Chapter One

Neffa walked through the palace, close to the wall. She kept her head down and focused on what she was carrying. The thudding of hard heels warned her, and she stopped and pressed herself to the wall before she would be run over. The son of the house strode past on his way to the king's quarters.

Damn it. She hoped that he was quick. His father didn't need to be getting upset right now.

When he passed, she checked the hall and remained in place as the king's mistress flounced past. She liked to move silently and catch the servants unaware. Her temper was legendary, as was her bitch status.

Neffa waited until the woman in the elaborate robes had slithered around the corner and began her calm steps to the king's recovery chamber.

Six weeks. She had been six weeks away from being a doctor with offers to travel the stars. Six weeks before her classes ended, her scholarship from the palace had been cancelled, and the university had kicked her out on her ass, sending her home. She was a registered Keedon. There was no way for her to pay her fees without help from the palace, and the palace had cancelled her funding. No businesses would hire one of her kind, so she had to make her way home. That had been a whole other issue.

Neffa nodded to the guards that she passed and the other servants that went by in the hallways. The thing about an indentured population was that labour was cheap and trapped.

The Keedon were a species who had the bad taste to be travelling in the vicinity over thirty years ago, and when the Orumel destroyed their engines, they made this world their home and were put to work.

Neffa was a halfbreed. Part Orumel, part Keedon, but her alien blood made her ineligible for any position other than manual labour. Her mother's position as an herbalist in the township had given Neffa a leg up, but her job opportunities ended at the palace as an attendant to the recovery chamber.

She walked to the king's chamber and opened the door. The prince and mistress looked at her with scowls, but the king gave her a wide smile. "Neffa. I was wondering what was keeping you."

"Traffic in the halls, Your Majesty. Are you ready for your treatment?"

The king was sitting up in bed, a bed robe over his shoulders and his legs covered by the bedclothes.

She walked to the side of his bed that was open and asked him, "May I proceed?"

He flipped the bedding back, and his mistress gasped. "Really? Can't this wait until later?"

"Pree-ath, I need this to continue to heal. You are not here for your conversation anyway. Remain quiet."

Neffa's eyes widened, but she kept her face straight as she tucked a long towel under the wound she was there to treat.

The mistress huffed and remained silent.

Neffa worked as the prince asked, "Why is that creature here?"

The king snorted. "She's the best healer in the area. She's going to be her family's first official doctor."

Neffa tensed and looked at him in confusion. "No, Your Majesty, I am not."

King Arewen looked at her. "Did you flunk out?"

"No, Your Majesty. My funding was cancelled before I could complete the courses. I was ejected."

Prince Orvalik cleared his throat. "I assessed her class history and determined that the scholarship was a waste of resources."

Well, that explained it. Orvalik had been in the same classes as she had, and she had been moved up two years. He had always come first until she was taking the same tests with him. That had been a rock into his ego.

She kept working on the king while he shouted at his son.

The stitches were holding, and his trip down the cliff face hadn't done him any harm aside from the ten-inch gash on his thigh.

She applied the poultice that would heal his skin in another day or so. She wiped her hands and packed up her bottles and cloths. "Your Majesty, keep your voice down. You are recovering and have other courtiers to shout at."

The king drew in a deep breath and looked at her with a sad smile. "I will be in touch, Neffa. We will get you back in that course."

"Your Majesty, there isn't any way. The course is over. All I can do is challenge the exams, but I am not allowed to travel."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I have been locked in the city since I returned." She shrugged.

The prince hissed, "Why don't you shut up, you stupid cunt!"

The king looked like he was going to start shouting.

Neffa got to her feet and looked at the mistress and prince. "He needs to rest now. Shoo."

They gasped, and the mistress said, "How dare you?"

"Oh, shut it, Pree-ath. Do you want him to keep screaming at you and possibly send you out on your ass?"

Pree-ath straightened.

Orvalik walked over to Neffa and struck her across the face. Neffa flew to the side and hit a dresser with the side of her head.

The king lunged up, pulled him down, and beat his face until the prince was bloody. Neffa touched her head, and her fingers came away with blood.

