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After the Southern War, the surviving leader of the Shadowhart forces, a man named Kael, had disappeared. Some claimed he had been assassinated while some claimed he had gone mad and lived alone after murdering his two sons. Only last night had an owl arrived at the castle with a letter from Kael, claiming he was coming to visit under peace terms, no exceptions. The Battle of Bloodfield Bay two years prior had resulted in thousands of casualties. But it had not been the end; Kael's survival could still tip the balance of power.

For the sake of chivalry and honour, Lucian was obliged to humour Kael. That put Lucian in a foul mood, making him bark at anyone who came too close and lashing out if anyone dared to annoy him. He had snapped at Audrey for inquiring about Annalee's absence, telling her to dress without acknowledging the question.

"I don't trust this man," Lucian told Adina while Audrey listened from under a staircase, a basket of candles on one arm. "He has tried to take the crown before, and I am no fool. We both know we cannot risk another war; the Southern War has already split our family and killed many innocents."

Already split our family. Audrey knew he didn't just mean Thomas' death. When Lucian, as heir, had passed the Southern throne to Emelyn upon the death of his parents, he had angered his other siblings. Damek Westerling and Dinah Eternel no longer held a clear alliance to Lucian, and their children had split between the two sides of Shadowhart and Everwood.

"We'll get him this time, love," Adina reassured Lucian before touching him gently on the arm, kissing him on the cheek, and walking off. Lucian sighed, touched his cheek, then went the opposite direction.

Once the area was clear, Audrey took her basket of candles and walked into the gardens, desperately breathing in the cool, spring air. Kael had killed her brother, and she missed him so—

"You are holding the bow the wrong way around!" someone snapped loudly, and she turned to see Will by the archery butts, teaching a young squire. His white hair and loud voice were easily recognisable, and she almost smiled.

"No, I am not," the squire insisted stubbornly, looking ridiculous with the string pointed towards the target and the wooden grip by his chest. "Look, I can still fire arrows!"

He tried to shoot the arrow, but it just fell to the floor at his feet.

"And the point of firing those arrows is to actually hit the target!" Will snatched the bow from the squire's hands and fired an arrow, hitting the bullseye.

"Stop telling me what to do! I can do it myself." The squire sniffed and took the bow back.

"Then teach yourself archery, you insolent little..." Will began before the squire cheekily hit him with the upper limb of the bow.

Audrey smiled then, watching as Will grabbed the boy by his collar to keep him still.

"You are annoying," Will said. "I respect that sometimes, but you have just taken annoying to a whole new level. If you want to become an archer, stop being such a little prick, start holding the bow the right way around, and..."

"Fuck you," the squire grinned, noticing Audrey watching.

"Are you even listening?!?"

"I don't think he is, but I am." Audrey spoke behind Will, and the squire laughed.

Will let the boy go and they watched as he ran off, sticking his tongue out once he was far enough that Will couldn't touch him.

Will looked very tempted to make a vulgar gesture back.

"I never knew you were impatient," Audrey remarked, walking over so that she was standing next to him.

"I didn't either," Will responded with a smile. "But impatience happens to the best of us. Surely even someone as composed as you would have wanted to hit that twat, milady."

Audrey went quiet, trying to compose herself, but suddenly found herself laughing. Will raised his eyebrows as she laughed, trying his best to keep his face blank, but failed completely, and ended up staring at her dumbly, unable to hide his surprise.

"Don't flatter me, archer," Audrey said finally. "Your charm might work on the scullery maids, but it has no effect here."

Will tried for a smirk. "So, you only fall for highborn people?"

He instantly looked like he wanted to melt into the ground, and he looked at his feet.

"I don't fall for people at all."

"That's impossible, Your Highness." He shifted.

"Don't even try," Audrey warned, then paused, taking a moment to assess his newly swollen features and black eye with curiosity. "What happened to your face?"

Will shrugged. "Well, last night I was a little drunk, and I may have told someone that he was a son of a whore and I, uh... don't think he took it very well." He gestured at his face to show what he meant. "Had a bit o' a brawl with some Southerner, and I may have got pummelled."

"You called someone a son of a whore?"

"He deserved it," Will grumbled.

"I see. Try not to ridicule yourself any more than you have already." She smiled wryly before she turned and left Will standing alone.

