What I am about to say borders on military treason, but I am loyal to the army, and you, My King.

Gods, what was this?

The glass phials in her bag clinked against one another as she slipped between two junior patrols nervously dawdling around at the corner of the market square. She often met the ebb and flow of the soldiers on her daily walks across town to deliver Healer Mark's potions, but on this very morning, things were quite different: the square was littered with army men.

All of them, from the smallest Cadet to the brawniest of the serjeants, wore a backpack the size of toddlers, fully equipped with the necessary supplies the high officers believed the junior patrols needed to survive a week in the wild.

As if one would really die without fresh clothes or cutlery...

There, in the shadow of the giant Sundial sat her favourite Cadet on the ground. In his hands, the same open scroll that many Serjeants were studying in detail too. She sniggered. Of course Nick's patrol would give any reading material to him. They had come to know him well.

The Goddess of Envy pinched her stomach. It wasn't all fun and giggles. With that backpack, Nick would moan the entire walk to the royal forest. He would move so slowly that his patrol would abandon him halfway, and he wouldn't mind at all. Had he woken up with another case of Belly Fever this morning, the Muttonhead would have occupied the privy all week with the biggest smile on his face.

She didn't understand why he was being so pessimistic about the camp. She would gladly trade all her pretty dresses and exquisite pieces of jewellery for one day in his shoes; no matter how much they stank of rotten fish.

If only she could walk up to him and wish him good luck, but she couldn't. She had been at official ceremonies, and Nick was terrified his friends found out that he was one of the Laneby survivors.

Puddingbrain. Sooner or later someone was bound to find out. She had warned him about that; he wouldn't have to come crying to her when it happened.

She glared at him. While he was living the life she wanted, she would be handing out the same serums as every day, smiling that same fake smile as the patients blathered on about ailments that hadn't improved in a decade. On three separate occasions this week, she had stood before Healer Mark, on the brink of confessing that she had grown tired of being his errand girl, but she hadn't had the heart to tell him.

Besides, what else would she do? Spend even more time with Lana's etiquette teacher? She'd rather drown herself in a well.

She turned the corner and zigzagged through the crowd until she reached the Captain's house. As an officer, he could rely on the Healers' services, as did the noblemen and -women that lived in Sundale, and anyone working at the castle. Since spring colds were roaring through the city, she had a busy schedule ahead of her.

But her first stop was for quite something else. She knocked on the door, and a couple of seconds later Mary was already there, wearing the same old tawny apron she had worn when Alex had met her all those moons ago.

"Morning." Alex forced a cheerful greeting out of her throat and dug into the bag to fish out all six bottles of the plum-coloured liquid. "Speed delivery for Captain Jonathan. These should be enough for him to last the whole week."

"Thank you so much, Miss Alex." Mary rested her broom against the door frame and took all phials, placing them one by one on the small table behind her. "Our dearest Captain often forgets that he's not the youngest anymore. His mind wants more than his poor joints allow him to."

Alex didn't care about the old Captain, or to spread the gossip she had heard. "Healer Mark will have a fresh batch ready when the Captain returns to pick up the next round of soldiers." She took a step back, wanting to continue her tour. "So I'll see you next week."

"Not so fast, Miss Alex. Don't you wanna come in for a cup of tea?" Mary asked. "It's been so long since we've had a proper chat."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm a little busy right now. Maybe another time," she suggested.

"Sure, see you next week."

Alex waved her goodbye. She had no intention to drink tea with Captain Jonathan's maid. Next week, Nick would be home and free from his army duties. Together, they would investigate Fox's whereabouts and convince Seb to take action.

Her fingers itched. A week was long—too long. She was bored now, and, frankly; she didn't need Nick.

While handing out bottles of brown cough syrup and deep red phials containing a coneflower-based potion, her mind churned with ideas. First, she would have some conversations with Lana and the Queen, then talk to the King.

He owed her some answers. Since he had sent her off to learn who Captain Jonathan was seeing, he hadn't called for her to once. He had ignored her during dinner, and whenever she had been in his parlour or office to bring him medicine, he had instantly dismissed her with a flick of his finger.

