A Maiden in the Foxcombe: The Spiregarden Saga 1, #1

By Tanya SM Kennedy

Show the World who YOU are.

 

Are you sick of the world pushing its expectations onto you?

 

Not pretty enough, not graceful enough, not skinny enough, just not enough?

 

In her coming-of-age fantasy adventure, A Maiden in the Foxcombe, author Tanya SM Kennedy invites you to celebrate the weird in you.

 

Stare down all that keeps you from fitting in and make them your PRIDE.

 

If everything you are makes you wrong, where do you turn?

 

Kardin is the worst maiden. Lacking in beauty, grace, and manners she has little prospects of finding a match. Which wouldn't be a problem, if she didn't live in Spiregarden.

 

The unmatched maidens of Spiregarden are sacrificed to the Sisterhood for the safety of all Spiregarden. But when a grizzled soldier offers her a chance at escaping her fate she sees a glimmer of hope.

 

Destined to be bait in a study of the very creatures that hunt the maidens of Spiregarden, will Kardin be able to face down every maiden's greatest fear?

 

A Maiden in the Foxcombe is the breathtaking first book in the Spiregarden Saga coming of age fantasy adventures. If you like strong heroines, medieval settings, and action-packed quests, then you'll love Tanya S.M. Kennedy's captivating epic.

 

Winner of the 2021 Author Shout Reader Ready Awards Top Pick.

 

Buy A Maiden in the Foxcombe to challenge society today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tanya SM Kennedy
• Release date: Sep 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215188064

Book preview

Dedication

A Maiden in the Foxcombe is dedicated to my sister Tracey and all the girls and women who have been pressured by society to be or act a certain way. There are so many things a woman is pressured to do to be fulfilled that it can make them feel like a failure if they do not meet them or want them. You are worthy. You are not a failure.

You are loved.

The Origin of the Walls

Long ago, before the Walls, the city of Spiregarden lived in peace with the creatures known as neylon. Large claws, sharp teeth, pale pink skin, neylon inhabited the forest beyond Spiregarden and the citizens came and went in peace as they pleased.

And Spiregarden prospered.

Then it came to pass, as it always seems to do in such stories, that everything changed.

One day, the daughter of a wealthy noble gathered nuts among the trees beyond the city limits. When she failed to return home, the man started a search for his daughter, gathering a group of one hundred men and searching the forest.

What they found could barely be discerned as human.

Blood splattered the grass, gore littered the ground, and scraps of cloth draped the low brush. The father shattered into tears at the sight of what had to be the remains of his daughter. In his grief, the man secluded himself inside his home.

The next day, three young sisters entered the trees to play when they disappeared. Again, all that was found were bloody swathes of clothing. When news of the sisters reached the wealthy nobleman, he gathered his one hundred men and formed the Foxcombe, a group of elite soldiers charged with protecting the city from whatever was killing young maidens.

Three more bodies were found before a witness came forward providing a culprit: the neylon. Surely, these peaceful creatures could not have been responsible for these horrific deaths. But as more and more bodies were found, it became impossible to ignore. The neylon had begun to prey on the maidens on Spiregarden.

A council of Spiregarden’s most influential citizens gathered to discuss the implications. The specifics of attacks showed that the creatures preferred young women of a certain age. They would have had to pass by boys, men, and women to reach a maiden. The creatures were drawn to the maidens, seeking them out. Their daughters, sisters, all seemed to be in danger from these creatures. How long before the predatory neylon turned on their sons? How long before it wasn’t safe to set foot out of doors? It was clear to all that something must be done—and soon.

In honor of his lost daughter and to protect all the future daughters of Spiregarden, the wealthy nobleman commissioned two walls to be built: an Inner Wall to protect the city itself and an Outer Wall to protect the integrity of the Inner Wall. And to protect all citizens of Spiregarden, the council spearheaded the Maiden Laws, prohibiting maidens from leaving the walls.

With the construction of the walls, the citizens of Spiregarden rejoiced in their safety from the monstrous neylon. In their gratitude, the citizens elected the wealthy nobleman as mayor. The Foxcombe grew into an elite force of fighters taxed with guarding the city from neylon.

And the maidens of Spiregarden were locked away for the protection of all.