She found herself still smiling as she entered the Main Hall and turned left, heading down a side corridor and up a staircase into her tower. When she pushed open the door to her room, setting the candle basket on a low table, she wasn't surprised to see Clovis waiting there.

"'Ello." Clovis looked up. "Where 'ave you been?"

"Uh... got detained." Audrey sat on the bed next to him. "Why are you here?"

"Ya need to get ready. Kael is coming 'ere soon, and Lucian wants ya there."

She sighed and nodded, watching him as he dug through a pile of her clothes, frowning and tossing them over his shoulder. She couldn't help fidgeting, her gaze constantly darting over to the window. Northstone had been built on a cliff overlooking the town of Folkridge and a vast expanse of forest, the Main Road intersecting the core of them both, and she could see the tips of trees over the crenels of the battlements. It calmed her to know there was a world beyond her trapped existence.

"You aren't a fashion expert, you know that, right?" Audrey asked, turning to her friend.

"Absolutely not! I 'ave no clue what I'm doin'. I'm 'ere for moral support, and 'cause ya always lose track of time in your musings. Absolutely 'opeless, you are," Clovis replied cheerfully, picking up a gown and waving it in her face. "How 'bout this one?"

The gown was made of rich green silk, lined with gold swirls close to where it split at the front for a kirtle to be worn underneath. Audrey contemplated it for a moment, then searched the chest of clothes at the foot of her bed, finding a brocade kirtle and holding it against the gown.

"It's better than some of the other options," she muttered.

"So?" Clovis pressed.

"I'll wear it," Audrey confirmed.

Clovis grinned. "Great! You've still got 'bout two hours. Are ya gonna have your morning meal with the others?"

She shook her head. She had no appetite and wasn't in the mood for courtly formalities. Upon seeing her expression, Clovis gave her a reassuring smile and spoke sincerely. "Look, you'll be fine. I know that... a lotta things are going on right now, but they'll get better. Remember that I'm here for ya."

"Thanks, Clovis."

"'Course, princess." He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close and kissing her forehead before standing. As she looked up at him, she felt an undeniable tenderness towards the boy. He was like a brother to her, and they had been friends for so long that she struggled to imagine life without him. There was nothing romantic between them—Clovis' preference lay with the same sex—but their friendship made up for that. He was the person who had hugged her as she wept over the news of her brother's death, the one who snuck her lemon cakes from the kitchens, the one who always listened and offered her comfort.

Audrey knew he had no one else. Clovis' father had been a wandering musician, and his mother a prostitute who resented his birth. When apprised of his son, the musician, unsure of what to do, had taken him to Northstone's steward. Clovis ended up being raised by a sympathetic laundress and later became a pageboy for Thomas Everwood. It was Thomas who had elevated him to a mapmaker, and it was a role that made Clovis happy. Despite being illiterate, his skills as a cartographer were valuable to Lucian; the intricacies of his drawings were unsurpassed, and Audrey was glad he wasn't expendable. His presence was one of the few bearable things left in her life.

"I'll call in the maids," Clovis added before leaving.

A few moments later, her maids entered. They set a bath with boiled water, and she climbed in, letting them douse her in scalding water and scrub at her until her skin was raw. Once she was dry, they helped to dress her. The chemise and then the kirtle went on, the bodice lying lightly around her waist, and the gown was laced shut at the back.

"How are Junia and Annalee?" Audrey asked as Katherine brushed her auburn hair and Edith folded the dresses that Clovis had discarded on the bed. She hadn't seen either of the twins yesterday.

"Annalee 'as disappeared. Junia was almost killed when a guardsman took her for a spy, miss, and broke down and started blubbering 'bout peer pressure or something. She's recovering from the shock in the infirmary," Katherine replied.

Audrey frowned, confused. Junia often struggled with stressful or frightening experiences—Audrey made a mental note to visit her later—but how could a girl just disappear? And what did Junia do to make herself look like a spy in the first place?

"Farren told me that Lachlan ain't happy with your father. 'e blames Lucian for Annalee's disappearance, and the other twin refuses to talk," Katherine continued.

Audrey knew from the glare Edith shot Katherine that the information should have been withheld. The maids had served her for two years, but there was little more than mutual tolerance between the three.