"Your Majesty? I need to seek my own medical assistance. You didn't blow your stitches. I will send guards in."

Pree-ath was sobbing over the prince and that explained a bit. She was angling to become the next queen.

The king said, "Neffa, stay where you are. I want you going home under guard."

Guards burst in and looked at the room. Pree-ath screamed, "She did it! Arrest her!"

Neffa looked up, dazed. Duke Morro. Of course. He grabbed her by the arm and hauled her to her feet.

The king rapped out, "Put her down carefully. Set her on that chair. My son struck her down, and I know it wasn't the first time."

The duke moved her firmly to the chair. "She's an uppity halfling, Your Majesty. I am sure it was warranted."

"You are an arrogant twat, but we don't see me hitting you in the skull. When did you get back in town?" She took a cloth from her pack and pressed it to her head.

The duke was staring at her. "Your blood..."

"Oh, yeah. It's always been that colour. Freaked my mother out. I don't normally get punched by assholes, so it doesn't come up much," she mumbled.

A guard came and grabbed the prince, and another grabbed Pree-ath.

The king frowned. "Neffa, are you all right?"

"Yes. I am glad the others didn't see what Morro did. He can keep his mouth shut."

The king was rinsing his knuckles with water. "How do you know that?"

"Well, he didn't spread the rumour that I had tried to seduce every noble in the palace. So, that is something."

"Oh, that rumour. I need to beat the hell out of my son for that one again." The king grunted. "I am so sorry, Neffa."

"It's fine, Your Majesty." She checked the cloth, and the red-gold stain of her blood was smaller. She folded it again and pressed down.

"It's not fine. When you return home, send your father to me. I need to speak to him."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

Duke Morro looked at them. "You two are friends."

The king smirked. "Of course. She's been running between the town and the palace since she was six."

Neffa snorted. "Usually carrying a hangover cure."

The king reached out and ruffled her silver and white hair. "You were pleasantly quick."

She chuckled. "Watch the bruises, Your Majesty."

The duke blinked. "I will see you home, Neffa."

She settled her feet under her and flexed her toes. "Okay, all systems are a go."

Morro asked, "May I take her home, Your Majesty?"

"As long as there are still guards outside my room, you can take Neffa home. Her father will be worried."

Neffa snorted. "Sure, he will."

The king nodded. "I am going to call him and tell him that you were injured."

"I will be fine. I didn't crack my skull; just got a goose egg. You may want to deal with Pree-ath. It's creepy to screw both father and son."

The king ran a hand over his features. "Right. I will have the chancellor look into your scholarship as well."

"Don't bother. I missed the exams, and admission for next year is full. I get to stay an herbalist like Mom. I will do okay."

"I can't believe that little shit had the nerve to cut your funding."

"He didn't like me in school, and he doesn't like me now."

"You kicked his ass in school. Top of the class and two years younger. He didn't stand a chance."

Neffa snorted. "Stop bragging." She got to her feet and swayed. "I will be back in two days to remove your stitches."

"Sure, sure." The king smirked. "Will you play chess with me?"

"Sure, sure." She copied his inflection. "Go wash your hands."

He chuckled. "Yes, Neffa."

She double-checked that she had all her items. Neffa slowly made her way to the door. "Rest and relax. I will be back in two days. Behave."

"Yes, Neffa."

She walked toward the door, and the duke moved to her side. She opened the door and walked into the hall, moving to the side of the hallway while Duke Morro spoke to the guards on duty.

She was almost to the corner when she heard the footfalls behind her. She pressed herself to the wall and sagged a little. Her head was pounding, and her face was sore. Orvalik had always been a bit of a whiner, but sleeping with his father's official mistress was icky. Hitting a woman was right up his alley. Hitting Neffa was something he had done a few times since she had been put into his classes. It usually involved slamming her into the walls in the hall. Her shoulders still remembered the feeling of being shoved into stone.

She remained perfectly still and waited for the footfalls to pass her. They stopped right next to her.

"Why are you huddling against the wall?"

