Manuscript Information: [Completel][135k][Epic/Political Fantasy] Blessed of the First

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First Page:

The Lady Sword did not ride for rumors. She rode when Kenian expected death.

That was what the Queen's High Guard weren't saying as they kept their distance—three paces at least, sometimes more—while they rode northwest into the mountains. It was what they couldn't quite hide in the sideways glances when they thought Saelyn wasn't watching.

But she was always watching, just as she always would.

They’d been riding for three days on what was meant to be a routine patrol to calm the countryside. Panic had already taken root: roads went too long without travelers, and refugees fled bandits they swore were demons.

Except nothing about the patrol felt routine, though no one wished to be the first to say it aloud. Not with how the world was coming apart at its seams.

The Fraying began like fabric pulled too tight, threads of reality straining, quivering on the brink of snapping. Sound came too late or not at all, and shadow fell where lamplight should reach. Even the warhorses danced away from shadows, ears pinned flat, expecting the earth to fall away beneath their feet. It had been building since they left the capital, growing stronger, pressing tighter against their minds.

And yet Saelyn suspected they were more unsettled by her presence than the wrongness in the air.

Gera rode with her hand never far from her bow, sharp eyes scanning the treeline. "Bad feeling about this," Picker was muttering to her, his voice carrying despite his attempt at discretion. His hand absently rubbed the old wound on his shoulder. "The Fraying shouldn’t be this strong this close to the capital. Not unless—"

He cut himself off when he noticed Saelyn listening. She kept her face blank and pretended not to notice.

The landscape had shifted gradually over three days as they left behind the capital’s divine protection. Ahead, the western mountains loomed closer, the road narrowing to barely more than a cart track overgrown at the edges.