“Agata, hello.” He nodded to the crowd behind her. “Ladies. How completely perfect that you are here. It’s...completely expected.” Motioning toward me, he spoke again. “This is the Princess, Layne. We’ve had a bit of a time getting here, but as you can see, she’s here relatively unscathed.”
Agata raised her feathery eyebrows. “Unscathed. Yes.”
I cleared my throat. “We got attacked. I’d be dead, twice over, if not for Cypress.”
Needing to support him seemed key. This woman and her friends leveled severe unapproving glares at Cypress. They either didn’t like him from some other time or there was something about how they found us now that put a glare on their faces. I’d never seen a centaur before. Maybe they always looked like that?
“Princess.” She bowed her head. “Your esteemed father, His Royal Highness, asked us if we were the ones to spot you, to help Cypress get you home. So that is what we will do. Would you, Princess, climb on my back?”
I swallowed. Well, actually, I didn’t want to do that. I couldn’t have exactly said why, but I didn’t want to be at her mercy. If I got on her back, she could take me anywhere. And she didn’t like Cypress. He might be blustery and mean, but I trusted him. If she didn’t like him, I wasn’t sure I could believe in her.
“I’d prefer to walk,” I replied with my chin held high. “Spent my life in a cage, and I’m really enjoying the freedom to move as I please.”
For the first time since meeting Agata, a smile cracked across her face. She seemed pleased. “As you wish, Princess. I can respect the need to walk. I’d go crazy at Nightmare.”
“Me too,” I replied with a wink, making her hardened exterior crack a little more. I quickly assessed that the problem was definitely with Cypress and not with me. I gave my assassin a look before walking over to her. Agata’s mane grew down her spine and was beautiful. A deep mauve, it looked ethereal against the forest backdrop. Her tail swished, and she stomped her hooves proudly as I assessed her.
My eyes zeroed in on a bold crest perched upon her chest. The glimmering pin reflected sunlight that danced along the leaves surrounding us. “Commander,” I said out loud while cocking my head to the side. “Are you in charge?” I asked, feeling lame for my fumbling of words.
Agata started walking down the path before answering me. I joined her as the other centaurs circled around us protectively. Cypress huffed at the rear before following after us. I preferred to walk with him, but I was also hungry for information about my family and how this kingdom worked.
“Of these guards, yes I am.” She nodded, her thick mauve hair shining in the sunlight. I was pretty sure I’d always prefer the moon to the sun, but she was clearly a creature of daylight.
“Then perhaps you could fill me in on some questions I have.” Now was as good a time as any to get some information that had been needling me.
The centaur side-eyed me. “If it’s mine to tell, then I will.”
One thing that was quite different about the outside world versus prison was how little people really talked out here. In Nightmare, people were sentenced, they were never getting reprieved until their time was up, and they told you things when you asked. They let you know their story. What they’d done. Here, everyone was so tight-lipped. I needed information. Someone had to give it to me. I took a deep breath. I was getting ahead of myself. Maybe she would tell me.
“How was I taken to begin with?”
She made a sort of a huffing noise at my question. “That was a dark day, indeed, Princess.”
Behind me Cypress snorted. It was a sound that could have rivaled the centaur’s. She turned and glared at him. “Something to say, assassin?”
“The princess asked you for information, not the start of a fairy story.”
Despite everything, I grinned at his words. “You’d do well to remember she’s a princess. Her entire life is a fairy story,” she replied gruffly before turning her attention back to me. “If you want to know about the day you were taken, first you must learn how our world works.”
I nodded, encouraging the woman to continue. I’d heard so many things while in prison. I desperately wanted to understand. “Different communities live differently. Some cities have buildings that touch the sun.” She pointed at the sky to emphasize her point. “Others live by the old ways. Your parents’ kingdom—your kingdom—leans toward the old ways. They rely on ancient wards to protect their walls.
“While the rest of the world stares at screens and fights for territories with guns, your parents groom the earth. They’re peaceful people—a preserved race from ancient history that maintains balance in the forest. They weren’t prepared for an ambush.”
“Ambush?” I asked.
“The Assassins Guild brought magic bombs and spelled guns. We didn’t stand a chance. And when you were gone, all that was left in your crib was blood.”
I shuddered at the imagery.
“Easy to blame the assassins, and they hold the majority of it for sure.” Cypress shook his head. “But getting to the royal baby should be nearly impossible. I can’t get through the wards now without welcome. The wards should have been that strong when she was born. Even stronger.”
The centaur caught her breath. “You shouldn’t talk that way about the royal family.”
“I’ll talk the way I want to. Always. I don’t hold allegiance to Their Majesties. Not the way you do. And I think they want it that way. That’s why they sent me after their daughter and not you and all of these esteemed steeds.”
His voice was dripping with sarcasm. I
