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(Page 3 of 6) Ivaris - Chapter 7 by Jennifer Raney
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The poison was a brain toxin and had done its damage far too quickly, however, and she never regained consciousness.
The Emperor was devastated, he loved his wife and daughter more than anything in the world. It was then that he decided that his daughter would have no such life. He forbade her from entering his Court or the training fields near the castle. Orders were posted that anyone caught teaching his daughter offensive magics or combat, under any circumstances, would be executed. She was allowed only literature and history classes (with much of the war history removed or altered), and learned only simple domestic spells. She was never allowed to leave the castle grounds.
Young Malynna did not accept these rules peacefully. Though she had no idea what the world was like outside her walls, she ached to be allowed to see it. She had a sharp intellect and a thirst for knowledge, and the tame, tedious lessons bored her.
As she entered adolescence she began losing her temper at her teachers, her father, and anyone else around her. She would scream at them to let her go, she hated being a princess. The Emperor finally allowed her riding lessons, hoping the exercise would calm her fury, but she mastered the horses quickly and begged her father to let her ride out into the city. He refused, angrily, and threatened to take everything away from her if she did not obey him, which subdued her for a while.
She was fifteen the next summer, and Shrinan finally informed her that she was to marry Jovraan T'resh. She didn't know anything about him and had never met him before, so the Emperor arranged suppers for the three of them so the couple could get to know each other.
Malynna hated Jovraan from the moment she saw him. When he looked at her she could see the evil in his eyes. He patronized her, talked simply to her, and never once looked at her face first.
She told her father what she thought of him and he laughed, "Darling, he is my second in command, I know him better than you do. He will be a loving husband and a fine Emperor when I am gone." He listened to no more of her protests, ordering her to accept her betrothal without a fuss.
Now the princess, seventeen years old, could hear the nails in her future's coffin. She had been promised to Jovraan T'resh when she was ten, told about her betrothal when she was fifteen, only just informed days ago that the wedding would finally be held in the coming spring. Every morning brought her a day closer to her fate, and her desperation grew exponentially with each day.
Her maid had been with her since before her betrothal was public, and had been waiting for the right moment to plant the seeds of hope in her princess's heart.
"I know that I may be committing treason against our Emperor with what I'm about to say, but believe me, from my heart, that I am more loyal to the throne of Itriscia than you will ever know," Gerianne said, holding Malynna's gaze.
The princess kept her face stern, but her heart throbbed with anticipation.
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