She passed the guards and descended into the belly of the castle. She felt tossed aside, worth no more than the pieces of cloth the servants did the dishes with. If the King announced her marriage in the weeks to come, she wouldn't be surprised.

She wouldn't agree to that without putting up a fight. Her moonblood hadn't appeared since the day after her thirteenth birthday. The King had no proof that she was a woman already; even the scarlet stain on the couch in his office had disappeared.

It would eventually come again, and she knew she was living her marriage-free life on borrowed time. She dropped her bag in the lab and took out the empty phials that the Sundalers had returned to her. 

Would it be so bad to move on with her life? What was really keeping her at Sunstone castle?

Not the boys—they were far too occupied with princely and army duties. Not the job as an errand girl. And especially not the lessons with Lady Victoria. Every second she spent in the eastern tower was a second wasted. Both for her and the etiquette teacher.

But the eastern tower was where she had to go next. After cleaning out the phials and a quick lunch in the kitchens, she shuffled into the small room right beneath the roof. It was a castle compared to the bedroom she shared with Ben in Laneby. 

Sweat formed under her arms. As always, it was unpleasantly warm in there because Lady Victoria was too cold without the stove burning in the room's corner. Lana claimed she even ordered to light it during summer.

Alex let out an inaudible huff. Lana and Lady Victoria were gawking at the rows of glittering stones and pearls that laid on the large table at the front.

"Did Lord Simon bring these from the Port?" Lana asked.

"Yes, first shipment of the season." Lady Victoria picked up a purplish blue sapphire the size of her hand. "Cost me half my husband's fortune—bless his poor soul—but I had to have it. Can you imagine? A few moons ago this was still hidden in a rock before the coast of Socota. Now I'll wear it proudly as I flaunt around Eastpond."

Alex sat down, her back against the chair, her hands on her lap. At least this lesson wasn't going to be about trendy braids and bows, or learning how to twist lace into patterns that never looked the way Lady Victoria had shown it.

"Come here, Miss Alexandra," the etiquette teacher said sternly. "You can't learn about gemstones sitting on your derriere."

"I apologise, My Lady." Alex stood up and joined the two women by the table.

The God of Greed must have had a feast when he convinced Lady Victoria to buy those dozens of glittering pearls in all colours of the rainbow. With just one of those diamonds, Mother, Charlie, and Ben would have never relied on her hunting game to put on the table. With two diamonds, Mother would have never denied them buying wares from merchants passing through Laneby.

Still, the richness did her nothing. She had felt more alive in the Forest of Lane than in Sunstone Castle.

The lesson took forever. Reading the clock was not an art Alex had mastered, but as Lady Victoria rambled on about the various types of diamond cuts and their clarity, she was fully convinced that the hands of time had been cursed by the God of Sloth and were now going slower.

"Miss, Alexandra." The bony, diamond-filled hand of the etiquette teacher waved before her eyes. "Can you repeat what I've just told about the creamy jade stones—why they are so special."

She quickly glanced at the woman's snooty, pointy nose. She hadn't caught a single word of what Lady Victoria had said since the tall hand on the clock had been pointing eastwards, and it was now pointing south-west.

Outside, the last strands of green uniforms were but dots on the horizon. If only she had had the right parts in between her legs, she would have been there too. She wanted to scream, yell, and cry simultaneously.

"You won't find the answer outside," Lady Victoria said, using that same petty tone she used when she wasn't paying attention. The hag never dared using such a tone to Lana.

Alex's body trembled as the God of Wrath brewed inside of her. She took a long and slow draw of breath to defy Him. Through her teeth, she whispered, "I don't know."

"I don't know, My Lady." The woman pursed her maroon lips as though she had just eaten a sour grape. "Why do I bother teaching you? Your efforts to act like a real Lady are mediocre at best."

Alex kept her mouth shut. She wasn't going to apologise. It was the truth.

"Can I propose a small break, My Lady?" Lana suggested. "We've been going on for quite some time. Papa kept me busy for so long that I haven't had the chance to eat lunch. Perhaps some tea and biscuits—"

"I can't have you soil your dress, My Lady. Your Mama wouldn't want it." Lady Victoria smiled, a thin line forming on her lips. She then proceeded to Alex, her wrinkled fingers untangling a strand of messy curls. "I warned Her Majesty about you when she requested I teach you. 'Once a wild child, always a wild child.' Lord Brandon should have never accepted you in his raggedy band of men. That's where it all went wrong."

