It all started when Uncle decided to hold a joust in honor of my return and in Count Torne’s memory. I would have offered him two barrels of moonshine for the latter, but nobody had asked me. Instead, Uncle told us the good news in a rather cringe-worthy tone. “Andre, Alex, there will be a joust in ten days. I hope you won’t disgrace our family’s honor?” “Of course, Father.” In public, Andre played the role of a dutiful son. “As you command, Uncle.” “Come on, boys. Doesn’t it make you happy?” “We’ll be overjoyed,” I said passionately. Both Tommy and Rene reacted the same way to the news about the joust—by swearing like a sailor at my uncle. Fair enough; a joust required a set of armor, a weapon, a horse... Getting them just ten days before a tournament, when half the capital was doing the very same, seemed impossible. Could one participate without that? One could. But judging by Abigail’s warm smile, there was going to

Should I even mention that nobody noticed me? I didn’t interrogate Chartreuse’s spirit that night, and the next morning, things got really messy.The marquise woke up in the same bed as a corpse and started screaming bloody murder, drawing the attention of the entire palace, including her husband, who pulled her out of Chartreuse’s bed by her hair, slapped her, and dragged her to their room.Alas, he didn’t make it, getting apprehended by the guards, who took the lady away. After all, she could have been the murderer. Abigail was weeping over her brother’s body, Chartreuse the elder was wiping a few tears from his face, while the rest of the family watched, and I was in stitches. It was a hoot.The bolt was the same. I remember it. It’s a conspiracy. First me, then the queen’s brother, who’s next?I’m so afraid.We need to assign guards to everyone—Uncle, Auntie, the cousins. This is a dis

I liked Altverin—an old castle of huge grey stones, sharp spires, roofs of scarlet as if stained with blood, and ivy that climbed up the walls. It was a breathtaking sight. Inside, however... Is this noble poverty?Yeah, right.More like utter destitution. Still, everything was scrubbed so clean that you could see your reflection in the stone walls—not a fleck of dusk, not a cobweb. There were half a score of servants, all looking like they were forced to wear corsets. As for the steward, Sharen Clate was a tall, silver-haired man in his fifties who welcomed us on the doorstep of the castle, bread and salt in his hands. I broke off a snug of bread, like I was supposed to, and ate it, pretending I was content. I didn’t really want to start acting up before I knew what was what.The bread was the cheapest one could find, grey coarse flour with lumps—at royal court, they wouldn’t even feed the dogs with such stuff.And then the

The fourth act was started in the prison. I broke the lock and set my people free. Their reactions varied, from Tommy’s friendly and worried.“Are you all right, Alex?” to a guardsman’s respectful and admiring.“Your Highness!”I shrugged and clapped Tommy on the shoulder. Apparently, that annoying gesture was contagious.“You couldn’t break me if you threw me against the wall. Do you think that a bandit castle is worse?”Tommy calmed down and started to smile. Rene, however, was looking around in surprise.“Alex, how did you manage to do that?”“I can be quite persuasive sometimes.”He was surprised even more when he saw bodies scattered across halls and corridors, their faces frozen with horrified expressions.Everyone was dead... or mostly everyone. Some had simply gone mad, two or even three people.“Alex, how the hell did you

I left them right there. I checked her dress, just in case, but I didn’t find anything. My note stayed inside the carriage, as well as the princess’ dress.What happened to the clothes I had bought for her? Well, I was a fire mage, after all. I burned them three alleys away, quickly and efficiently, leaving only ashes.I still felt no guilt. I hadn’t even taken any of her baubles. All her rings, bracelets, earrings, even her tiara. As for the rest, why would I feel sorry for her? Because she was innocent? I did her a favor, then.A martyr’s death was a sure way to heaven. One could only rejoice for her—while I was left to clean up the mess. How was I supposed to act? Have sex with her? If she had been faithful to her husband, she would have survived, make no mistake.I’m not trying to justify myself. Ruthina had pushed me over the edge, and if I could challenge men to duels, why would women be exempt from punishment? Even if they had royal blood. If she hadn’t wanted to stray, she cou