piece of paper in her hands felt like a heavy load.
After turning the cream envelope over, she tore the royal seal back from the parchment and pulled out the letter. The royal crest, a green Dremylon D wrapped in gold flames, was stamped on the front of the card.
She flipped the card open.
What you seek lies where you cannot seek it.
What you find cannot be found.
The thing you desire above all else risks all else.
The thing you fight for cannot be won.
When all seems lost, what was lost can be found.
When all bend, you cannot be as you were.
It’s gibberish! Just a series of riddles!
What am I seeking? A position as an Affiliate, next to my sister? Yet that makes no sense because that position is available to me. Is it the same thing I need to find? If it is, how can I find something that I can’t pursue and that can’t be found?
The second part was slightly more straightforward. But what do I desire? She didn’t know how becoming an Affiliate would risk everything else in her life. Plus, she wasn’t fighting anyone. Byern hadn’t been at war for two hundred years!
The next line made even less sense. She felt pretty lost right now, but she hardly thought that was what the line was referring to. Am I to lose something…everything? She reread the final line once more and tried to puzzle out the hidden meaning. Who is bending? If people were bending in some way, how would I lose myself? That seemed to be the most troubling part to her. She didn’t know how she could possibly be something she was not.
She didn’t have time to figure it out now. She had to complete her Presenting. She stuffed the card back into the envelope, placed it on the table, and walked to the far wall. As soon as she reached the entrance, the doors began to creak open.
Standing before her was the Royal Court of Byern.
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Acknowledgments
Many people use this space to talk about how this book was such a huge journey with so many people in it. And that is definitely true here. But I think the hardest part of this one was dealing with myself. I felt like I’d bit off more than I could chew. At any given time I felt like I was juggling three sets of balls and some of them were glass. If I dropped them, they’d all come crashing down and nothing would make any sense.
As you can imagine, this resulted in a lot of author angst. A lot of talking to people and feeling like I was losing my mind, It was messaging Rebecca Kimmerling in the middle of the night and asking about some random plot point. Video chatting with Diana Peterfreund about regency era marriage contracts. The whole time wondering if I could make it all fit together into one piece. Ranting with Staci Hart about how much I loved this book and wanted to stab it into pieces. And then randomly deciding while talking to Anjee Sapp and Rebecca Gibson that I wanted to make this book steamier. I mean, you can thank my friends for the extent of that scene in the greenhouse and the hot springs!
Also every night my husband listened to me go on and on about plot points, because it was all jumbled. He would remind it was part of the process. Then the next morning I’d write something other than what I figured out the night before. Every time. It felt futile, but I trust the process.
Then there were the people in the background. My agent Kimberly Brower who managed the paperback and audio. Tantor and the great narrator Amy McFadden for bringing Kerrigan and Fordham to life. My editor, Jovana Shirley, for helping me with all the edits on this book. She did her best. Any errors are my own for slipping through the cracks. Sarah Hansen for once again giving me an incredible cover design. Devin McCain for the beautiful maps and formatting. You bring the world to life with your work. Willow Winters for featuring House of Dragons in your subscription book box!
Plus I have to thank my puppies who kept me sane. At the beginning of this book, we found out that Hippo had cancer. It was nice to have a way to escape into the story to deal with my grief. I’m happy to report that he’s doing just fine still, and hoping that will continue for a long time.
As always, YOU! Reader you keep me going. Thanks for being my hero!
About the Author
K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team.
She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling to far off destinations, baking insane desserts, and dancing in her spare time.
She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.
Kyla also writes adult romance novels and does not encourage anyone younger than eighteen to pick those up.
Visit her online:
www.kalinde.com
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