The Maiden Laws

No woman shall leave the Inner Wall.

All maidens, once they reach puberty, will be entered into a maidenhouse.

No maidens will be allowed outside of the maidenhouse without a chaperone unless she is matched.

Chapter 1

The Spire

"The gallant knight swung his sword strong and it rang off the sharp fangs of the dragon. His polished armor sparked in the light as he twisted and parried. With a raised shield, he deflected a spray of fire so fierce the metal groaned as it fought to hold against the heat. The knight jumped back as a wicked claw slashed at his side and he brought down his blade, severing the dragon’s thick, scaly neck.

"Up the winding stairs he ran, bloodied sword still clutched in his hand, to the uppermost tower and a door barred with a magical lock. From around his neck he removed a silver key on a silver chain. A pulse of light flashed as the key slid into the lock and the door swung wide.

"Across the room stood a vision. She wore a fluttering mass of the purest white lace and silk, and she spun in a halo of gold to face him. Eyes of the deepest blue, skin of the palest porcelain, and lips full and red like the petals of a rose. A sleek, delicate hand stretched out toward him, trailing a slim gold chain.

In an instant their eyes met and he knew from that moment he was hers, complete and true. Never before had he beheld such a vision; surely no other woman could compare...

Kardin’s eyes rolled to the sky as she tossed the book aside in disgust. "Compare to what? A face?" What a pile of drivel. She glared down at the copy of Tales for a Modern Maiden. How was this knowledge any maiden needed? The book was required reading, one of many sanctioned books the maidenhouses of Spiregarden touted. It was meant to impart on the young women of the town what was important for a maiden to be: demure, delicate, beautiful.

But what did that tell a maiden who wasn’t demure, delicate, or beautiful? Kardin knew what it told her—it told her she had nothing to offer. Nothing to offer a society that needed only for them to marry, produce children, and give up their maidenhood to protect all.

Her lungs filled with the strong updraft that rose up the edge of the cliff, heavy with the wet, mossy essence of the orchard below. She stood in a flurry of fluttering fabric. Her stormy blue eyes sparkled with an intelligent glee of mischief; her red hair lay in tangled waves down her back. She was small, even for a maiden, but wiry with muscle. Dirt and green marred her otherwise white garment, but she was good at getting out the stains. Headmistress always told her with a little effort she could be beautiful, but her weirdness would win out over any beauty she could muster.

She knew her duty, of course. Every daughter of Spiregarden had it drilled into her from birth: The scent of a maiden drew neylon and endangered everyone. Therefore, it had become the goal of families to see their daughters married to remove their maidenhoods and increase the safety of all. It wasn’t just expected that she would get married and have children, it was law. Law dictating what she must do, not caring a whiff about what she may or may not want. But that was another thing. A maiden wasn’t supposed to want for more than that. She wasn’t supposed to want for more than family and home. That was her ultimate goal. To think otherwise was considered abnormal.

Guess she was abnormal.

A plump white flake drifted to her cheek and left the faintest impression of a touch. Hers was not a face to inspire love, to encourage devotion and be beyond compare. In fact, there was nothing special to speak of. Her skin was a mottle of freckles amid a warm pinkish brown from the sun, and her lips were nowhere near the red of a rose. Her eyes dropped to her callused hands. No one would ever call them delicate. Add to that the mass of unruly waves that surrounded her face, she wasn’t exactly swimming in potential matches. In fact, she had exactly no prospects.

She sighed as her eyes came back to Tales for a Modern Maiden. It had flopped open to an engraving of a handsome knight with his fair maiden sidesaddle behind him on his mighty steed. Try as she might, she couldn’t picture herself clutched to some handsome man to be whisked off to who knows where. Surely there was more to life than sitting around waiting for some unknown knight to rescue you?

Back in her room, there were stacks of books on her bedside table, a fantastic mix of topics from plants to animals to the stars. No knights, no perfect maidens sitting around waiting for rescue. There was a world full of fascination out there, and she learned how to set a proper table, how to remove stains, how to properly season meals. It was enough to turn her stomach.

