Prologue

The children had quieted into their bedrolls, each of them wide-eyed and waiting as I took my seat.

It was our nightly routine; they'd all gotten quite used to cozying up in their bundles and allowing me to transport them to a time and place that that would teach them more than they would realize. It was the only way that I could tell the truth—the only way that I could pass down the knowledge that'd been bestowed upon me.

My daughter was already tucked away in her crib and my youngest son had wedged himself between Carys and Brynnick. And though Carys and Brynnick were not my own, they may as well have been. I loved them like they were mine. Aside from their mothers, I'd been the first in the kingdom to cradle them to my chest. And while it was merely customary for the Queen to bestow her kiss upon the brow of all infants born into the court, those two were different.

Damieren tried to hide his and Carys's joined hands under their blankets, but as much as he would have like to be sneaky, he was not. He never really was.

"What story are you telling tonight?" Carys asked, her round cheeks flushed as she smiled up at me.

I leaned over, retrieving the journal that was always tucked into the crochet box. The book was worn down, its spine cracked and the pages torn at the edges. I opened it slowly, fingers tracing over the faded ink and yellowed pages that carried all of my most precious stories. "Tonight, I will be telling you the story of The Lost Princess, The Queen With No Name."

I expected Damieren's groan—ever the dramatic child that he was. "Not again ." He whined, throwing himself into Carys's lap and gripping his chest as if he'd been impaled.

I frowned. " Damieren ."

He huffed, closing his eyes as Carys began running her fingers through his hair. "Fine. I won't complain, but just know that I'm not going to enjoy it at all."

Carys tugged at a strand of his hair, earning a yelp and bared teeth from him. "Do you ever shut up?" She growled.

" Children ."

They fell silent, both of them laying back and scooting together. And when not a sound could be heard other than the children's steady breathing and the creaking of the my rocking chair teetering back and forth on the wooden floor, I began telling my story.

"Long ago, there was a girl. She was wild and she was smart. And she liked… to hide . In the trees, in the brush, far away from the seeing eyes of the people who adored her. She hid. Hiding became a talent. One that the people she loved treasured. And for them, she challenged the darkness within, she fell in love, and she hid all the things she loved under a veil."

I turned the page, eyes lifting briefly to see that Damieren and Carys were already fast asleep, foreheads pressed together and hands entangled. I let out a sigh, my heart aching deep in my chest as I looked at the next sentence.

"A veil of shadows."

With their shallow breaths sounding through the nursery, I realized that there was no point in continuing. I closed my journal and let my hands rest upon its weathered back. I rocked back and forth in my chair, allowing the tears to fall for just one moment before my eyes drifted closed and I began to dream.