Winterbourne's Daughter Read online

  Table of Contents

  Winterbourne's Daughter

  Book Details

  Part One

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Part Two

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  About the Author

  WINTERBOURNE’S

  daughter

  stephanie rabig

  When her parents are overthrown, Lisette is demoted from princess to servant. Refusing to stop caring for her people simply because she's no longer royalty, Lisette cooperates with the new royal mistress, Emeline, to smuggle people out of the castle.

  She also befriends the champion of the deathfights, and finds herself in the unusual—and impossible—situation of falling in love with both of them. Before she can sort the matter out, however, an assassination attempts sends her fleeing for her life—with the new queen's fearsome huntsman close on her heels…

  Winterbourne's Daughter

  By Stephanie Rabig

  Published by Less Than Three Press LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.

  Edited by Tracey Pennington and Emilia Vane

  Cover designed by Natasha Snow

  This book is a work of fiction and all names, characters, places, and incidents are fictional or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.

  February Edition Month 2017

  Copyright © 2016 by Stephanie Rabig

  Printed in the United States of America

  Digital ISBN 9781620049228

  Print ISBN 9781620049235

  Part One

  Chapter One

  "Renat, look at her," Miruna whispered. "Please."

  Lisette gave Renat her most winning smile, though part of her wanted to just run back to her room. This conversation seemed far too intense for a simple debate about whether or not she could sneak out to go exploring. "Please?" she echoed.

  "If they realize I've allowed this―"

  "They won't," Miruna said. "And if I am caught, I won't say a word against you. I swear it."

  Renat finally nodded and unlocked the gate. "Go. Hurry."

  "We will!" Lisette said. She spun in a circle as soon as they were past the gate, trying to look everywhere at once. She'd never been past the Wall before. Granted, she would be out here later in the year once her tenth birthday arrived, but when Miruna had offered her the chance to explore Vedrana's Forest, she hadn't been able to turn it down.

  It was cool enough at night now that neither of them looked out of place wearing their light cloaks. They might have been just a grandmother and granddaughter out for a walk, and the thought almost made her start skipping. "Do you know who Vedrana's Forest is named for?" she asked.

  "I believe I heard the story when I was a child, but that's been a long time ago now," her caretaker said, giving her a smile.

  "It was named for one of our first queens! She was a fighter first, and she won every Arena battle she ever competed in. She was so good she even got the queen's notice, and the two of them married!"

  "And did they live happily ever after?" Miruna asked.

  "Nooo," Lisette admitted. "Queen Floriane was just fine with staying in the castle and ruling Winterbourne from there, but Queen Vedrana wanted to explore the forest and find a way through to the other side. Winterbourne used to trade with people on the other side of the forest, you know. There are a whole lot of stories about how there aren't even people on the other side anymore, that the forest took over everything, but I think that's silly. Otherwise we would've been taken over, too. Anyway, Vedrana went to explore, even though Floriane begged her not to. She went on a whole lot of expeditions and brought back some amazing things, but then one time her expedition never came back. Queen Floriane waited and waited for her, but once she realized Vedrana was never coming home, she named the forest after her."

  Lisette looked around, waving at a villager who'd nodded to her in greeting. "How much farther?" she asked.

  "About a mile. Maybe less."

  Lisette groaned. She didn't know how far a mile was, but it sounded like a long way. "Are you sure we'll be back before my mother and fathers realize we're gone?"

  "I'm sure."

  Maybe a mile wasn't so far after all. Still, Lisette wished she'd been able to bring her armorhart with her.

  It was hard to believe that Helia was actually big enough to ride now. She'd picked her out of the stables when Helia was a baby, still wobbly-legged and awkward.

  Now Helia stood shoulder-height to Miruna, and Lisette rode her for almost an hour every day. When she was older, Father Nazar might change his mind and let her groom Helia and clean her stall―she was Helia's owner, after all, she wanted to take care of her―but right now he said she was too little and besides, that was a job for the handservants.

  She should have tried to bring her along. It would've been a nice reward for Helia.

  "Look at how small the houses are!" she said, and Miruna grabbed her arm when she started to point. "And they're so close together! Does every family own several?"

  "Not exactly, Princess."

  Lisette frowned up at her. "Surely they don't live in only one? Such space isn't enough for one person, let alone a family."

  "That can be discussed later," she said, looking behind them for the fourth time in as many minutes.

  "Will you really get in so much trouble if we're caught?" Lisette asked. "I'll tell mother and fathers that it was my idea to go."

  "I would be in a great deal of trouble, yes," she said. "But you love stories of Vedrana's Forest. I consider this worth it."

  "Thank you, Miruna."

  "You're welcome," she said, and then nodded ahead of them. "There. We're within sight of it now."

  Lisette couldn't stop herself; she raced forward. Miruna hissed at her to wait, but she ran on, skidding to a stop near the edge of the great forest, her slippered feet starting to sink into the soft ground.

