Free Minstrel's Serenade by Aubrie Dionne

the bottom of the hill. She stepped onto a gabled porch as if the cracked wood were a palace and opened the front door. Golden light cast by a simmering fireplace and hanging lanterns spilled around them. “Bring the minstrel to me.”
    Bron jumped from the carriage and helped Danika off her horse. “I’ll see to the horses after we usher Valorian inside.”
    “Thank you, Bron.” Danika hurried to the carriage door, afraid of what she’d find. They’d ridden for a full hour, as her mother had advised, and Valorian’s condition could have deteriorated.
    Swallowing bile, she opened the door. Valorian remained where they’d left him, splayed over the bags of rice. He met her gaze and offered a weak smile. Compassion overflowed her heart. “Come with me, we’ll get you healed up in no time.”
    Beside him, Nip clamped his hand over the wound. “I didn’t let go.”
    “Good. You did a superb job.” Tears burned Danika’s eyes. For such a good lad, he had dreadful luck. She couldn’t keep the truth from him for much longer. Soon he’d leave the carriage and count two fewer horses, one of them his.
    But first she must tend to Valorian. She placed a hand on his shoulder as Bron came up behind them. “Stay here while we get Valorian situated.”
    Nip nodded.
    Dear Helena, make the boy listen. “That’s an order.”
    Danika and Bron carried Valorian into the cottage. They placed him on a low bed of straw covered in rough linen. Gone were her mother’s fancy embroidered pillows. The queen had ordered her handmaidens to arrange and rearrange them on her bed back in Ebonvale. Danika shook off a memory of her mother slapping her sticky hand as a child when she tried to touch a shiny, golden cushion with indigo tassels from Jamal.
    Memories came in a flood and Danika swiped at them like bats, turning them all away. She had to focus on Valorian. He wandered in and out of consciousness as blood soaked the scarf she’d tied around him.
    Bron paced back and forth in the small room. “I’ll get the boy.”
    “Bron.” Danika touched his arm in warning.
    “He has to know.” Bron pulled away. “In times like these, boys turn to men sooner than later.”
    Danika nodded, frowning. If only she could protect Nip from the truth.
    Her mother carried over jars of ointment and bandages from a storage room in the back. She knelt beside Valorian and untied the makeshift tourniquet.
    Suspicion clouded Danika’s mind. “Since when are you a healer?”
    Her mother didn’t even glance up. “Since I’ve lived alone in these woods. Necessity is the greatest teacher.”
    Alone? Where was her minstrel lover? The man she had loved more than Danika and her father?
    The prince of the House of Song glanced up and held out a shaking hand. “You can call me Valorian.”
    Her mother took his hand in her knobby fingers. Complex emotion sped through her eyes.
    Danika leaned forward. Was she remembering her minstrel?
    “My name is Sybil.”
    “I know.” Valorian closed his eyes as Sybil pressed an ointment into the cut. His response almost knocked Danika backward. Did he know her or know of her? She’d heard rumors the House of Song arranged for her mother and the minstrel to meet and even enabled their escape. If Valorian’s family had been a part of this, she could never link her kingdom with such thieves.
    Was she getting carried away? The former queen had left a legacy of infamy back in Ebonvale. Perhaps Valorian just knew the tale.
    Behind her, the cottage door opened and Bron stepped in. “Come.” He took Danika’s arm as if sensing the tumultuous feelings storming inside her. “The boy needs you and I have to tend to the horses.”
    Danika allowed Bron to escort her to the front porch. The new day had brightened the sky to a dull slate canvas. Nip sat on the last step, staring at the ground.
    Danika sat beside him. “I’m sorry about your horse.”
    He shrugged and sniffed. Tears streaked his freckled cheeks. “It always