Alex couldn't contain Wrath anymore. "He was a fantastic Lord! He taught me so much, valued me for who I was. I wasn't just a girl to him!"

"But it's what you are—a girl," Lady Victoria said calm and composed. And irritating. "Brandon was an uncontrollable child who became an unpredictable young man. A life as stray among strays was all he deserved—no wonder you liked him."

Alex dug her fingernails into her palms, her knuckles itching to let release Wrath, but Lana intervened in time. She batted her eyelashes, putting on a friendly smile. "My Lady, I beg to forgive my imprudence, but I'd rather hear more about those marvellous stones from the Islands than the tall tales that live on the streets of Sundale and Eastpond."

"Of course, Lady Alana," she said with a nod. "As you wish, but they are not just tall tales. No, no. Your uncle was insufferable. It was I who suggested to His Majesty King William to consider removing Brandon from royal power. Gods know what kind of mess this country would have been in."

"I'm aware." Lana pressed her lips together, glancing at Alex. "But I prefer sapphires to politics. Can we continue?"

It was a lie, but Lana knew how to play Lady Victoria. If she had been Queen Crystal, Lana wouldn't have hesitated to tear the woman's remarks to shreds, but since she was the widow of the old Lord of Eastpond with a tongue that had many ears among the other Lords and Ladies of this kingdom.

The afternoon passed, but not without sneers and comments about Alex's posture, her failure to recite the twelve different colours of sapphire and her overall lack of interest what she had to say. Lana's company was the only thing that helped Alex to keep Wrath locked in her.

When the tall hand of the clock pointed northwards for the third time, Lady Victoria packed her stone collection and bowed. "Tomorrow we shall begin our embroidery pieces. If the weather is nice, we can go to the garden to each pick a different flower to stitch."

The girls each bowed too, then she left.

"I'm sorry, Alex." Lana placed her hand on her back. "We can discuss her behaviour with Mama tonight, but you know how powerful Lady Victoria is. My parents need her support to keep the Western Plains in favour of the crown."

"It's fine. I understand."

Three larks flew by the window, singing their merry song of freedom. It ached so much that tears stood in her eyes.

"Don't look so sad, warrior girl. We still got plenty of time before dinner. Let's go to the library and read a story together. I'll let you pick the book."

Alex's stomach turned into a knot. "I'm not in the mood for stories. If I can be entirely honest with you, I'm not in the mood for anything. Except maybe to shoot arrows and call it revenge."

Lana chuckled. "So Seb's sulking is contagious after all. I swear, he spent the entire morning I was with Papa and George glaring at them. I don't know what he ate, but he still can't be grumping about Panthera. Papa never meant it like that."

"You were in a meeting with your father? I wanna talk to him."

The words had escaped her mouth before she had thought them through, but she didn't want to live this life anymore. If anyone could change something about that, it would be him. She wasn't going to stay in this miserable state of status quo that would only lead to getting married off to some newly promoted officer or a lower Lord King Thomas wanted to make a deal with.

Confusion was all over Lana's face. "Why do you wanna talk to him? He's really busy right now, with Lord Simon needing aid to fight the Jade Pirates."

"Because I don't see a husband on your arm—why is that? Your moonblood must have flown by now. You're nearly fourteen."

"I've had my moonblood for many years, Alex. But I'm a Princess—my parents wait for the right moment and the right partner." Something glistened in her eyes. "But you're not wrong to wanna talk to Papa. He has been disapproving every single candidate Mama comes up with. I'm his only daughter. There's nothing Papa wouldn't do please his little girl."

"Can you help me? He won't dismiss me when you're there with me. I have to talk to him, Lana. I can't keep on pretending I'm someone I'm not. Lady Victoria said bad things about Lord Brandon, but she was right—I'm not a Lady. I need to get out of here, do something that I'm actually good at."

Lana bit her lip and frowned in thought. "I think I can do something for you. Let me take the lead, if you don't mind."

"I will. I trust you."

