Chapter 1
The sound of blades against blade rang out through the war deep within the mountains nestled in the Northern Kingdom. Reyna, daughter and heir to its King And Queen, leaped and circled around the mud packed training rings as the warmth of the spring day, even within mountains, made the hair that escaped her dark braid plaster against her sweat-soaked bow. Even the material of her thin shirt clung to the chest and back, having discarded her leather jacket over an hour ago. Her leg barked in pain as she moved, but she would not stop-- not when she was facing Theesan, her father's General, in that ring, circling across from her
And especially not when her father and mother were observing them from the outskirts.
Rikard, King of Nothern Kingdom, remained adamant against sending his firstborn to the camps and the mountain, and even in their recent correspondence and conversations, Reyna felt as though she was still in denial as to how quickly the time went by. She felt his icy gaze as he stood from outside the sparring ring with Queen Feith , daughter of the Eastern Kingdom by his side. With every clammer of her blade against Thessan's , Reyna knew he still wondered whether or not allowing her to come to train here was in her best interest.
It had taken some serious argument with Feith on Reyna's behalf to allow Rikard to be sent to camp. The please of the two most important women in his life must have eventually weakened his resolve, for the King
finally conceded. Still Reyna set off to war camp far later than most warrior younglings were shipped off for training . And of course, the King wouldn't subject her to mercy of just any camp's leaders like other childrens either- in this he stationed Thessan at the same camp indefinitely.
That his General and his daughter happened to reside at the camp was insisted to be merely coincidence, but Reyna knew better. She knew how honorable and devoted Thessan was to her father and their Kingdom. She'd never have a true ally on him, not when he was no more than a glorified babysitter.
So the King and Queen continued to visit their daughters as years went on. Reyna knew if Rikard he would have found an excuse for permanent residence within the camp, and thanked her mother often for assisting in diverting him from doing so.
And even though used such visits to tend to matters that required his attention while he was present, he made time to watch Reyna as trained
