The city of Veyth spent the six days before the Pilgrimage the way it spent every major Crown announcement — with festivals, wagers, and an unseemly amount of public speculation about the bride who'd refused her vows at the altar. Luna spent them differently.
She spent them training.
"You want to what," Iris said, on the first morning, watching Luna drag a practice blade out of a dust-covered trunk that had belonged to her late brother.
"Learn to use this properly," Luna said. "I have six days and a journey through the most dangerous stretch of wilderness in the kingdom ahead of me, and last time I did this, I spent every one of those seven days being protected by men who eventually turned around and used the same strength against me. I'd like an option that doesn't depend on any of the
