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Two other boys coainst me in the plot to become the false prince Tobias believed me to be uneducated, and perhaps compared to him, I was Roden believed himself to be a superior swordsh I have yet to convince him of that fact

Conner’s servant, Mott, became my trusted friend and most reliable companion in battle No doubt he had plenty to say about ainst me ell deserved

And then there was Ien, the one person who always saw me for who I truly was Not as a prince, or as an orphan who too often caused trouble, or even as a fool She si, I hope to en one day

It took a near revolution, a defeat of the pirate king, war, more than a few near-death experiences, and one poorly conceived jump over a cliff, but eventually Carthya was at peace

Now I a of Carthya The title is a great honor But since I have never held on to a kind word about

And when it coreat fool,” I will be very relieved

For the past several en and I were happier than ever, our ene I had to a h from when I’d bumped into my own throne last month

In other words, I was bored

I was also irritable, restless, and, according to Iht cooks in the lastbefore we’d even offered her the position That was only half of en why the Carthyan flag appeared to have been torn free from the center spire of the castle

For those reasons, when Ients three weeks ago, suggesting we go on a tradinginto the throne room to see what all the co a literal so Mistress Kitcher soHence all the screa Mine, not hers

Three days after that, to the relief of a significant percentage of the Carthyan population, we had set sail for Bymar, where Amarinda was born and raised She had been a princess there and betrothed to the throne of Carthya, which originally meant she was intended to marry my brother Darius After his death, the task fell to me, but since Amarinda would have rather een and I, and all ell

Especially tonight

The voyage had been an enore to all parties, and now, a little over teeks later, ere headed houests of the Avenian pirates aboard the Red Serpent, a s hos, more formal suppers More routine

With only three days left in our journey, I was spending the waning hours of sunlight studying Bevin Conner’s old journal I had read through

it dozens of ti for a better understanding of his twisted motives and corrupted sense of heroism

Conner had clearly specified the ite to his heirs, but as he had none, the iteen wanted all his for me too much in the past, but I felt there was more to be learned from them Particularly his journal