met someone and felt like you might spend day and night with them and never know who they really are?”
Lydia had spent her life surrounded by politicians. There was nothing she knew better. “I know the sort.”
“I’ll let you form your own opinions, though.” Lena smiled. “Tomorrow, you get to be my shadow.”
* * *
With the sun barely above the distant horizon, Lydia walked with the other young women toward the palace, Lena filling her ears with instructions as they went, almost all of it related to manners and protocol. The sword she’d been provided hung from the sturdy belt holding up her snug trousers, the weight comforting despite the fact that she had no idea how to use it. Same for the knife sheathed on the opposite side of her waist.
“Technically, the captain is in command of us,” Lena said. “But Bercola is the one who manages the day-to-day, including our training. She’s a giant.” Casting a sideways glance at Lydia, the other girl asked, “Have you ever met a giant?”
Lydia’s guts swirled with trepidation, because she had met this particular giant. And she rather thought there was no chance at all that Bercola wouldn’t recognize her. Silently, she cursed Killian for abandoning her without appropriate instruction. This was his insane plan, and yet she’d seen neither hide nor hair of him since the prior day. “I haven’t,” she lied.
“I hadn’t, either, though I’ve heard there are more of them in the South. I’d always heard they were quick to temper, but Bercola isn’t too bad.”
“Just don’t do anything stupid,” Gwen chimed in. “Bercola doesn’t have any time for foolishness.”
They rounded a corner, and the palace came into view, partially hidden behind a stone wall that stood perhaps fifteen feet high. The two aged men standing inside the gates eased them open at the sight of the women. Beyond was a lane paved with grey stone that split and encircled a lawn that contained miniature versions of the towers of the god circle at the center of the city. The lawn was bordered with stone planters, but the crimson flowers within them were wilted and dying, though whether it was from neglect or the cold Lydia couldn’t say.
The palace itself was a two-story affair made of the same solid grey blocks as the rest of the city, the vast structure curved in a half-moon shape. Wide steps led up to a twin set of solid wood doors, the planks reinforced with steel, but the guardswomen ignored them in favor of a narrow path leading them to a small side entrance.
Inside, the corridor was dark and narrow, lit by dripping candles set into sconces on the walls. It smelled like tallow, woodsmoke, and of something cooking, and Lydia could faintly hear the clatter of a kitchen preparing itself for the day.
They took a narrow staircase up to the second level, and it was as though Lydia were stepping into an entirely different building as they made their way out into the wide vaulted corridor. The floors were intricate parquet layered with elaborate woven carpets. The plastered walls were framed with polished wood that gleamed from the sun shining through windows set high on the walls, the building cunningly designed to allow natural light into the corridor despite it being enclosed by rooms on both sides.
Lydia’s boots sank into the carpet as she followed Lena, taking in the gilt-framed pieces of artwork hanging on the walls. Ahead of them, the corridor was closed off by a heavy door, which was flanked by two guardswomen, one of whom Lydia recognized as Sonia. The young woman’s hazel eyes warmed at the sight of them.
“How was the night?” Gwen asked.
“Quiet.” Sonia proceeded to give Gwen a detailed report of the evening, but as they were talking, Lena stepped to Lydia’s side. “They tend to be a late-to-rise sort, so we’ll likely be doing little more than standing right here for the next couple hours.”
“Does the Princess often leave the palace?”
“Rarely. Her ladies are responsible for doing her good works in the city, but even they hardly venture out anymore.” Lena’s mouth curved up in a smile. “It can be very boring work.”
“Then you, at least, will be pleased with Her Highness’s plans for the day.”
Lydia jumped and turned to find Bercola standing behind her, the giantess having come out while the other girls entered to relieve their counterparts.
“Good morning, Bercola.” Lena smiled widely. “How is my largest and most favorite ray of sunshine on