Engaged to Prince Urbanus of Regalia, Gemma knows that her fiancé ordered the assassination of her best friend—but has been told that he’s her HeartKeeper. Caught between her destiny and her moral duty, she decides to take vengeance upon Urbanus after the wedding night. Gemma’s not counting on more dark revelations about Urbanus, much less his beguiling charm. Alone in his palace, Gemma can only rely upon herself to ensure her survival—or can she trust the mysterious stranger who pledges to aid her, for reasons unknown?
“WYVERN’S PRINCE is a fairytale-esque story line with dragons and magic, building love, an evil queen who is not above destroying her family to get what she wants, and a little bit of science fiction added for some interesting color. The premise is imaginative and enchanting; the characters are dynamic and colorful; the romance is passionate and fated. WYVERN’S PRINCE is a well written, energetic and engaging story that sees another Princess find her Heartkeeper and her mate.”
—The Reading Cafe
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An excerpt from Wyvern’s Prince:
Gemma strode down the corridor to the briefing session that she’d ordered, ensuring that she arrived precisely on schedule.
It was held in her own apartment, at her command, because that was the one place she knew was secure from spies and listening devices.
Some of the party from Regalia had already arrived to prepare for the royal family’s attendance of the wedding the next day. Urbanus remained in his mother’s palace on Regalia, per tradition, so there was no chance of the bride seeing the groom. The staff from Regalia were contained in one wing of the palace on Incendium, and Gemma doubted they had the skill to circumvent the access coding on their keys.
At least not so quickly as this.
Kraw bowed when she entered the unit and Farquon saluted. Kraw was viceroy of the Kingdom of Incendium and had been in the service of King Ouros for decades, ever since his father had resigned the same post. His mustache had been as long and elaborately curved for all the years Gemma could remember him, but now it had turned white.
Farquon was commander of the regiment assigned to the defense of the royal family. Gemma had augmented Farquon’s training herself, when she had led Incendium’s elite corps of commandos. The assignment of a royal family member to military command hadn’t been ceremonial for Gemma. She had trained on Cumae, graduated with high honors, then returned home to serve the kingdom. Under her command, the commandos had improved their response times, stealth, and kill rates. Farquon had been her best pupil, her lover, her friend and remained one man she trusted completely. She particularly admired that their relationship had never been complicated by talk of undying love.
Farquon had made the arrangements for her pending escape, and she knew he wouldn’t reveal a syllable of her plan to anyone. Even now, he was completely impassive, commanded by Kraw to attend, and apparently without any greater bond to Gemma than to any other member of the royal family. He looked slightly bored if attentive. She felt a surge of pride in his talents, then inclined her head to Kraw.
“Your highness,” Kraw said with a deep bow. “Your father sends greetings.”
“Of course.”
“As well as the reminder that you need not proceed with this marriage.”
“But I must, Kraw, as my father knows.” Gemma sat down and spoke crisply. “I’m sure he smells the Seed on every messenger from Regalia as keenly as I do.”
Kraw inclined his head in acknowledgment of this truth. “You need not go alone, Highness.”
“I think otherwise.” Gemma waved a hand. “Speak to me of Regalia, please, Kraw.”
The wall illuminated behind Farquon, revealing that it was actually a large display screen. An image of Regalia appeared, undoubtedly captured by one of Incendium’s satellites. As the image grew more detailed, it was clear that the surface of Incendium’s sister planet was almost entirely covered in forest.
“A comparatively primitive world, it must be said,” Kraw declared, turning to watch the display with Gemma. She always respected that he memorized his presentations, and made it look easy to present a wealth of information in a short period of time. “Their economy is heavily reliant upon barter on the planet itself, and simple skills. Their people harvest crops, make bread and ale, supply the royal palace with tithes and other offerings. Their major exports are medicinal herbs and other plants, usually dried for transport. They have only one star station, here in their northern hemisphere, near the queen’s palace in their capital city.”
The image showed a very small star station beside an extensive palace. A large dark shuttle was parked there, with loading doors of a size suitable for loading freight. There were only three more ships, all sleek and small personal vehicles. They seemed to have the royal insignia, though it was difficult to be certain. The palace was made of silvery stone that glittered in the sunlight and there were banners flying from its highest towers.
It was quite a contrast with Incendium’s star station, where parking was always at a premium. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of small ships there at any given time, in addition to the regularly scheduled shuttles to the orbiting starport and the larger ships docked there.
“Their single shuttle leaves Regalia monthly and is an older model, somewhat prone to disrepair. They use Incendium’s starport to arrange transport of their goods to off-world markets.” He paused to look at Gemma. “Without us, they would have no interplanetary access.”
She arched a brow. “Our marital alliance could have practical benefits for Regalia.”