"Thank you. You are dismissed," Audrey said after Katherine finished tying her hair into its usual braid.

Katherine and Edith curtseyed before heading out, leaving Audrey alone with her thoughts.

Audrey curled up on her bed with a book, but all the words swam together and merged into one splash of ink that was incomprehensible to read. She gave up and stared at the ceiling instead, trying to satisfy her raging mind. Images swirled before her: Thomas promising he'd be back before he left for battle, then Lucian's empty look as he returned, carrying his son's dead body in his arms. She could still hear her mother's shrieks of horror, could still see Adina running to Thomas' body and sobbing, cradling him to her chest.

"My poor boy, my poor son," she had wept. It was the only time Audrey had ever seen her mother cry. Adina had not wept at any of her stillbirths and miscarriages, had not cried at lost hope, and had not shed a tear at her parents' death to the Blue Fever... but the sight of her dead son had shattered the unassailable woman to pieces. "My Thomas, my beautiful boy..."

Audrey had run into her father's sturdy arms, and Lucian had held her tight, stroking her hair with hands covered in blood.

Thomas's death had destroyed Audrey. She had been overweight most of her life but lost her appetite after the news of her brother's demise—with the feeling of being disconnected from everything in her life, the pleasure associated with eating food had disappeared—and not enjoyed a night of good sleep since. She had slowly started to put on weight again, however, and found herself able to take pleasure in small things: the stars, the deep blush of a rose, the twittering of birds overhead. But, every now and then, she still found herself broken by grief, weeping for a brother she had loved so much that his death had crushed the life out of her, too.

"Her Majesty, the queen, is 'ere to see you." Edith re-entered the room, freeing Audrey from her thoughts. Relieved, she sat up.

"Send her in."

Edith stepped out, and her mother entered. Adina carried a tray of breakfast and placed it on a table, then sat on Audrey's bed and took her left hand in both of hers. Audrey loved her mother, with her silky auburn hair braided down her back, curling softly under the weight of a tiara. She wore a braid because of Adina, a habit she had picked up at an early age to look more like her.

"How are you?" Adina asked.

"Kael's not back here for the throne, is he?" Audrey didn't bother answering the question.

Adina sighed. "I won't lie to you. I don't believe he is here for peace."

"Why are we agreeing to see him, then? And why here?"

"It's dishonourable to decline the request of a meeting under a truce, and we hold fast to that belief. Plus, the nobles won't be happy if we pass up a chance to interact with an enemy plaguing our minds for years. We are inclined to let him feast under our walls to keep our honour as true Northerners. If the gods truly love us, he will be here for peace." Adina shook her head. "We will have the guardsmen ready, nonetheless. The archers are in position, and the knights prepared to fight. Our men are well-disciplined and trained, and we have some Southerners to fight for us as well."

Audrey smiled wryly. "I don't suppose they are well-disciplined and trained too."

"More like very drunk and ill-mannered. But they'll do." Adina squeezed her hand. "I've left you breakfast. You should eat."

"I'm not hungry." A pause. "How is Junia?"

Adina didn't ask how Audrey knew. "All I know is she was seen in a tree with Annalee and mistaken for a spy. A crossbow bolt fired and barely missed her while, according to a guard, Annalee disappeared into the dark."

"Junia in a tree?" Audrey couldn't imagine the timid girl sneaking out at night. That was like Annalee, but nothing like Junia. "Why?"

"You'll have to visit her and ask her yourself." She kissed Audrey on the forehead and stood. "I'll see you soon."

"I love you." It just slipped out and surprised her by how much it sounded like a goodbye.

Adina just smiled before taking her leave.

Audrey stared at the tray of bread, goat's milk, and porridge. Although she wasn't hungry, she still reached for the spoon and forced herself to eat.

An hour later, Edith entered her room, claiming that Kael had arrived. Audrey thanked her before hurrying to the portcullis of the castle, where a groom had a horse saddled and ready for her. She climbed into the saddle and pressed her feet into the stirrups, grabbing the reins and glancing over at her parents. Her aunt and uncle were also there, Emelyn looking weary, and Lachlan irate beside her. Misfortune had fallen upon them so quickly; one twin was missing, the other was in the infirmary, and their family enemy had reappeared as they were visiting.

