***
She was trying once again to break free from this cursed place. Hiding bitter tears, she muttered the senseless words of a spell, long since having lost any hope of actually achieving a result. No, the master hadn’t lied when he claimed that freedom lay behind such simple phrases. He never deceived those who belonged to him, but she had no chance. Words without magic were just empty air, no matter how much emotion she poured into them.
“Still not giving up, little girl?”
She didn’t feel like answering. What was the point of talking about feelings or desires? They didn’t matter.
“I think you’re ready, princess,” he said, his tone calm and measured, which only made it sting more.
Princess? No, the heir to the empire had died in her distant youth and had no intention of coming back to life!
“You’re truly ready. I hope we won’t see each other for a long time… Take care of your new life, young lady. You’ve earned it.”
And the world changed. It exploded, swirling with a myriad of stars, but she wasn’t afraid. Uncontainable joy drowned out the tiniest doubts about the future, and her soul surged with elation: “You wretched, self-righteous old man, we won’t meet again anytime soon! I’ve outsmarted you! Humility and repentance are valued in your world, as you yourself said. But from now on, no more virtues! I’ve outplayed the god of Death, and now it’s time to think about revenge! You think the princess is dead? No, she’ll live forever.”
***
Snow hadn’t fallen in Kirat for forty years—not since the old necromancer retired from his dark deeds and chose the city as his refuge. Many believed the wizard was still up to his sinister rituals, and that’s why the gods sent warnings. What else could explain why, in winter, the clouds seemed to avoid the capital of Toyan County altogether? In summer, though, the skies didn’t hold back on rain! Sometimes, they even had to hire a traveling mage to disperse the clouds and save the harvest from rotting.
But this year, nature broke from its usual script. On the first day of Frostmonth, when the darkness begins to recede and the days grow longer, the sky was shrouded in heavy gray clouds. Snow fell relentlessly from noon to evening, then stopped as abruptly as it had started.
Many took it as a good sign. The necromancer must have turned from wrath to mercy (or finally kicked the bucket), and life in the city would get better. The roads would be repaired, the gardens would flourish… And, most importantly, the county would no longer be called the Cursed Land, a place travelers avoided like the plague!
But not everyone was thrilled about the snowfall. An old potter, who sold his wares near the broken fountain in the main square, told one of the local drunks flat-out:
“They don’t say ‘like snow on your head’ for nothing! Trouble’s coming, my friend, big trouble!”
Though the potter wasn’t considered a true prophet, and the drunk wasn’t exactly a reliable source, those words slowly spread through the city.
Frostmonth passed, then Chillmonth. The weather stayed typical for winter, and the murmurs gradually died down.
Spring’s muddy roads came and went, the orchards bloomed… People started to believe that all their troubles were behind them. Only the old man by the fountain kept repeating:
“Like snow on your head… Trouble’s coming!”
And on the last day of Bloommonth, a messenger arrived in the square from Vlai, the capital of the Vellian Empire, also known as Velli, to proclaim the ruler’s will.
“…henceforth, Toyan County is declared the independent kingdom of Toyana and passes into the sole possession of His Highness, the noble Prince Argolin…”—for most townsfolk, those lines were enough to realize their woes were far from over.
First off, rumors about the young heir, who’d been made lord of this remote backwater and permanently stripped of any claim to the Vellian throne, were wildly contradictory. They ranged from outright admiration (mostly among provincial girls) to accusations of cozying up to non-humans. Sure, everyone knew the capital had its own ways, some too shameful to even think about, but non-humans?!
No, Toyana wasn’t about to put up with that. Especially since the prince was known as a powerful mage, which only deepened the perception of his moral decay. Sensing the magic of humans and mingling with beings from Starilis? There was no excuse for that!
The second problem was that the count, barely recovering from the news (though the lands of Toyana weren’t his to begin with, he wasn’t eager to let them go), started selling off his property. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to enjoy the carefree life of a noble, as His Majesty Maldrab the Fourth, Emperor of Velli, had advised. Shady mercenaries began showing up in the city, the kind whose mere glance made Kirat’s residents hurry away, not even checking if their wallets were still in place. The streets emptied out…
And that’s when the long-forgotten old necromancer stepped back into the game. He refrained from threats, merely reminding the count that he had a weapon more effective than any hired thug. A weapon against which there was, as yet, no defense!
A beautiful daughter—a time-tested tool for influencing important figures. What was more honorable: being the head of a small province or the father-in-law of a future king? The father-in-law of a great emperor! The necromancer insisted that His Majesty would undoubtedly approve of the idea, and the prince would rush to the altar without a second thought.
A request isn’t torture, as the local half-blind executioner often said, missing the condemned’s neck yet again. The count sent an exceptionally polite message to the capital and was utterly shocked to receive enthusiastic support from his soon-to-be royal relative.
“Finally, some use out of that silly girl!” he joyfully told his wife.
“My dear, have you even spoken to her about this?” the countess asked hesitantly, already certain of the answer.
“Stop this nonsense!” the count snapped. “Those girls at their boarding school dream of princes day and night, and here’s not just a prince—he’ll be crowned on their wedding day!”
“But, my dear…”
“You can argue with the servants, Klozhena! This matter is settled.”
Meanwhile, in the square, the potter gazed at the clear sky and thought, “I told you… Trouble’s definitely coming.”
/1. Frostmonth – the second winter month.
2. Chillmonth – the third winter month.
3. Bloommonth – the last spring month.
4. Starilis – the realm of non-humans, also known as the Strange Forest./