The Princess and the Bard (Royals of the Realms #1)

Chapter Twelve: 'I am the Shieldmaker.'

The racket originated from an office a few doors down from the dining hall. When Alori and Taelan entered the room, a handful of bards in the back looked up in surprise. The office was so large it might have been mistaken for a library. Massive bookshelves lined the walls, flanked by two leather couches draped in blue and silver throw blankets, but the enormous claw-foot desk at the front of the room had a single tall chair behind it. 

Despite its considerable size, the desk was sparsely adorned with a short stack of books and an embossed metal organizer filled with feathered quill pens beside a pot of ink. Tomso and Hamoni stood behind the desk, deep in conversation with an older bard Alori didn't recognize. The man's tunic was red, marking him as a visitor from another academy. 

Red was Ville-Tokki's banner color, and like each municipality in the Ville-Realms, they had their own school of music, albeit a small one.

"Good morning." She waited for her presence to be acknowledged.

The three gray heads turned, one after another. Tomso and the bard from Ville-Tokki both appeared surprised, looking to the marchioness for guidance.

"Is something amiss?" The bite in Alori's tone was no accident.

Tomso shared another weighted glance with Hamoni, then leaned over the desk– his desk, she assumed– his knuckles pressed into the dark, gleaming wood. "Good morning, Your Highness. We thought you were still abed."

"I woke up early."

"As it would seem." He cleared his throat, patting the base of his neck with his fingertips. "There has been a minor breach in the shield surrounding Ville-Tokki. Bard Dahlen–" he gestured to the older man in the red tunic "–rode in first thing this morning to apprise us of the situation."

Alori's blood ran cold. "Why was I not informed immediately?"

If there was a breach, however small, she needed to fix it before the situation escalated.

Hamoni clasped her fragile hands at her waist. Tomso's office was full of grown men, some of them well-built and strapping, but the marchioness was the most intimidating presence in the room. Her keen eyes flashed with authority, the kind she rarely pitted against her own granddaughter, which was how Alori knew circumstances were worse than Tomso was willing to admit.

A breach wouldn't have spontaneously occurred, someone had caused it. Alori and her father had spent two days powering up the shield before she left for the Conservatory; it should have been invulnerable for another week, at the very least.

"It happened overnight," Hamoni said lightly. "There's no need to rush into action and frighten the townsfolk. The local shieldmage's backup is still in place."

Her grandmother's poise under duress was frustrating. It was impossible to know how Hamoni truly felt, if she was as worried as Alori beneath her calm veneer.

"How can you be certain? With the shield breached, there's no telling how long the backup will last." Alori's voice rose in volume with each next word, until she was close to hysterics. "It could fail at any moment! We need to move, now."

Unwelcome images of the Ville-You massacre filled her head. Chances were Taelan was reliving the same nightmarish memories, or worse.

Hamoni smiled placatingly. "It's not yet nine, and fair weather outside. You can be at Ville-Tokki in twenty minutes and repair the shield in another five. Why don't you and Taelan go enjoy your breakfast? Come back when you're finished, and by then we'll have the entire report and can be ready to assemble."

Alori's hands balled into tight fists, her nails digging into her palms. "Assemble what?"

Why was Hamoni trying to send her away? Did her grandmother think she wasn't capable of leading a mission or ready to face real conflict? Although there hadn't been an active breach since Alori inherited the crown and became the Shieldmaker, she had spent her entire life preparing for a moment like this.