But that was Spiregarden. Women were not allowed outside the walls. Maidens were not allowed near the walls. The entire town lived under the fear of the neylons—the nightmare creatures that infested the world outside the walls—trapped them all here. The neylon were drawn to women, maidens especially. Maidens were kept secluded until they were paired, until their husbands took their maidenhood. Until then they were a target for any neylon within smelling range. The maidenhouses were full of horror stories, lessons to the young girls to follow the rules. Stories of maidens stolen in the night, whisked away by the monstrous neylons. As far as Kardin knew, no one had seen a neylon within the walls in generations.

A frigid gust snagged her hair and snapped the robes tight around her. It was time to head back; she’d be missed if she didn’t make third bell. She snatched up her discarded book and lifted a satchel across her shoulders after storing the book inside. She secured her clothes with her cloth belt, leaving her spindly legs exposed below the fabric. Soft slippers gave her toes surpassing dexterity as she clung to the rocks and vegetation. The sharp, rough surface fazed her callused fingers little as she descended. They got her in trouble with the headmistress of her maidenhouse often, her rough hands and feet. Young ladies had soft skin like silk. Guess she wasn’t much of a lady.

Her feet sank into the moss that coated the ground at the base of the Spire. She shook dirt and debris off her robes and turned toward the city, fabric swirling around her feet—but something stopped her short. Her eyes scanned the trees, staring into each shadow as she searched for what had distracted her.

Nothing.

Satisfied that whatever had caught her attention had just been in her head, she turned toward the wall.

And found herself staring into sharp brown eyes.

She leapt back, her heart jamming up into her throat as she crashed into the cliff wall behind her. The rock scraped against her skin and her lungs screamed for air, but the forest before her was empty. Sparks of pain tingled along her arms and legs, burning at the tips of her fingers.

Her racing heart struggled against her chest as she waited for her body to still. There had been no one there, no eyes boring into hers. There never was. She’d had the hallucinations her entire life. The same eyes every time. It never got any easier. They were always waiting for her when she least expected it. She couldn’t remember when the visions had started. Maybe she’d always had them. Perhaps that explained some of her weirdness.

She shook the vision off, thin tendrils of uneasiness slipping from her mind. It was easier each time. There was never malice in the encounters, just shock. Just enough of a leap to catch her attention. There was a time she remembered thinking that the encounters had to mean something, had to be some portent of some kind. For years she kept journals of each encounter. Everything she could recall about each incident she recorded in as much detail as she could. Journals littered her room, hidden in all the places a child would think to hide things, which meant they weren’t really hidden at all. Several burned up in the chimney of her fireplace, a handful were destroyed when her sheets were laundered or her mattress stuffing replaced. She had never been able to glean anything from them anyway, but it was a lot of work lost.

She set about to right her appearance, order her robes, brush out her hair. A maiden would draw attention walking Spiregarden alone, but an unkempt maiden would draw every eye for streets around. Any extra attention would slow her return to the maidenhouse, and tardiness would prompt more questions than she needed to deal with.

The Spire was outside the Inner Wall but well inside the Outer Wall. Her presence there would be punished—young ladies were not permitted outside the Inner Wall, not even permitted unchaperoned in town. Best not to draw any more attention than necessary.

Around her the forest loomed, trees tended and cared for by special members of the Guard. On the ground, even under the canopy, the air was warm and comfortable. The forest floor was mottled with the filtered sunlight that seeped through the leaves. The trees sheltered wildlife in the Between that fed Spiregarden. The limbs were alive with the songs of birds and the chittering of squirrels. The forest stretched for as far as she’d ever seen, perhaps even all the way to the Outer Wall, far out of sight beyond the gently rising hills past the Spire.

She glanced around before she made a mad rush back to the Inner Wall. Her robes rustled against the undergrowth. Her toughened feet carried her through the young forest and kicked up must from the leaf litter as she went.

Dusk darkened the sky as the Inner Wall reared up above her. Stark and unadorned, the Inner Wall rose above the roofs of the buildings closest to it. It was ten feet wide with guard towers every fifty yards. It was said the Outer Wall appeared to brush the very clouds, making the Inner Wall pale in comparison, but she would never see the Outer Wall, never see anything but the streets of Spiregarden.