Minutes later she was eye to eye with Timothy, one of the older guards. He held his lance sideways, preventing them from entering the King's office. "His Majesty was very explicit. He didn't wanna be disturbed—under no circumstances."

"Overruled, Tim. This is an emergency." Lana grabbed her by the hand. "Let us in. Or I'll let the General know that you defied me."

"Very well, My Lady." The guard obeyed without hesitation and opened the door for them.

Seb was lying on his belly, his chin resting on his hand, by an enormous map of The Greenlands and the Jade Sea that covered most of the salon. The couches and tables had all been pushed aside. On the map toy soldiers had been placed, some no longer had a head. The King was sitting next to Seb, cross-legged, holding a knight with a broken lance in his hand.

"Working hard, I see." Lana winked at her.

"We are," King Thomas muttered. He placed the figure on the southwestern part of the map. "We're figuring out which legions to move south without leaving the north exposed for a potential attack from Ariel."

"You've got an entire legion playing games in the royal forest," Lana said with a snort. "Maybe them?"

"Considered and not deemed favourable." The King looked up. "I take it you're not here to criticise the way I rule my kingdom."

"No, Papa, I would never." Lana pulled Alex's sweat covered hand to drag her along; she had to make a scene now to get the King to hear her and do something. "But we need to talk. Alex is bored and unhappy. Can I remind you that you were planning on training her, give her some purpose. We made a deal, Papa."

Alex turned her head towards Lana. All this time the King had threatened her not to tell anyone about their secret arrangement, but Lana had known all along.

Seb cocked his head. "What's going on?"

The King sniffed. "Alex has been spying for me, Sebby. It's thanks to her that I know where Fox is. I gave her another assignment, but she's too impulsive, too greedy, and she'll rat out anyone for a bit of attention. I can't do anything with her."

"Because I wanted to show you what I could do, what I could get you," Alex argued. The King had acted like a little boy who didn't want to take his medicine when she had tried to persuade him with the information that the washerwomen were speaking ill of him, and that the Healers were placing bets on his health. "Maybe I'm impulsive at times, but I would do anything for you and Seb—for your entire family."

Seb's confused expression turned into a gasp. "Wait... wait... Alex has been spying for you, Uncle Tom?"

Seb's reaction tugged at her heartstrings. He was clueless, and she had no time to tell him what had really happened.

"It's true." She nodded. "One of Lana's ideas. Didn't seem bad at first, but... I dunno..."

"Papa, let those windmills in your head work for once. Alex is Vanya's daughter. She's part Jade Islandic," Lana said. "Let her infiltrate. Nobody will expect it's us."

"Infiltrate where?" Alex didn't know what conversation Lana had taken her to, but she was eager to know more. Anything was better than cleaning out phials and embroidery.

"Pirates. We need someone who can help us predict when and where the next attack will be." Seb ran his finger along the southern coastline. "But it can't be you. You'd be so far away."

"Seb's not wrong." the King said. "It's a long and dangerous journey. Not to mention lonely."

"I'm lonely here too," Alex said. "I don't know what I'm saying yes to precisely, but life here at court is killing me. I wanna feel again. I wanna hunt and fight, and do all those things that people consider inappropriate for a girl. Please, Your Majesty. I am loyal. I wanna help you, but it can't be through marriage. That's not me."

King Thomas looked at Lana, then at Seb, who was shaking his head. He rubbed his ear, his fingers massaging the spot behind the jewel. "I'll arrange a meeting with George and Simon. Pack your bags, Alex, dust off that bow. I'm sending you to your father's home."

The invisible chains around her wrists fell down immediately. Whatever danger was coming her way, she danced around in the office and hugged Lana, Seb, and the King. She was going to the Jade Islands. She was finally going to see the big Jade Sea and step on the pearl-white beaches.

It wasn't until she was standing back in her own room that she realised what this mission would cost her. She would have to leave Seb and Nick behind, for Gods knows how many moons. 

This wasn't selfish, was it? They would have to understand that she couldn't stay. Nick might have to find out about Fox by himself, but he would be able to do that, wouldn't he? He was clever.

There came a knock on the door, followed by a pair of teary blue eyes staring at her. "I don't want you to go."