  She stared up in awe. The trees reached to the heavens, lush and green and tangled with vines. The smell of the place was earthy and muggy and just wonderful, and Lisette nearly shook with the need to go in.

  Miruna caught up with her then, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Did you know there are people who live in there?"

  "Really?" she gasped.

  "Mmm-hm. Hunters and fishers. They live a short distance inside and then peddle their wares at the markets. You might run into them."

  "Oh, I hope so!" she said. She'd love to hear stories from people who'd actually spent time in here rather than wild tales, as entertaining as those were. She started to take a step in and then glanced back at Miruna, who had retreated. "Aren't you coming?"

  "Soon," she said, reaching under her cloak and taking out a bundle of white cloth strips. "You explore as much as you like, but tie one of these around a tree or group of vines every so often. I'll keep watch here and make sure we weren't followed."

  Lisette grinned, looking at the dark, tangled expanse before her. Then she threw her arms around Miruna's waist. Father Thibault would have a conniption―he thought the only reason handservants should touch them was to lac
e up their clothes―but as he wasn't here, she couldn't make herself worry overmuch. "Thank you."

  "You're welcome," she said.

  "Are you all right?" Lisette asked. She'd sounded like she was about to cry.

  "Of course," she said, her voice steady once more. Lisette wanted to look up at her and make sure she was telling her the truth, but the law that no handservants or bondservants were allowed to look royalty in the eye was a longstanding rule that went back far past her parents' time, and she was afraid of breaking it.

  "Good," she said, her concern quickly overridden by the knowledge that she was wasting time. She took the proffered fabric strips and turned toward Vedrana's Forest. Though part of her wanted to race inside, she forced herself to take the first few steps slowly, relishing how the very air changed.

  It was cool out in the villages but immediately warmer in here. The air was damp and thick and she bounded forward, barely remembering to tie her first fabric strip onto a nearby dangling vine.

  Clutching onto the base of that vine was a multi-legged insect. It glowed pale orange, and Lisette knelt down to get a closer look, realizing her mistake an instant later when her knees grew damp with mud.

  She would have to get the shoes cleaned, she thought, and ask Miruna to hurry this dress to the bondservants before her mother and fathers saw it.

  It didn't matter now, however. Was this a common type of bug out here, something the residents of the forest saw every day? Or was it something not yet discovered? So much about this place was unknown, after all. It was no wonder that a plethora of scary stories had sprung up around it.

  However curious she was, Lisette knew better than to touch the bug. For all she knew, it could be poisonous.

  After staring at it for a few seconds longer, fixing its image in her mind, Lisette got to her feet and moved on.

  She could hear something―birds? Animals?―whistling and squawking farther up in the trees. Lisette wished she could climb up and investigate, but neither her shoes nor her dress would allow that.

  Patches of moonlight shone through here and there, and she skipped from one to the other, tying fabric strips and peering around wherever there was enough light to clearly see by. She wondered if it would be any different exploring this place during the day; if sunlight would be able to penetrate anywhere that the moonlight couldn't.

  Probably not. Everything she'd read about Vedrana's Forest described it as a den of midnight, even on the brightest day. Having grown up in the palace, where windows let in every available bit of daylight and closely-spaced torches and rushlights illuminated every hallway brightly once the sun fell, this place was fascinating.

  Perhaps it would be all right if she stayed out just a little longer than half an hour.

  Lisette turned to see how far in she'd gone. Her eyes widened when she saw every single one of her fabric strips wrapped around the same slender tree trunk.

  *~*~*

  Miruna hadn't said a thing about this possibility. She'd been the guard outside Lisette's room since the day she'd been born; had helped care for her when her parents had been busy with the workings of the Kingdom; had read her bedtime stories on the nights when her mother―so very heavy with child now―had been too exhausted to do so. Why wouldn't she warn her of this particular danger?

  She surely hadn't known about it, Lisette thought. Miruna believed the stories about Vedrana's Forest were simply the work of people's overactive imaginations. She never would have brought her out here otherwise.

  But where was she now? Lisette had shouted Miruna's name repeatedly, to no avail.

  Had Miruna abandoned her? Had Miruna been planning to abandon her the entire time?

  "Hello?" she called, walking back the way she'd come. At least, she thought it was the way. "Who's there? Miruna? Please come out; this is not funny in the slightest."

  A giggle was her only answer. It was soft, high-pitched, and might've been a child's laugh. But Lisette suddenly knew it was no child, wasn't even human, and she dropped the rocks and berries she'd meant to keep as mementos from her adventure, gathered bunches of her long skirt in her fists, and ran.

  "Luci―sorry. Lisette?"

  "I'm here!" she called, running toward the sound of the voice. Then she hesitated, just for a second, because what if some thing was out here, and it knew her name somehow and it was calling her and―

  Then she felt something brush the back of her neck, and maybe it was a tree branch, hopefully it was a tree branch, but it certainly felt like claws and Lisette raced toward the voice again, shrieking for help.