"Protocol. Keep walking."

He snorted and picked her up.

"Whoa! Oh, shit. This is a breach of four different palace protocols." She frowned. "And arrest without cause."

He sighed and walked at a solid clip. "You aren't under arrest. We will never get out of here if you keep stopping and hugging the wall."

She sighed. "Fine. Get me out of here as fast as you can."

He chuckled. "If you say so."

Her eyes widened as his body tensed, and she said, "Oh, shit."

She curled against him as he lifted up and flew above the courtiers and servants before cruising out the great doors and soaring above the palace grounds, aiming toward the village.

Neffa had forgotten that Morro could fly. He had done his training while a few grades above her and Orvalik. The palace had been proud that one of its nobles managed to gain enhanced skills. Normally, those with enhancements were on the other side of the world.

She huddled up tight, and when asked where she wanted to be set down, she pointed to the house with the blue roof.

He descended to the ground, and Keedon locals gave them plenty of room.

She muttered, "Put me down, please, Duke Morro."

He smiled and carefully set her on the ground. "I have some questions."

Neffa walked to her family's house and opened the door. She turned her head slightly. "Come inside. I think I know what you want to ask."

She walked inside, and he followed her, out of the view of the confused people of the village. "Hey, Mom. Are you home?"

"Sure, baby. What do you need?" Her mother, Isar, came into the main hall and gasped. "Oh, honey. Come, come."

Her mom grabbed her hand and hauled her into her personal office, urging her onto the exam table and making a compress with a few dozen herbs.

Morro stepped into the room. "Hello, healer."

"Can you tell me what happened to my daughter, Security Master Morro?"

"Orvalik slapped her and threw her into a cabinet," Morro murmured.

Isar pressed the compress to Neffa's cheek and examined her head. "You bled?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Who saw?"

"The king, Orvalik, and Pree-ath. Oh, and Morro. I don't think the other guards noticed. The king punched the hell out of his son immediately after he hit me, so there was a lot of matching blood in the room."

Morro murmured, "Yours is brighter. How is that possible?"

There was a thud in the house and rapid footfalls. Her father burst in. "Arewen called and said that you had been hurt."

Holding the compress as her mother got sutures ready, Neffa watched Morro fall to one knee. "Your Imperial Highness."

Neffa looked at him. "Hey, Dad. You got here fast."

"We were doing lumber assessments in North Jilhara when I was alerted that you needed help. What happened, baby?"

Morro's eyes bugged as he watched her dad walk to her and check the mark on her face. "Who did this?"

She held still as he traced the handprint. "Orvalik."

"That little shit is going to find himself in a mine when I am done with him."

She shrugged. "Pree-ath is trying to get pregnant by him, so I think his hormones were leading the way."

Her father kissed her cheek. Cold swept through her skin, and she felt the swelling go down.

Isar snorted. "Way to waste the herbs, Kesen. Oh, they saw her blood."

The skin of her cut sealed up as she sat there, and her father focused. He may have resigned his throne for her mother, but he was a helluva healer.

"You didn't need to fly back, Dad. I am fine."

He sighed and leaned back. "If they saw your blood, you will not be fine for much longer. So, you know where you will be going."

"I do but not until the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is a gathering day, and the day after, I need to remove stitches from the king." She smiled. "Then, I can do the thing."

"You had better. If you are injured again, I am going to get cranky." Her father lifted his head and smiled. "Are you here for dinner?"

"I am."

Morro cleared his throat. "Where else would she be?"

Isar chuckled. "She lives in the unmarried women's quarters."

Her dad smiled. "One of my sibling's stupider ideas. Keedons breed when they are twenty-seven and not before. There is no sense in keeping the sexes apart."

Isar snorted. "And he has firsthand experience. Poor soul. He was woefully unprepared."

Neffa snorted. "Duke Morro doesn't need to know about your sex life, Mom. Plus, he's a noble. He doesn't want to think about filthy Keedons and their barbaric habits."

Morro stared at her. "You remember that?"

"Oh, yeah." She smiled. "A girl doesn't forget her graduation dance."