Sequel to Carmine
The Princess of fate. A foolishly hopeful scribe. Both of their lives were tied by fate the moment they met; to kill Princess Carmine's mother.
Only Princess Carmine's fate is predetermined, while the Scribe Janilla's is left to t...
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Carmine
The fire descended around me and cooled my hickory skin into deep cedar, for the one-hundredth time. Once the encircling symbols blinked and the crippling burn in my bones faded, I stepped out of the glittering sheen.
I hated traveling hundreds of miles through spectral gates.
The glow of the moon reflected its glare over the hills it scorned as much as my knees. My slate-colored armor deflected much of its hatred.
Gabby cried out as the heat lifted off her purple coat. She shivered as she sat in the shallow notch of my sword frog that was snuggly connected to the baldric around my bosom. Gabby's humongous eyes brightened me up, for she was such a gentle soul even if most people consider her a pest.
She was a mijaor, a small animal with a dark purple coat of skin with soft spikes curling over her rotund body and those amphibian hind-legs. I didn't consider her a pest, I loved her, especially since I could find a place for her by my side.
That was what I was good at.
My metal boots clanked against dirt and the resounding steps of my guards rolled in behind me with the resolute determination to not see me dead.
Valor handpicked them himself.
Hopefully, they held their own, because if I lift a finger, I am rising them from the dead and killing them myself for being terrible fighting men.
Still, to think I would be looking up at this dusty old keep again, but I had to come back here. I left behind a piece of me in this place. There was a chance to put myself back together and move forward, so I was taking it.
At the foot of the keep, I saw the large door was ripped off its hinges, and slanted to the side. Contrast that with this uneasy emotion traversing through me and I knew something bad happened.
Rionala, Beckburt, and Hangor, where were they?
I walked into the darkened parlor. My boot creaked and snapped into something sharp, yet fragile. They cracked under the weight of my advance.
One guard moved quickly to light their lantern. "My Lady, let me lead the way."
For a brief moment, I missed that Mother title I used to get, for a moment, then I remembered why I did away with it.
Valor never wanted me to come here, worst when I told him I wanted the letters my father sent to me. He hated the idea of me risking my life for letters. I hated a lot more things than that, like my incessant hunger that could not be sated by the food of the earth.
We needed better food in the camp and potatoes too which would be in loving memory of Rionala.
The lantern blazed a bright light and I saw scratches along the wall. Banners were thrown and sliced, then I saw the broken barks of the torch and glass littered on the ground. That was what I stepped in.