  She charged out of the woods and into the sunlight, and immediately someone caught hold of her. Her neatly-trimmed nails raked at his face and arms, and then she realized that he wasn't a thing from the forest, wasn't a threat, she knew him. The Huntsman.

  "Stanimir?"

  "Gave yourself a fright out there, didn't you?" he asked. She nodded―it was so much easier to believe that she'd imagined a giggle, that a branch had simply touched her skin, now that she was away from the trees―and then she saw the look in his eyes. Not humor at the way she'd torn out of the forest; not relief at having found her safe. He was afraid.

  "What is it?" she asked.

  He didn't answer. Looked away from her. "So. What're you doing all the way out here?"

  "I wanted to see Vedrana's Forest for myself."

  "You had to've had help," Stanimir said. "There's no chance you could've gotten past the Wall alone."

  Lisette crossed her arms. Maybe Miruna had abandoned her but maybe not. She wouldn't say a word against her until she knew what had happened. "No. She was being nice and I don't want her to be in trouble."

  "She won't be in trouble. I promise. Who... whoever it was did the right thing."

  "Huntsman," she whispered, because she couldn't keep her voice strong if she raised it; he still wouldn't look at her and he should be utterly furious that she was out here and instead he told her that Miruna had done the right thing? "What happened?"

  "There was a coup," he said quietly. "Your mother and Father Thibault are gone."

  Lisette took a deep breath, then another. So he was angry, after all. This was a punishment. It had to be. "I know I shouldn't have come out here, but that is no reason to play a trick this cruel!"

  "It is no trick, my prince. My princess," he corrected. "I'm sorry."

  Lisette shook her head, looked to the ground. He shouldn't sound so serious, not when discussing something that had to be a lie.

  Father Thibault had told her that he would teach her how to use a bow and arrow tomorrow after the midday meal. Mother Thekla had told her that once the baby was born, she could name him or her. ("What about the second name?" she'd asked eagerly. "What if the baby ends up with a second name, just like me?" "Well, you chose yours," her mother had said. "So the baby can choose a second one, if need be.")

  They couldn't be gone.

  But she couldn't help remembering the desperation in Miruna's voice as she'd argued with the guard. That it had been her suggestion to explore Vedrana's Forest...

  No.

  "Miruna," she began, her voice choking on the word. She gave herself a moment, tried to compose her thoughts. "Miruna knew, then," she finally managed.

  "Yes."

  "Did you?"

  "I knew there was unrest. I had heard of the possibility, particularly with the upcoming war. I didn't know it would happen so―I'm sorry," he repeated, and she suddenly knew that he had been privy to so much more than he'd admitted. He had known of the betrayal. Had known when it would happen. And though he might not have wished to get blood on his hands himself, neither had he had the courage to act and protect any of them. He'd known when Mother Thekla and Father Thibault would be―

  "Please don't," the Huntsman said, and only then did she realize she was crying.

  Lisette turned away from him, taking what privacy she could until she managed to calm herself. Wiping the tears off her face, she spoke quietly. "What o
f Miruna?"

  "She was killed," Stanimir said.

  "How?"

  "You are a child yet," he said, shifting his weight uncomfortably. "You do not need details as to―"

  "I asked you how!"

  "She went to your mother's chambers. Tried to block the door. She was run through."

  "And... and my mother?"

  "No. I will not speak to you of that."

  There was honest determination on his face now, and she realized that he spoke the truth. "And Father Nazar? Did he escape?"

  "He orchestrated the coup. He holds the throne now."

  She closed her eyes, and when the Huntsman spoke next he was crouched down in front of her. "Princess. Your father will spare your life if you swear him allegiance. If you have cause to believe otherwise, I can say I never found you. You could―"

  "No. Winterbourne is my home. I will not be driven away by that... that murderous wretch."

  "Be careful. He is your king."

  *~*~*

  "There is a chance he will have me killed. Isn't there?"

  Stanimir shook his head, the motion so quick that Lisette wondered if he truly believed that answer, or if he just wanted to reassure her. Keep her calm right up until she was sent to Grisha's dungeons.

  He needn't worry about that. She was calm.

  No, not calm, precisely. She just couldn't seem to feel anything. They had been walking for over an hour now, but ever since Lisette had made the decision to return home, she had barely been able to gather the will to speak. She'd just trudged along beside the Huntsman, one foot in front of the other, knowing that she was likely heading towards and yet unable to make herself care.

  It was horrible of her, she was certain, that she couldn't even call up any more tears. There had been some, back at Vedrana's Forest. But they had dried quickly, leaving nothing in their place.

  Her mother was dead. One of her fathers was dead. And she couldn't even cry for them.

  She tried to focus on things that would draw out the mourning they deserved―thought of how her mother had surely begged, how terrified she must have been in her last moments. Thought of how Father Thibault would have screamed for her mother, would have asked for her life to be spared at least. Thought of the little one who would never draw breath.