To each side of her stretched the sheer face of the wall, only broken by a patch of ivy straining up toward the sky. The ivy snaked well above her head and thickened into a curtain of green near the base. She ducked behind the fall of vines and felt around in the dark until she found an edge in the wall’s foundation. She had discovered the fault in the structure in the first years of her maidenhood. The Inner Wall was not as well maintained as the Outer Wall so her secret pathway remained unrepaired.

Cool, damp air wrapped around her as she moved deeper into the wall’s thick stone. She trailed a finger along the side of the fissure to guide herself through the pitch toward the muted light at the other end. At the far end of the wall, she paused behind a cascade of green vines that lined the inner edge. She crouched in the darkness, straining her hearing for any sound beyond the veil. When no sound reached her, she spread the leaves and rushed into the alley beyond. It ran along the edge of the wall behind the Merchant’s Mile.

The Merchant’s Mile housed Spiregarden’s merchants. The more prosperous merchants were on the opposite side of the Merchant’s Mile, but the buildings on the wall side were just as large if less ornate. The buildings towered high over her—monstrous composites of wood, stone, and mortar. The fronts of the buildings were covered in garish paint to display the prowess of each merchant, but back here the walls were natural, gray and brown with darker black where materials were close to needing replaced. Materials were hard to come by in the city, so even the best manicured houses had to be lax on repairs until material could be gathered.

The windows that faced the alley were most if not all covered with heavy drapes. Before the walls, these would have provided a view of the forests beyond the city. Now they just looked out on a back alley and the gray expanse of wall.

Though a thin patch of grass stretched between each building, little traffic traversed them; the alley was more for deliveries. This was the best walk in Spiregarden. The view may leave something to be desired, but the lack of traffic and smells more than made up for it. Spices and perfumes permeated the air. Sometimes the street was filled with smoke from cooking meat and it was near torture to traverse the small road.

She could turn right and make a quicker trip to the Bellaro Maidenhouse where she was enlisted, but at this hour there was no way to evade notice by herself. Instead, she turned left, away from the maidenhouses. She needed a chaperone, and there was one person she could trust not to turn her in for being out in the city without one in the first place.

The pathway along the wall was mostly packed earth, and here was no exception. It wasn’t until past the last merchant house that the road became paved with well-laid bricks. The transition from Merchant’s Mile to the Foxcombe compound was marked by the alley turning from dirt to smooth bricks.

The Merchant’s Mile fell away behind her and the alley curved along a head-high fence of stacked stones. The fence ran the length of the Foxcombe headquarters with only a handful of gates to allow entrance. The largest, main gate was wide enough for two wagons to pass through side by side. It also garnered the most traffic. She was looking for something more discrete.

A side gate barely wide enough for a large man to pass through led straight to the barracks. It was used entirely by the ’combe on personal trips into the city proper. It was this small gate she utilized now, avoiding all eyes that may question why she was out alone. The path beyond led around behind the barracks to the side entrances.

The barracks itself was an ugly brown square building with a multitude of windows staring out toward the bland wall or toward the central courtyard of the Foxcombe campus. She passed by the first entrance at the side of the building and headed around to the back that ran along the wall. Halfway along the building was the door she was headed for. She rushed inside, pulling it shut behind her.

The room beyond was dark and filled with stores, bags of tubers and flour, jars of spices and candies stacked and piled on shelves lining the walls. She loved this room, the delicious aromas of curries and peppers. She pressed her ear to an inner door and waited for the sounds of talking and footsteps to fade before she opened it. The hallway opened onto several rooms but she moved past them to the end and took the stairs. She climbed to the third floor and rushed into the first room.

The room was sparse, with a small bed against the wall, a wash table under the window, and a peg behind the door for clothes. Her lips spread in a sneer as she slammed the door and startled the young man sleeping on the bed.

Geedah, Kardin! Gray eyes flashed as Glend dropped his legs over the edge of the mattress and ran a hand through his rusty hair. He was handsome, as boys her age went, tall and strong. She had heard many of the girls in the maidenhouse go on about him, but Glend was different, smarter. For years she had nursed quite the crush on him, assuming in her childhood ignorance that nothing would ever change. But as she grew and learned, became more herself, she realized that even Glend and the comfort he offered just wasn’t enough. She wanted more than what she could be offered by marriage, though what that could be she couldn’t begin to understand.

Were you seriously asleep? she asked.

