Elora Gaildrom's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Elora crouched behind the ornate iron fence of the grand manor, counting coins she did not have. The capital was a week away, and the king's public audience waited at the end of that road. She had studied the court of Airadine for months. She knew the schedule. She knew her opening. What she did not have was the dress, the lodging, or the bribes a sorceress needed to walk through palace doors without being laughed out. She watched the manor for two nights. A maid aired laundry in the secluded courtyard each evening at dusk. On the third night, Elora slipped past the fence while the household sat at supper. She found the gown hanging alone on a tall wooden form — red and black silk, gold thread curling along the cape like fire. A small purse sat on the dressing table beside it, fat with silver. She took both. She walked out the side gate before the candles were lit. By morning she was on the road to the capital, the stolen gown folded tight in her pack and the purse heavy at her hip. She was a thief now, plainly. But she would arrive looking like someone the palace could not turn away.