Chapter One
Chime hid when the king came to town.
Everyone in Jacob's Vale knew the royal party would arrive today. Fast messengers traveling
the country kept citizens apprised of the king's progress through the realm of Aronsdale. Chime
had hoped he might skip a hamlet as small as Jacob's Vale, but apparently she wouldn't be so
lucky.
A pack of boys raced into town, hair flying, yelling that King Daron was coming. So Chime hid.
She ran to her family's orchard and climbed her favorite apple tree. At her age, almost eighteen,
she was supposedly too mature for such pastimes, ready instead to settle down and bring a
husband into the household. She had no wish to marry, however, and didn't care in the least
about her supposed lack of interest in climbing trees. She scrambled up the trunk, dressed in
tunic, leggings, and kneeboots, all the hue of yellow apples, her favorite color. She didn't stop
until sh ...
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