His hands rested on his knees as he glanced up at her. He was big for his age, only a season older than her, barely old enough to be a proper escort. His uniform jacket was folded neatly at the foot of the bed. He glanced at the window and shook his head. It’s nearly dark!

Her arms crossed as she straightened her back. Then I suggest you hurry.

His grumbles were unintelligible as he moved about the tiny quarters. He stuffed a foot into a tall boot. You do know it’s illegal for you to be outside the maidenhouse without an escort?

You could always come with me, she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

He stood, broad shoulders heaving with a sigh. I may have promised your mother to keep an eye on you but I never promised to climb the Spire once a week just to look at birds.

She handed him his jacket and challenged his stare with a grin. You should try it, Glend. Might loosen that stiff jaw.

Glend could possibly be the dullest man in Spiregarden but there was no one she trusted more. The son of her parents’ neighbors, Glend had been her constant companion as a child. Kardin’s mother had never had time for her; she was too busy planning parties and dinners—the true life of a Spiregarden wife. So, Kardin spent her days in the yard where she wouldn’t be underfoot, as her mother would say. One day she had seen someone watching her through the fence. Young Glend had also been sent outside to get out from under his mother’s feet and they spent most of their time together from that day on. Up until the day she had been sent to the maidenhouse.

His jaw muscles tightened as he buttoned his jacket then offered her his arm. Her eyes sparkled as she flashed him a coy smile. My big strong protector!

You are intolerable! he said.

When they had been children, they dreamed and played at what life would bring them. In their fantasies they explored beyond the walls, rescuing Spiregarden from its seclusion and the ever-present danger of the neylons. It wasn’t until later that it was impressed on her how foolish her childhood dreams were. No maiden, no woman would ever be allowed to set foot beyond the Outer Wall. It never hit harder than when Glend had been accepted into the Foxcombe. Now he lived the dream they’d both had and she sat in her cell at the maidenhouse awaiting a life of boredom.

Glend moved with a light grace as he guided Kardin out of the barracks. It’s dangerous for you to leave the Inner Wall; we’ve had incidents inside the walls, you know.

Her face lit up. You have? When? she demanded. What got through? What happened?

Her enthusiasm pulled an even sterner glare to his eyes. There is definitely something wrong with you.

She rolled her eyes as he pushed open the heavy front doors and led her into the street that bustled with soldiers preparing for the night. Men from their mid-teens to gray-haired seniors carried about their evening chores in a sea of blazing red uniforms. A handful of glances shot her way but she wasn’t an uncommon sight in the complex. She showed up whenever she had the need of a chaperone.

Why? Because I’m not some boring fop? What happened?

He sucked his lip as his gaze moved along the bustling street. Boots echoed off the stones beneath their feet, filling the air with a chorus of marching. Several uniformed men saluted and nodded to Glend in greeting. Despite her jealousy, it always pleased Kardin to see how well her friend fit in in his chosen profession. He deserved to be happy and she was sure his boring attitude of following rules allowed him to excel in the ’combe.

No matter how terrible her day, Glend could pull her from any foul mood. No matter how irritating he became, she could find solace in the one person she could be herself with. Life in the maidenhouse meant suppressing her personality to put forth the proper visage of a maiden, locking herself away. The façade put a weight on her soul that no sleep could counter. The only true relief came when she was able to completely drop all pretense and allow herself the only freedom she could attain in Spiregarden.

They passed from the soldiers’ section through the main gate and into the town proper. The buildings of the city proper pressed against the walls of the Foxcombe compound, seeking to take over the open space within. The streets were even darker among the buildings with the sun well below the wall. Flickering torches lined their path, casting shadows that danced and gathered in the corners and alleys. There was no need to worry about thieves or crime even in the dark. Between the Watch and the Foxcombe, most nefarious minds found themselves with nowhere to hide.

With the protection of a chaperone, Kardin was able to pass directly through Market Street. Gilded walkways stretched over them, connecting the buildings. Bright colors screamed for attention. Shoppers milled about the spaces decorated with beautiful carvings of animals and women, looking to grab a few last items before the shops shut down for the night. They strolled through, allowing the crowd to cut in and around them in their evening rush.

Glend waited till they had passed the throng before attempting to speak again. "Kardin, you can’t keep