Princess Nymeria's Arc

Chapter 13 of 32

A month passed. The autumn leaves turned red and drifted down behind the inn. Nymeria woke to the same warm scones each morning. She served trays, washed cups, and earned coin she kept in a pouch by her bed. Every dusk she went out with Lyra to set snares and read tracks. Her hands no longer shook when she skinned a rabbit. The wolf slept curled at her door. For the first time in her life, Nymeria was not running. She was building something. One morning Lyra burst through the inn door, cheeks flushed from running. She waved a folded letter over her head. "Crumbs! Get down here!" She had called Nymeria that since their first day. Nymeria climbed down the attic stairs, wiping flour on her apron. She did not mind the name. It felt like proof someone liked her. Madam Honey looked up from the hearth. Lyra dropped the letter on the table and smoothed it flat. "Read it," she said, grinning. "Go on." Nymeria leaned close. The letter bore a wax seal, cracked down the middle. The words spoke of a Fall Ball at the royal castle. The prince would choose a wife from the women who came. Every girl eligible for marriage of the kingdom was invited. "A ball," Nymeria said. Her heart beat faster. She had come to this realm to find love that was real, love not pulled from a man by her charm. A ball full of strangers frightened her. If a man wanted her there, how would she ever know it was true? But maybe she would find a man there and fall in love. A chance she had to take. "Don't make that face," Lyra said. "It's a party, not a hanging." "I don't even know the prince," Nymeria said. "Is he kind? Or is he spoiled and cruel behind a pretty face?" Madam Honey wiped her hands and came to the table. "Only one way to learn that, child. Go and see for yourself." Nymeria stared at the seal. Her whole life, men had wanted her without meaning it. Her charm did the wanting for them. But a stranger who had never met her could not fall under her spell across a crowded hall. Maybe there, for once, she could watch and choose. She could learn a man's heart before he ever felt her pull. "I'll go," Nymeria said. Lyra whooped and grabbed her arm. "Finally. And you're not wearing that apron. You need a gown fit for a princess." "I have no gown," Nymeria said. Madam Honey smiled. "Then we'll find you one. You've earned it with honest work." She squeezed Nymeria's hand. "But mind yourself at that castle. A prince choosing a wife draws every noble in the realm. Not all of them are friends." Nymeria folded the letter and slid it into her pouch beside her coin. The choice was made. She would walk into the castle a stranger, and she would find out if a heart could want her for herself. She was going to the ball.