“Of course.” Kraw continued. “Their communication systems and general technology would be considered grossly inadequate by our standards. I fear you may have a difficult adjustment to make in your new home, Highness.”
“But they have magic, don’t they?”
“Magic.” Kraw sighed. “Yes, that is their claim. The origin of the sorcery is the royal family, specifically Queen Arcana, whose abilities are said to be extraordinary. The power to cast spells, to glean the future, to enchant others against their will into doing her desire, to inflict different forms upon others, to read thoughts, to kill with a glance—all these abilities and more are attributed to the queen by rumor and gossip. It is said that she has given individual magical talents to her sons, allowing only one per offspring in order that they would have to band together to defeat her. It is also said that she deliberately fosters dissent between them.” Kraw spread his hands. “These are the recurring rumors. There is no way to affirm which, if any, are true, and which might be either illusion or utterly without foundation.” He cleared his throat. “What we do know is that Queen Arcana has lived a very long time for a mortal woman and has not appeared to age for the past fifty Regalian years. She has borne twelve sons and did so in rapid succession between twenty-five and forty Regalian years ago.”
“And Regalian years are only a little longer than our own, I believe?”
“Yes, Highness. Their orbit is slightly larger than ours, giving us a warmer climate, too. The discrepancy between Incendian years and Regalian years is rounded to four per cent, and beyond the notice of most.” Kraw bowed. “Certainly to an individual of your longevity, Highness, it is of little consequence.”
Gemma nodded understanding.
The display changed to show images of men. Some of them were official holograms and familiar to Gemma, while others, she had never seen before. She recognized Canto, for example, before Kraw gestured dismissively to Queen Arcana’s oldest and now deceased son. “It is unknown what magical power Canto might have had, at least here on Incendium.”
“Whatever it was, it doesn’t seem to have helped him much.”
“Indeed, Majesty. You are familiar with Urbanus, of course,” he continued and Gemma considered the official hologram of her betrothed. He was handsome, with his dark hair and blue eyes, his confident smile. “You may not be aware that he had a twin brother, Venero.”
There was a roguish quality about Venero, whose hair was lighter than that of his brother. He had hazel eyes that looked almost golden. The image was a candid one, far more appealing than an official one. He looked to be on the verge of laughter as if he had been caught at some jest. Gemma had the urge to smile back at him and wish she’d heard the joke.
“They don’t look like twins.”
“Not identical twins. There was a suggestion—” Kraw cleared his throat “—that they did not share a father, although the sexual proclivities of the queen are beyond the range of our discussion.”
That piqued Gemma’s curiosity and she felt Farquon flick a glance at her. With an effort, she remained impassive. “You speak of Venero in the past tense.”
“Prince Venero is said to have disappeared and is believed by most to be dead. It must be noted that Urbanus has always been a favorite of his mother’s. More than one observer has speculated that she wished his path to the crown to be unobstructed, particularly after the death of Canto, and that she had some involvement in the disappearance or death of Venero.”
“Do you know about Urbanus’ magical power?”
“Your betrothed, Highness, is rumored to be an expert in the making of potions.” Kraw looked stern. “It might well be that there is no sorcery involved in this, merely an understanding of the effects of certain substances upon the body of the victim. It may be science disguised as magic, to defend such powerful and potentially harmful knowledge.”
“Anything else?”
“Prince Urbanus appears to be quite involved in his mother’s administration of Regalia, and also her confidante. I would guess that she is grooming him for the succession, as is right and good. He does leave Regalia at intervals and has been known to frequent the gaming halls of Xanto.”
“He likes to bet,” she said.
“Evidently, Highness.”
Gemma wasn’t impressed by that, but then, she wasn’t going to be married to Urbanus very long if everything proceeded according to her plan.
The display changed again to an image of a heavily forested area. There was a dark spire in the middle of the forest, and it was enlarged as the focus tightened upon it. “There is new construction in the far southern hemisphere of Regalia, about as far from Queen Arcana’s palace as might be possible without entering the inhabitable zones of the poles.” Gemma leaned forward, avidly studying the structure. “This is said to be the honeymoon palace of Prince Urbanus.” Kraw turned to face her. “It appears that your betrothed, Highness, intends to keep you to himself for a while.”
Gemma’s gaze danced over the palace as the view circled around it. It was a fortress, remote and structured to be easily defended, which suited her very well. She smiled for Kraw. “It looks like a perfect place to ensure the delivery of the Seed.”
Never mind an ideal place to kill her new husband and escape Regalia without being observed. Gemma couldn’t have planned it better herself.
She glanced up and Farquon bowed slightly, but not quickly enough to hide the understanding in his eyes.
All was made ready.
Let the nuptial festivities begin.
Excerpt from Wyvern’s Prince
Copyright ©2016 Deborah A. Cooke
Deborah Cooke: Author 