The Bedchamber Maid Escapes with a Child

On the day the prince married my elder sister, I set fire to a side courtyard of the prince’s manor, grabbed the gold and valuables, and fled. The fire burned all night before it finally went out, turning every trace of my existence to ash. Everyone thought the prince’s unruly concubine and her awkwardly born illegitimate eldest son had both perished in the flames. But I slipped away, taking my three-year-old son with me to the remote western frontier. Later, when the prince tracked me down there, I clung to another man and wept, begging him to let us be together.