Minstrel's Serenade by Aubrie Dionne Page A

“Thunderhooves will be fine with the other horses. This is no place for a little boy, no matter how courageous.”
    Nip bit his lip. “I’m strong enough.”
    “Yes, you most definitely are.” Valorian handed Nip a pendant with an emerald framed in gold. The stone caught the firelight of the torches, sparkling. “Here. You stay in the carriage and keep this safe from robbers.”
    Nip’s eyes widened. “What is it?”
    Valorian smiled. “On the back is the royal crest of the House of Song, a lyrebird. The insignia proves I’m their prince and the rightful heir.”
    “Whoa!” Nip held the amulet close to his heart. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep it safe.” He ran to the carriage and shut the door.
    “You have a kind way with children.” Danika gave a gentle smile.
    Valorian brought out his lute and grinned. “If only my charms worked on Bron.”
    Primal hoots from the forest stifled Danika’s laugh before the sound left her throat. Bron aimed the tip of his sword into the shadows. “Let them come.”
    Beside her, Valorian breathed deeply. He strummed an open chord on his lute, opened his mouth and sang. His honeyed tenor voice echoed through the woods, challenging the darkness with light.
     
    “Who so thrives to hunt this night
    Rest your wearied souls.
    For a sweet languor
    In the eve’s stillness
    Lingers to console.”
     
    She drew out her long sword, a miniature replica of her father’s blade with the silver pommel formed in a lion’s head and three rubies lodged in the hilt. Her blade wasn’t as thick as the late king’s, but the lighter bulk allowed her swift movement for quick, superficial cuts. As Bron had taught her, she needed all her weight behind her to lodge the tip through a man’s heart.
    Hulky shapes formed in the shadows. Pairs of red eyes glowed. The air reeked of rotten eggs, rancid sweat and wet dog. Heavy breathing penetrated the night, the sound much like prowling hounds closing in on mouthwatering prey.
    “Kobolds.” Danika coughed, bracing herself for the fight. Smarter and leaner than trolls, their stench alone could kill a man.
    The leaves rustled around them, then silence. Not one of the monsters stirred.
    “Why aren’t they coming out?” Bron shook his sword at the woods in a challenge.
    Danika shouted over the next refrain. “Valorian’s music holds them back.”
     
    “I bid you flee the flames of foes
    Whose sharp blades cut the thickest hide.
    This battle cannot be won with numbers,
    Spears or forceful pride.”
     
    Bron tightened his grip on the hilt. “He cannot sing all night.”
    Valorian’s song had calmed Danika, as well as the beasts in the forest. With steady hands, she gripped her sword and pushed toward the nearest pair of eyes. “Then we’ll cut them down one by one while they’re spell-bound.”
    She reached the first silhouette and raised her sword. Beside her, a massive shape twice the size of the carriage barreled through the front line and broke into the clearing. Legs like hairy tree trunks stomped the grass and rumbled the food in Danika’s stomach.
    The kobold carried an axe with a blade as long as Danika was tall, the sharp edge glinting in the moonlight in the places between the smears of dried blood. Human skulls clattered in a chain hanging around his neck. A single horn protruded from his forehead in a sharp, spiraling twist.
    Valorian increased his volume, practically shouting the refrain as the beast swiped at her and Bron. They ducked and rolled as the axe hit the first row of trees. Branches crashed around them, one of them falling on the carriage. Danika thought of Nip and prayed to Helena and Horred for the boy to have enough sense to stay put.
    “Why isn’t the music working?” Danika shouted into Bron’s ear. The kobold opened a jaw as wide as his forehead and roared, showing rows of uneven, square teeth.
    Bron sighed and leaped up, brandishing his sword to block the princess. “Too dumb to understand?”
    “No,