1 Chapter 1

Lady Fidelma stabbed her attacker in the back which showed her army that you must not fail the task given. The task was to kill her. This was the third time in just a few days that he tried to assassinate her. She turned around glaring at her army. The men stared down at the ground waiting for her orders. They knew she wouldn't tolerate failure even if this was her personal enemy.

"You all have made good progress today." She smiled slightly before continuing," Now attack him with full force!" She ordered and her soldiers immediately rushed forward. As they charged at the man, Lady Fidelma walked toward them. As she got closer, she realized the man wasn't moving.

"How dare you try and assassinate me and fail? This is proper punishment for failures." She glared into his eyes. His face remained emotionless as she slowly raised her sword up. Before his heart could stop beating, a dagger pierced through his chest.

As blood flowed out from his body, another soldier ran up.

"My lady, there's only five of us left."

Lady Fidelma grabbed him by his arm. Her nails digging deep into his skin causing him to cry out in pain.

"I told you to attack, not to count! Get ready we're going after them now!" With that she dragged him off toward their enemies. Once they were gone, Lady Fidelma turned on her heels marching home.

Once she reached her home, she threw her sword on the floor then kicked it across the room. When she sat on her throne she started screaming and yelling curses at her servants. The servants bowed their heads awaiting her orders. One by one they looked up and met their mistress's gaze. All but three. They were the only servants still loyal to her. All of them except for her faithful friend, The King's Hand, the Knight that served as the captain of her army, and the King's Guard Captain that protected her at all costs. She sighed loudly and looked away from the three.

"Why couldn't you do what I commanded?" she asked softly while looking down at the floor. The three didn't answer, so she continued. "Well? Answer me or you know where else will be." She glared at them threateningly making them flinch and whimper. "I don't' want to hear any excuses. If you don' say anything, then I'm going to order your execution!" The King's Shield whimpered and shook his head trying to look everywhere else rather than look at his liege.

"It was my fault." The knight spoke up quietly making the others wince slightly. "We were ambushed while we were heading home from a supply run. We lost the fight when one of our arrows went astray and struck one of the horses."

Her guards gasped and clutched onto each other. The Knight continued speaking despite how painful he felt.

"Our leader ordered everyone to retreat before we were surrounded by enemy soldiers."

"The coward was trying to get us killed!" The captain shouted angrily, causing him to cringe.

"That doesn't excuse you!" Lady Fidelma yelled, grabbing the captain by his hair and yanking him toward her. "I told you to take charge and you didn't listen to me. If anything, it's because of you that we got captured. That fool would have gotten us all killed if not for the arrow he threw."

"I'm sorry, milady." The captain said defeatedly as tears filled his eyes.

"If it weren't for me, none of this would have happened."

Lady Fidelma let go of his hair and he fell to the floor in shame.

"None of that. You will continue to serve but you will be tortured on every break you get." Everyone present began gasping in horror at her words. They'd heard of the rumors about her. That she enjoyed torturing and murdering those who displeased her. Their eyes widened with shock and fear. No one dared speak against her.

Lady Fidelma turned to her right to see Lady Luigsech Dermott and Lord Comgal Dermott enter her chambers. Lady Fidelma rose to her feet in greeting and offered them both a small curtsy.

"Hello, mother and father. How are you this evening?"

The two of them returned her smile.

"We're well, dear. I trust you received our gift earlier." Lady Luigsech handed her a small box. "I believe the gift is inside." She gestured for her maids to open the box.

They removed the lid revealing an ornate gold watch.

"Thank you, mother and father. It's beautiful. What does it do?"

"It measures your heart's pulse and tells the time in the night." Luigsech explained, smiling as she admired her jeweled watch. "I hope you'll like it very much."

Lady Fidelma nodded, taking the watch and slipping it on her wrist.

"I'll put it on right now if that is alright." The women nodded happily and watched her as she went over to her vanity. She slipped on the golden band and studied herself in the mirror. After she examined herself, Lady Fidelma's parents left. The guards and most of the servants had left. The only one that didn't was Keith Livington. He was her most loyal follower and had been by her side since he and Fidelma were children. Keith had the most respect for her. He would die for her, he would kill for her, and he would never disobey her. He would always be there no matter what she wished for him to do.

Keith knelt before his master and gazed at her pleadingly.

"Milady."

Lady Fidelma glanced at him and frowned.

"What is it?" She was annoyed that she had to deal with something so unimportant.

"May I have permission to accompany you on your travels?" Keith asked hopefully.

Lady Fidelma rolled her eyes. "Yes. But you will be staying in my room for the duration of my trip. And I'm afraid you'll have to sleep outside."

Keith sighed disappointed. "Of course. I understand."

"Then go pack some clothes and make sure your horse is prepared for travel. Be quick, I need to prepare myself as well."

"Yes, Milady." Keith quickly stood and raced to the door of her chambers and exited. Once the door closed behind him, Lady Fidelma sighed heavily and ran her hands through her red hair. She hated traveling but had no choice. It was either this or she'd be married off to someone for political reasons again. She really hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Once Keith came back from packing his things, he helped Lady Fidelma saddle her horse.

Once the pair arrived in front of their destination they dismounted and took off their horses' tack and led them towards the castle.

"Is there a reason why you wanted to come along, Keith?" She looked at him curiously. He shrugged slightly.

"I wanted to help you in any way I can, milady."

"And did you?" She inquired looking at him expectantly.

"No my lady."

She entered the castle's grand entranceway and looked around. Everything seemed normal as usual except for one thing. There were no more guards.

"Where did they go?" She asked aloud walking further into the Castle. She saw the same scene repeated many times throughout the whole palace. Everywhere she passed everything was completely empty. Nothing seemed different. There wasn't a single person here. The entire place looked deserted. She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks when she heard footsteps from somewhere in the direction she came from.

"Who is there?!" She demanded, raising her voice a little. No one responded. She waited for a long time before finally hearing footsteps again. This time they were coming from a certain spot. Lady Fidelma looked in the direction of the sound and found it was coming from Lord Swan's study. Slowly, she made her way to the door. She reached over and twisted the knob slowly, opening the door just a crack and peeking inside. There was nobody inside.

Not a soul could be seen except for the desk sitting in the center of the room. As she moved closer to the desk, she saw several letters lying next to a pile of paperwork. Without hesitation, she picked up the letters one by one, examining them carefully and finding nothing out of the ordinary. Out of annoyance she burned them all, leaving nothing but ash. Lady Fidelma left the study and walked around to see if everyone was really gone.

After searching every inch of the castle, she gave up and walked back to her bedroom to change out of her armor and into comfortable clothing. Just before she was about to leave the bedroom, she saw a letter laying on her bedside table. Curiosity piqued, she picked it up and noticed that someone had written their name on the envelope in cursive.

Dear Lady Fidelma Dermott

You have given us quite a surprise when you showed up on our doorstep. Forgive us for being nosy, but who might you be?

Lady Fidelma read the letter three times before placing it back down on the table. Now she understood why there were no guards anywhere. This must be another spy sent to get her attention. She scoffed and turned around to walk out of her bedroom. However, she stopped when she heard soft footsteps coming towards her.

"You seem to think yourself smart, Lady Fidelma. I thought you already knew who I was." Lady Fidelma turned around and stared directly at the man standing in the doorway staring at her with glowing blue eyes.

"Why should I care?" She questioned indifferently.

His eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"Do not act like you've forgotten me, Lady Fidelma. My name is Prince Ryonor." He bowed politely, ignoring the fact that Lady Fidelma didn't bow back.