"You're late," Lucian scowled.

Audrey inclined her head, knowing better than to answer. Lucian narrowed his eyes before he turned and spurred his horse on ahead. Adina rode alongside him, and Audrey fell in beside Lachlan a few paces behind.

"Feel that change in the air, kid?" Lachlan asked Audrey as they rode to greet Kael at the gates, ten of Lucian's King's Guard surrounding the five of them.

Audrey shook her head, maintaining her composure. Back straight, eyes ahead. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Something is wrong. I can sense it," Lachlan noted, his cold eyes fixed on her. Audrey shuddered slightly, riding ahead, and joining her father to get away from him. Worst of all, she believed Lachlan. She felt it, too.

It didn't take them long to spot Kael when they passed the drawbridge, pulling up their horses about ten metres away. He stood out with a chest plate emblazoned with the Shadowhart crest of an owl, his silver-streaked dark hair braided proudly behind his back. His grey eyes gleamed when he caught sight of the king, and he pushed his horse to get closer. Behind him, a banner-bearer held a flag depicting the speared owl of the Shadowharts, fluttering in the light spring breeze, while someone raised the tree on a snow-covered field for the Everwoods and the bloody helmet of the Silverlings.

"Your Majesty," Kael said, smiling.

"It's nice to see you again, Kael," Lucian replied stiffly.

Kael laughed. "I'm flattered, but you don't have to lie to me."

Audrey examined the ten men guarding Kael. All but one looked ahead, and that man was watching them all carefully, his hand resting by the black pommel of his sword. He had violet eyes that didn't portray any emotion, and Audrey had to force herself to look away. It was almost impossible to tear her gaze away from such a vivid eye colour, one she had only read about in books. People with unique eye colours were rare and often killed for being abnormal, seen as curses from the gods.

"Cut the japes and get to the point," Lucian said flatly.

"I want to sue for peace. I am surrendering to you," Kael said, his smile dissolving. "No more fighting. All my men and strength are yours."

"And why would you do that?" Lucian asked suspiciously.

"Because I have realised that it is pointless trying to fight your joint forces. I'm sick of living in hiding," Kael said.

Audrey puzzled over Kael's potential motives. Surely he couldn't be there for the Northern throne when his claim was to the South...

Unless he sees an opportunity to take down two enemies in one go.

"You have men and strength?" Audrey could tell her father wasn't falling for it.

"I have gathered people over the years." Kael shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"We must kill him, Your Majesty," Lachlan interjected.

Audrey glanced at Lachlan. He seemed sober for the first time since he had arrived, his eyes rimmed with red and his posture slouched, not looking very regal.

No, Lachlan, you fool. Now he will be reluctant to kill him just because you suggested it, Audrey thought.

"And what authority do you have to make such demands?" Lucian challenged Lachlan.

"I am king," Lachlan spat.

"He is my guest. You can't tell me what to do with no authority in the North," Lucian said. "Remember your place."

Kael watched the brothers-in-law quarrel with the traces of an amused expression. There was no sign of more soldiers, and Audrey reasoned he couldn't storm a castle with only ten guardsmen.

"We spent years at war because of him and you lost your son. I'll kill him myself," Lachlan snarled.

"You could try, but that's not a good idea," Kael said apologetically, interrupting.

Audrey stiffened in her seat. She didn't like his tone, and the guards surrounding Kael were reaching for their swords.

She looked over at her mother to find Adina already staring at her, eyes wide.

Go, Adina mouthed.

Audrey found herself frozen in terror, unable to move, and looked back at Kael.

No, no, no one breaks a truce...

She realised what a flawed mistake Lucian had made in allowing an enemy right into his castle.

No one stayed true to chivalry and honour in such a cruel world.

"Excuse me?" Lucian asked, but he was realising his mistake, too.

Audrey was the first to scream when the purple-eyed knight rode forwards, too quickly to stop, and swung his sword.

He almost severed Emelyn's head clean off her neck with the force of the blow. All Audrey could do was stare as her aunt fell from her horse, staining the grass red with her blood.

And now the deaths begin :)

As always, please point out any errors and thank you so much for reading this trash piece of work !

Love you all,
Shelly M xx