“Who is this?” said a big, burly man with salt-and-pepper hair, his voluminous, cerulean cloak billowing in the wind as he came striding down the broad stone steps into the castle courtyard. He was wearing a silver breastplate and had a massive sword strapped to his hip. I wondered if this was my granduncle, the duke.
“Captain,” said the red-haired guard, standing up straighter. “She says she wants to see the duke, says she’s his niece.”
The captain’s eyes narrowed as he walked toward me. “Does she now?”
Snow stamped her hoof and snorted, but he did not even flinch.
He stretched out his hand to help me off the pegasus. “Declan Raingate, captain of the duke’s guard, at your service, my lady.”
He seemed a gentleman, and his brown eyes were kind. I took his hand and jumped off Snow. “Thank you,” I said, straightening my skirt and smoothing my hair, which resembled a bird’s nest after all that flying.
Captain Raingate turned to one of the guards. “See that the pegasus is well housed in the main stables.”
“Right away, sir,” said the red-haired guard, scurrying to do the captain’s bidding.
“Follow me,” Captain Raingate said, turning to walk up the steps to the castle. “I will take you to the duke.”
The guards all straightened their spears and retreated to their posts. The archers put away their bows and returned to their jobs on the battlements. I was relieved. Silverthorne Castle was a fortress; Oblek and Morgana would have a hard time getting to me here. I already felt much safer.
I followed Captain Raingate up the great, white stone steps, through the big wooden doors, and into the castle. We walked down drafty stone corridors and up a wide spiral staircase in one of the towers. Captain Raingate knocked once on a stout oak door and opened it without waiting for a reply.
“Can’t a man get any work done around here?” An old and distinguished-looking man with white, shoulder-length hair and a clipped white beard looked up from his desk and put down his quill. He wore a midnight-blue velvet dressing gown lined with intricate silverwork. He looked up. “There always seems to be something that needs my attention.”
The duke’s study was a large, high-ceilinged room lined with oak beams, but it was bright and airy with immense windows, which were hung with rich crimson and gold velvet curtains. Exotic rugs covered the cold stone floors, and beautiful but slightly faded tapestries lined the walls, all depicting scenes with different fae creatures—unicorns, dragons, pixies, flower-fairies, and beautiful, lush green forests.
“My apologies for disturbing you at this time of the morning, Your Grace.” Captain Raingate bowed. “But the matter is of some importance.”
The duke finally noticed me, and I thought I saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes; then, just as quickly, it was gone. His eyes narrowed. “And you are?”
I held his gaze. “My name is Aurora, and I think you are my unc—”
“Thank you, Declan, but I will speak with this one alone.”
The captain of the guard bowed once and left the room.
The duke sat at a mahogany desk in an extra-large chair. He gestured for me to sit down opposite him.
“Now, what is all this really about?” His tone was stern and his wise blue eyes shone questioningly, as if he were trying to piece together a puzzle.
“Well.” I hesitated as I sat down on the offered chair, clasping my hands together in my lap.
I wasn’t exactly sure what I should say. I decided to keep it short. But it came out in a jumbled mess. “It turns out that you are my granduncle, and my aunt, Queen Morgana, wants me dead. I have nowhere to go and no way to get back home, not that I really have a home anymore.” I paused, wondering if I should say more. “That’s about the gist of it.”
The duke studied me carefully and narrowed his eyes. “I think you’d better start again, from the beginning.” He peered at me from under his big, bushy eyebrows as if he knew exactly what I was talking about. He didn’t seem surprised.
I proceeded to recount the full story. When I finished, the duke was quiet, and he was still looking at me very sternly.
“You do look a lot like Azaren,” he said finally, his eyes going slightly misty. “But we can never be too careful. I have, on occasion, heard stories that Elayna and Azaren’s child had somehow escaped the massacre at the Star Palace, and once there was even a rumor that the princess had been found in Brandor.” He assessed me again. “Of course, she was brought to me.”
“And?” I urged him to go on.
“And she was an imposter, of course.”
I sat on the edge of my seat and wiped my sweating hands on my skirt. “How could you tell?”
“You will find out all you need to know in good time, but first, we need to test you to see if it’s true that you are the child of Azaren and Elayna, and not some shapeshifter sent by Lucian to deceive us.”
“Shapeshifter!” I said, jumping up from my chair. “You think I am a shapeshifter? This is getting more and more absurd every minute.”
The last two days had taken their toll on me, and I had hardly slept since this all began. Now, when I was starting to believe all this nonsense myself, my granduncle, who seemed to be the only one who could help me, didn’t seem to believe me either.
I couldn’t help myself as the words tumbled out of my mouth. “I was taken from my home and my world in the middle of the night, thrown in a dungeon, barely escaped with my life, and fled from the Shadow Guard, who want to take me to Morgana.” I paced and waved my hands around as I spoke.
I threw a dark look at my granduncle. “Two days ago my biggest problem was trying to stay away from my
