The Firethorn Crown Read Free Page A

warn you.”
    Lily hugged her tight. She had nothing to be sorry for. Guarding was part of the game, a made-up role for the two sisters frightened of the maze’s darkness. They were never meant to actually stop anyone from entering. “Okay now?”
    Ivy nodded and sniffled.
    Lily wiped the tears with her thumb, smudging a bit of dirt onto Ivy’s cheek. “Don’t worry about it. I can take care of Lord Runny.” She hoped.
    Ivy smiled weakly at the unladylike nickname. She tolerated her sisters’ attempts to help her feel better, but no one could do anything for the headaches. When it got bad, Ivy curled into a ball and covered her head. The healers had never been able to find a cause or a cure.
    “Did you see the mirror?” Azure balanced on a flat rock near the hedge, arms out to the side like a bird soaring, a mirror image of Ivy. Not identical, but close. Azure’s dark waves framed a curious face, freckled and rosy from her time outdoors, her energy almost visible on her skin. Ivy’s dark hair was just as wavy, her face just as freckled, but her blue eyes remained guarded. Her energy hidden.
    Lily helped Ivy stand. “I saw it.” She hesitated, waiting to see if anyone else spoke up.
    “Coral did, too.” Melantha jumped to her feet.
    “It was ugly,” Coral said.
    “We don’t want to know what you saw in the mirror.”
    Coral stuck her tongue out at Melantha.
    Apparently, they hadn’t seen the strange corridor.
    Eben cleared his throat and tipped his chin towards the stone path that led to the main gardens.
    A maid hastened past the rhododendrons, her pace quickening when she picked out Lily in the crowd. She stuttered to a stop so close their skirts brushed together and bobbed a quick curtsy. “Your Highness, the queen wants you in the king’s study at once.”
    The king’s study? Mother only used the king’s study when Father was away.
    “Has anything happened, Viv?”
    “Not here, Your Highness. There’s been something with the razors down south.”
    Razor-tail dragons. The reason for the Dragon Festival. Hundreds of years later, the kingdoms still remembered the Dragon Wars, still celebrated Ituria’s soldier-king who had united them against a common enemy, restoring peace to lands that had been ravaged by dragons and greed.
    This razor pack must have been especially vicious. Father would have taken a large portion of the dragon guard with him.
    But not Eben. Not anymore. His eyes grew vacant, watching memories of the guard marching in black and gold towards the enemy. Did he miss it? The excitement and adventure? The danger?
    She’d been secretly glad of the injury he’d suffered three years ago that had ended his leaving on monthly patrols. He’d made a place for himself here, after his recovery, and he’d risen to be the youngest member of the royal guard. He knew, as did all the girls, that they could do nothing to help Father from this distance.
    Rapid footsteps sounded along the path. Another maid appeared from behind a pomegranate tree, sending an unripe fruit spinning to the ground. She stopped next to Viv, clutching the girl’s arm as she dipped in a lopsided curtsy.
    “The prince.” The maid took a few breaths and cast a wary glance at the looming hedge. “The prince is arriving early. You have to get to the palace.”
    The girls on the ground scrambled to their feet.
    The prince was Holic, of course, Second Prince of Osha, their closest neighbor, and, according to Mother, the most eligible man at this year’s Dragon Festival. Mother had grown up in and near the Oshan capitol, and she’d met some of the royal family, but none of the girls had ever met either of Osha’s two princes. If Holic was here, Mother wouldn’t be in the king’s study. Lily would have to wait to find out what she wanted, and apparently, to talk to Father about Runson’s attempted proposal.
    “How close?”
    “Just past the city gates.”
    “Thank you.” She nodded her dismissal.
    The entrance to