Instead of training, she studied. The queen’s clear avoidance of the past had made her more curious than ever before. Sitting in the large, windowed room in the east wing, she was surrounded by an armful of books Araxia had allowed her to take from the library. Books about her history – about the kingdom she would supposedly inherit. She was ambivalent at the thought.

‘There are better texts I could retrieve for you, princess,’ said Claye. ‘The ones you’re reading are outdated and nearly ruined by time.’

‘I enjoy the older feel of these books.’ Sapphire sat down with the one she had pulled from a nearby shelf.

‘The queen might –’

‘The queen told me I was free to use the private library however I saw fit. I chose these.’

Claye sighed louder than he probably meant to before heading out of the door to give Sapphire some privacy. Turning her attention to the worn pages before her, she began to read.

The Canmore Dynasty, or Blessed Queens, read as if it was cut from the pages of Martia’s favourite folktales. A thousand-year history of powerful women who never faltered when it came to honour and duty. The line was blessed by the Elders – the Gods who led Eriobis to victory during what they called the First War. Sapphire had yet to delve much into that war, as her attention was mostly taken by the original Canmore queen.

Queen Aylara. The woman Sapphire was named after. That sparked a feeling in her that she couldn’t understand.

Aylara was chosen by the Elders to lead the country into the ‘years of light’ following the First War. The blessed queen, the beloved queen, the God-chosen ruler. Aylara’s story read more like myth.

Queen Aylara, the original, was a beacon of hope and peace as she was a descendant of …

Sapphire turned the page and frowned when a new chapter about agriculture began. She returned to the previous chapter, ensuring she hadn’t misread its ending, but the cut-off sentence remained.

Returning to the new chapter, she ran her finger down the gutter of the book, feeling the jagged edges of clearly torn pages. Someone had ripped them out. She flipped through the book once more, trying to recover the missing portion, but nothing came.

Turning to the next book, her frown deepened as she found more pages ripped from the seams of the book. Large sections were missing. Pages regarding the First War, Aylara, the Elders, and everything Sapphire desperately wanted to know about.

Opening the final book, she flipped through it looking for the missing history, but instead came across something that made her uneasy.