Princess Willowyn's Arc

Chapter 65 of 70

The healed girl slept easy that night. King Stefan had opened his house to Willowyn, but she still did not know where the storm had thrown her. She rested in her borrowed room with the minx curled at her feet. When sleep would not come, she rose and walked the halls of Graystone Castle. The stained glass threw colored shadows on the stone. Then she heard steel ring against steel. She followed the sound to a corridor and looked through the arch. A young man moved across an open hall with a sword. His dark blue cloak swung with each turn. His brown hair fell loose, and his pale green eyes fixed on nothing but the blade. This was Prince Atticus, the one who had called off his archers when her dragon landed in his garden. He struck at an unseen foe, stepped back, struck again. "You can come in," he called, without turning. Willowyn froze. She had made no sound. "How did you know?" Atticus lowered the sword and smiled. "I am a prince and a knight. I have sharp ears." She laughed before she could stop herself. "Then perhaps you are more like me than I thought." She stepped into the hall and sat on a stone bench along the wall. The minx slipped in after her and settled at her side. "Show me," she said. He went back to his drills. Willowyn watched his feet, the way he shifted his weight, the steady rhythm of the blade. It reminded her of her own long training, the months of discipline that turned wild magic into a steady thing. For a while she said nothing. Then she asked the question that had gnawed at her since the storm drove her down. "Prince Atticus. What kingdom is this? I flew blind through the storm. I do not know where the wind carried me." He sheathed the sword and sat across from her. "You truly do not know?" He studied her, then nodded once. "You are far south of the pine forests. This is the last stone castle before the western coast. The sea beyond our cliffs faces Allorie." Willowyn's breath caught. Allorie. The very kingdom whose king and queen were at the golden castle of Rose watch. "You know them," Atticus said, reading her face. "I have unfinished business with their crowns," she said. She stood. Her hands were steady now. She was no longer lost, and she was no longer running. "How far is Rose-Watch from this land?" "A day by ship in fair weather," he said. "Less on a dragon." Willowyn looked toward the tall window where rain still streaked the glass. The storm would break by morning. Now she knew exactly where she stood, and exactly where she had to go.