"What's that?" she asks.

"I'd like you to train me. I'd like to work for you." If the only way I could pay my servants is from my own funds, then I need a job.

She laughs, then stops when she realizes I'm serious. "Oh. Well, I already have an apprentice." As if being summoned by his title, a wiry boy of no more than eleven runs in, out of breath and full of news.

"Mistress Kayla! You'll never guess what I heard at Stonehill Inn." The apprentice has green hair the color of spring grass, with matching eyes and long, pointy ears. I can't tell if he's full Fae or a Shade, but my guess is a Shade. He's scrawny, and I'm trying to imagine him lifting the equipment required to work with metal the way Kayla does, but it's a hard mental image to latch onto.

"Daison, you know I don't like you hanging around there. It's not good for one your age."

He rolls his eyes in such typical kid fashion I can't help but grin. "I'm old enough," he says, puffing out his chest. "Besides, how do you think I'm getting you all the rich customers?"

Kayla laughs. "I'm pretty sure my reputation has a little something to do with it. But do tell, what is this amazing news I'm not going to believe?"

"The new Princess they brought in is going to be on display for the Princes, and some of the lads in town want to try to crash so they can get a better look at her. She'll be all dressed up fancy-like."

I'm assuming I'm the Princess in question, but this is news to me. Kayla looks surprised too, and glances at me with a frown. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

I shrug. "Not a clue."

Kayla looks back at her apprentice. "Daison, I'd like you to meet Princess Arianna, guest of Prince Fenris. Princess, this is my speaks-before-thinking apprentice, Daison."

I bite my lip to stop a laugh as his jaw drops open in shock. He lowers his head and bows. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I didn't realize."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Call me Ari. And don't worry about it. It was an honest mistake."

His pale face turns bright red and he mumbles some excuse about picking up more iron, then darts out of the smithy so fast I barely see him run.

Kayla sighs. "He's a good lad, but so very young. It's hard to remember being that age."

"I'm confused about something," I say. "I don't see any old people here, though some, like the Keeper, look old, until you look at their face. And there are children. I've seen them around the city."

"Vampires can't breed with full vampires," she explains. "They need Shades or Fae, or even humans, to breed. And once those children grow to full adulthood, they essentially stop aging physically. For the Fae, the older we get, the whiter our hair becomes. Fae with white hair are deeply respected as elders. It takes several hundreds of years or longer to achieve their look."

So would I be considered a full vampire after I take the Blood Oath, I wondered? If so, how does that work with giving one of the princes an heir?

I want to ask more questions, but Kayla walks back to her forge and uses tongs to pick up a chunk of metal and heat it over the fire. She uses the mallet to bang on the steel, molding it into a sword. "So why do you want to work for me?"

"I need a purpose here beyond just being the princess who must choose the next king," I explain. "I've always worked hard. And... I want to be able to make my own sword, when the time comes."

She eyes me skeptically. "This isn't easy work. It requires physical strength, attention to detail and patience."

"All I'm asking for is a chance."

"You don't start out making swords. You start out sweeping," she says, holding a broom out to me.

I take it and begin sweeping.

***

Days pass. I spend early mornings training with Fen in sword, hand-to-hand combat and anything else I can get him to teach me. I spend the day working at the forge with Kayla and Daison. The boy seems thrilled to have an adult to boss around, and delights in his new raised status even as he blushes and becomes unbalanced each time I walk into the room. There, I spend my time sweeping, putting away tools, cleaning rust off devices and putting them away, cleaning the forge, hauling stock, fuel and water, whatever I'm told to do. It's back-breaking work, and by the end of the day I am exhausted, but I still manage to spend most evenings in the library with Kal, learning what I can about the history of the world in which I now live.

Each night during dinner I pepper Fen with questions, which he always answers with increasing worry in his eyes.

My body is growing stronger. I am getting more experienced with the fighting techniques Fen has been training me in, and I am actually starting to enjoy my life in Stonehill.

I'd nearly forgotten about the odd bit of information Daison first brought to us about me being put on display for the princes until Fen brings it up over dinner.

"You will need a dress," he says. "Perhaps Asher can help with this."

I laugh. "No, I can manage. I'll talk to Kayla about it tomorrow. But what do I need it for?"

He shifts uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes glancing away from me. "I have been informed you are to be presented to the princes in half a fortnight, so they can all meet you. It seems some have been grumbling that they have not had a chance to set eyes on you and this gives them a disadvantage in your selection."

The real disadvantage is how fast I'm falling for the man in front of me, but I say nothing. I can tell he's trying to keep his distance from me, even as he keeps me safe and trains me.