Blind fury tore through me as I ripped off my shirt. I slammed the door to my chambers, kicked a wooden carving, and headed for the bathroom. It was all I could do to restrain myself from shoving my boot through the balcony glass door.

I breathed heavily while inspecting my shoulder in the bathroom mirror. The King had brushed me off and excluded me from the usual duties of a first-born son and heir to the throne for as long as I could remember. He had undermined my leadership in the court and belittled my strengths, but today's act was open sabotage. What purpose could he have for eliminating me from the tournament? I would have thought getting rid of me from the royal court would please him.

There came a knock at the door of my outer chambers.

'Come in,' I shouted. On second thoughts, I grabbed the knife I kept behind the bar of soap. I could not be sure it was the healer, or even that a healer sent by the master would mean me no harm.

I stalked through my bedroom and out into the large reception with its divans, low tables and wooden statues. I halted. A slim figure closed the door and turned.

'Lady Calmi?'

She stared at me with those unreadable eyes of hers. I became aware of my bare chest, and the knife in my fist.

'Are you a healer?'

'Yes, Your Royal Highness,' she answered with a curtsey. 'Though I would rather my skill, as well as my visit to your private chambers, were not known at court. Lance said this was a matter I could trust you did not wish made public.'

Lance? It took me a moment to realise she was talking of the master. I wondered under what circumstances the two of them had struck up an acquaintance. Calmi had only been at court a couple of months. It was not usual fare for a lady searching for a husband to fraternise with the master-at-arms.

'Nobody saw you coming here?'

'No, Your Highness.'

I looked away from her unblinking gaze. Such startling beauty was disconcerting. Fortunately, the acute pain every time I moved my arm or shrugged my shoulder helped focus my thoughts. What was Master Alster thinking sending her to my chambers?

'How old are you?'

'Sixteen,' she answered.

'And what experience do you have?'

'If you prefer, I can tell Lance you wish him to send someone else.'

If the master had risked sending Lady Calmi, it meant there probably was no one else we could trust. I searched her face but saw no signs of intimidation at being alone in a man's chambers, nor any recognition that she was talking to the King's only heir. She was as unimpressed by my princeship as the night of my half-sister's parting ceremony.

I was used to a certain amount of fawning and bashfulness from the young woman at court. Not that I had attended any of the dances or soirees for months now.

'It is my shoulder,' I said, moving towards the silver and blue divan. She came towards me, a heavy basket in her arms, and sat down at my side.

'The knife,' she said. I relaxed my fist and lay the knife on the walnut table. She eyed it suspiciously. I could almost see the questions swirling through her head.

She rubbed her hands together. I turned so she could reach my back. She lay her palms on my left shoulder.

'The other one,' I said.

I sensed the hesitation, and then her hands changed sides and began fingering, twisting, and kneading. Her efficient touch showed no reticence or shyness. I breathed deeper. Her competence was evident. I was lucky Master Alster had somehow discovered she possessed such skill. When she hit the precise spot of pain, I sucked through my teeth and flinched.

'I believe a small ligament attached to your collarbone is torn. Are you left-handed, Your Highness?'

'No.'

Her eyebrows creased. 'Lance said I was to fix you up so that you could still fight in the tournament.'

'That's the idea.'

'But you are right handed and your injury is on your right side.'

'Yes.'

She paused, realising I meant to compete with such an extreme disadvantage. 'You are sure to cause your shoulder far greater damage if you do not rest it for at least two weeks.'

'I will not miss the tournament,' I said, rising in irritation. I knew I would aggravate the injury by fighting tomorrow. The chances of my qualifying with such a handicap were next to none. But I would not give up now. I'd been preparing for this moment since I was eight years old. It was my escape route out of the Ruby Court. The perverse will of my father would not stop me.

'You risk making your shoulder permanently vulnerable in the future,' Lady Calmi said, rising. 'A great disadvantage for an Elite Commander.'

'Were you sent to advise me, or heal me?' I snapped.

I spun up to face her. Frustration and fury coursed through me again. The sparkling danger must have been evident in the wildness of my glare, but she met my eyes without fear.

'I have herbs you can take to reduce the inflammation, and I will make a poultice to rub every few hours over the swelling. Today, we will put your arm in a sling and you will rest your shoulder.' Her unruffled practicality diffused my anger. I grew aware of how close our faces were to one another. She was tall for a lady. Our eyes almost level. 'Tomorrow,' she continued, 'before the tournament, I will rub your shoulder with Black Night and wrap it for support.'

'Black Night?'

'It is from the north, Your Highness. It will reduce the pain.' She was not talking about the pain I experienced now when I moved my shoulder, but the agony I would feel tomorrow after fighting with such an injury.

'If this is your pain reliever, I will need a phial to take with me to the tournament.'

She nodded. For an instant, neither of us moved. I looked into her empty eyes. The clang of swords echoed in my head. In my mind, I saw myself combatting my brothers-in-arms with a level of focus and drive I had never reached before. My father's scorn and denigration would backfire on him. I would perform better tomorrow than I'd done in my whole life.

Calmi set her basket on the walnut table. She picked up my knife, fingers confidently wrapping around the hilt. She examined it, then held it out.

'I have seen you train,' she said.

Her words brought me back to the present. The younger ladies of the court sometimes came to watch us sparring, but it didn't strike me as the sort of thing Lady Calmi would enjoy. Most of the girls were there to flirt. They quickly vanished when practice grew serious and my brothers-in-arms stopped paying them attention.

'You are a gifted fighter. But you are too courteous.'

I took the knife from her. 'It seems you have as many opinions as you do skills, Lady Calmi.'

'Character is forged by the strength of one's opinions and attitudes, Your Highness.' She gave a curt nod. 'I will make your poultice now,' she said, taking her basket and crossing to a divan on the other side of the reception lounge. My eyes followed her, but my thoughts were elsewhere.

I strode to the balcony and stepped out onto the ochre tiles. My suite was in a high dome on the northern side of the palace. Far below on the grassy terraces, chalked outlines had been drawn for the four combat arenas in tomorrows competition. Competitors sparred on three of the long terraces, though I was too far to distinguish which of my brothers-in-arms were fighting. Nor could I hear them. The only sound that met my ears was the soft howl of the wind in the eastern mountains.

Lady Calmi's words had reminded me of Deadran, my old tutor. I had not seen him for many years, but he was my guardian when I was a boy in my uncle's court, and the closest I had to a father figure. As a child, whenever I cursed the Gods for my mother's death, and my father's unkindness, which was often, Deadran would tell me that there were two faces to the mask of adversity. A person's character was revealed by the face it chose. One consisted of misery and blame, the other a deepening self-awareness and understanding of the world.

I tried to remember that as I stood on the balcony, struggling with my destiny. It was difficult to accept that the Gods had chosen me to be a Prince and heir to the throne, and yet made me so despised by the King, my father.

THANKS FOR READING! Have an awesome weekend xox