Cool air whipped around her body, and the moon shone brightly above as she walked along the street to the tavern where she was supposed to meet Grevik. She loved it here. Loved the bustling city, loved the people scurrying about, and loved the smells and sounds. All the chaos drove her mother crazy sometimes. Rema needed open land, which was why the empress relocated the capital from Emperor’s City near the Great Ocean to the town of Lakeside in the middle of Emperion. Even though this city was significantly smaller, there were still hundreds of shops and plenty to see. Her mother had chosen this location because it was surrounded by low, rolling green hills and a forest about a mile away. It reminded Rema of her home, Greenwood Island. Often times, Allyssa would find her mother standing on top of the castle late at night, staring out at the open land.
Allyssa, on the other hand, adored Lakeside. She was thankful the castle had been built right next to it, and that every front-facing window had a clear view of the city.
Before entering the tavern, Allyssa quickly made sure her hair was combed back the way commoners wore their hair. She’d already removed all her dusting powder and smeared some dirt on her face. Opening the door to the Boar’s Head Tavern, she immediately spotted Grevik sitting at a table in the center of the room with two cups of ale in front of him.
“Lilly, where have you been?” he asked.
She slid onto the chair across from him and rubbed her face. “Sorry I’m late. I got held up.”
He shook his head. “You’re always held up.” He shoved one of the mugs toward her. “Luckily for you, I’m used to it.” He wiggled his eyebrows and flashed a smile before taking a drink.
“What’s on the agenda for tonight?” she asked. He clasped his hands around his mug, no longer looking at her. “What is it?” she demanded.
Grevik sighed. “I got my orders today. I got my first choice—City Guard.”
“Oh.” Orders. She’d forgotten that since he was sixteen, he had to choose his profession. Allyssa looked at her dear friend, remembering the first night she’d ever snuck out of the castle. She’d been twelve years old at the time and had wanted to escape from the sniveling, conniving, back-stabbing girls at court. She hated them all. They only pretended to be her friend because of her position.
Donning a servant girl’s dress that Allyssa had found in the laundry room, along with a knit hat that hid her hair, she had gone into the city. She had never been outside the castle’s outer wall on her own before, but she’d been out plenty of times with her parents and guards. Having a general idea of where the market and most of the businesses were located, she headed in that direction, wanting to blend in with the shoppers. As she passed a dark alley, a man stepped out from the shadows with a nasty gleam in his eyes. He approached and demanded she hand over any money she had. A City Guard was patrolling the street only a few feet away from her. She called out for his assistance, and he rushed over, scaring the man off. The guard asked if he could escort her home, and she started crying, afraid her parents would discover what she’d done. When he couldn’t calm her down, he took her home to his wife so she could help locate her parents. Since no one expected the princess to be roaming the streets on her own at night and she was disguised as commoner, no one recognized her.
When Allyssa walked into the small, cozy apartment, she met a boy about her age—Grevik. He asked her to play a game of cards and she stopped crying, gladly accepting the challenge. The guard went back to work, and the mother allowed the two children to play. Allyssa beat Grevik twice. When he questioned her about her parents and where she lived, Allyssa lied. She told him her parents owned a small business nearby.
Grevik made her promise to come back—he’d never lost to a girl before and he wanted the chance to beat her. She agreed to return, and she started sneaking out of the castle every evening after supper to visit her new friend. She would slip into Grevik’s apartment, and they’d stay up all night, playing cards and talking.
But everything changed when Grevik’s father was murdered.
He was on duty one night when he came upon two men fighting. He shoved his body between the men, separating them. One of the men withdrew a dagger and plunged it into his back. The two men ran away while Grevik’s father died on the street with only an elderly woman as a witness.
Grevik swore he’d join the City Guard one day in order to put criminals, like the ones who killed his father, behind bars. Allyssa thought he’d make a fine guard, but she had an idea for something they could both do until he was old enough to claim his profession. It was she who suggested they track down thieves at night. They were almost thirteen years old and if they worked together, there was no reason they couldn’t capture criminals and make a positive change now. Luckily, Allyssa already knew how to fight, and Grevik had some basic skills his father had taught him. Together, they made a formidable pair. So it was on that horrible night, the night Grevik’s father was murdered, that the two friends swore an oath to fight side by side in an attempt to make a difference in the city.