Dame Ophis

By Merlina Garance

She has many names.

Lady of the Oak.

Dame Ophis.

Few are those to know her real one.

Sinha.

When wounded knight Cerris crosses through the forest on her way back to the castle, she doesn't expect a surprising young woman to offer her shelter, nor to heal her.

Things take a complicated turn when Cerris realises who she is dealing with.

She is supposed to kill Dame Ophis.

The only problem is, she might have fallen in love with Sinha.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Merlina Garance
• Release date: Feb 14, 2025
• ISBN: 9782959012891

Book preview

1

UNDER THE PAIN was shame.

Shame that she’d let them catch her as unaware as a page boy, that she’d barely escaped the encounter.

There had been many of them, yes, but as a seasoned knight of the realm, Cerris should have been able to hold her own better than this.

As it was, she’d made it out alive, having killed two of her assailants and badly scraped a bunch of the rest — but badly scraped herself, too. She distinctly felt the place where mail meshed into the flesh of her left flank, and the hot trickle of blood down her skin.

She could live with the pain, but upon making it back to the castle, she would have to report on her failing, and surely a few of her companions in arms would be sent out to hunt the bandits and make sure to return the North Road to safety for all the honest travelers.

She’d entered the forest a good half hour ago, keeping Willow, her gentle bay mare, at a slow pace to avoid jostling her wound into a worse state.

On a normal day, being encased by the familiar woods was a comfort. Today, the knowledge that she was wounded, vulnerable after such a grueling fight, had her checking her surroundings far more often than usual. The quiet hovering of mist in between trunks of pines, hollies and oaks felt like a threat at her back, ready to stab her until she dropped the rest of the way ‘til death.

Willow herself was agitated between her thighs, huffing and puffing at the smallest flurry of a bird taking off, or an insect flying around her eyes. The poor horse had had to witness the fight, tied to a tree, while Cerris struggled to keep the both of them safe against the assault of a dozen.

Cerris had vowed to herself, thankful to find Willow uninjured, that she would leave her free from now on. She would rather Willow escape than find her dead, or worse, to have to end her companion’s suffering herself.

A shadow crossed their path in an orange blur — a fox. Cerris tightened her hold over the reins, ready to send Willow into a trot or gallop if necessary.

They went on for what seemed an eternity, the constant twinging at Cerris’ side enough to stretch time until she couldn’t remember when they’d entered the forest in the first place.

She had no idea where they were when a voice came from above.

Halt!

Willow stopped before Cerris could even think to pull on the reins. Dizzy from the blood loss, she looked up, eyes scanning the lowest branches of the trees around her to find the origin of the voice. After a few seconds of nothing but wind rustling the leaves, she concluded her injury must be terrible enough that she had started hallucinating.

Drop your sword to the ground.

There it was again. A feminine voice, overhead.

Who are you? Cerris called back, lungs straining to get air in despite the pain.

You’ll get to ask when you’re unarmed.

Frustration at the absurdity of the situation, paired with another painful jab under her wrist, was the last straw to Cerris’ patience for the day.

I’m injured, just let me through to Montrart castle and we can forget everything about this encounter!

"I know you’re injured, you are bleeding all over the moss and if you stay like that you’ll attract wolves in no time. Now unsheathe your sword, drop it to the floor and dismount so I can stitch you up before you and your horse get dismembered by the pack."

Cerris’ heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t thought about wolves. On a normal day, crossing through the forest to reach the castle was a relatively safe endeavour. Wolves feared mounted knights and the shine of a sword.

She had almost forgotten about the scent of blood.

Willow bristled under her, taking a nervous step to the left. Cerris thought of her options. If a pack of wolves got cocky enough to brave her sword and bite at Willow’s shanks, she’d dismount all right, although not of her own volition, and be left to fight the beasts while holding on to her bleeding side. Not an exciting prospect.

Or… letting go of the only mean she had to defend herself, trusting the strange voice coming from the trees, promising to heal her?

It sounds like a trap, to be honest, she wheezed.

A soft thud behind her had Willow jumping at the same time as Cerris pulled on the reins to turn her mount around.

A woman had landed in the grass, seemingly dropping from the heavens. A scarf covered the lower half of her face, letting show a slip of copper skin, but she was unarmed, dressed in a simple brown tunic covering down to her knees, above similarly coloured breeches. Leather boots laced above her ankles protected her feet, but it wasn’t the outfit of a warrior. A thief, at best, and Cerris had nothing of value on her, except her own life and Willow’s.

Before Cerris could react, the stranger moved forward, feet padding silently on the moss covered ground of the forest, and extended a hand out for Willow to smell.

In Cerris’ experience, an animal’s reaction was often the best gauge of a stranger’s trustworthiness. Willow stretched her head forward, ears pointed ahead curiously, and brought her muzzle close to the woman’s palm. A few sniffs later, Willow pulled back, standing peaceful under her.

Cerris let out a resigned sigh.

And where exactly would you stitch me up? We’re in the middle of nowhere.

The corner of the woman’s eyes crinkled with mirth, before she nodded upwards.

Follow me. And do leave your sword down here, thank you very much. Nothing bad will happen to your horse as long as you listen to me.

Cerris wrinkled her nose, considering her options. The blood loss could get severe, if she didn’t act fast enough, and yet it was likely that in the first place that made her agree to this madness. Slowly, she swung one leg around until she could hop out of the stirrups, landing onto the ground with a wince. Her right hand went to her flank on instinct, covering what the leather armour had done a bad job of protecting. With gritted teeth, she unclasped the sword sheath from her belt, and let it drop soundlessly onto the mossy floor.

Let’s go, the woman said, caressing Willow’s nose before directing her away. Willow followed at a calm pace, leaving Cerris to fall into step behind them. The stranger led them to the foot of a mighty oak, most of its foliage hidden up into the canopy, far above the shorter bushes that populated the forest floor.

Cerris frowned when the woman hopped and grabbed a rope off a branch, pulling to reveal a full ladder, swinging down to the floor.

Follow me, she said.

Won’t you… blindfold me? Cerris asked in disbelief.

The other woman chuckled.

Don’t worry. This castle has its own portcullis.

Then, with a wink thrown over her shoulder, she began to climb, nimbly lifting her weight onto the rope ladder disappearing above Cerris’ head.

Right, and it’s because I’m injured that I should climb up that thing, just to make sure I tear through that gap in my side a little more… she mumbled to herself, taking the few steps separating her from the bottom of the tree.

You’ll be healed sooner that way than if you carry on riding that poor horse of yours which, by the way, desperately needs water!

Cerris scoffed to herself. That woman had dangerously fine tuned ears. She spared a glance for Willow who was already grazing peacefully.

Right, Cerris grunted. Don’t get eaten by wolves. I’ll be back soon.

And on that note, she took another upward glance at the ladder. The way is swung from left to right didn’t exactly inspire trust, but something, blood-loss-induced folly perhaps, urged her to follow the other woman. With a pained wince, she reached up with her good arm, and pulled herself up.

Shit. That fucker had gotten her deeper than she thought. The pull in the skin of her right flank was, well, more probably due to the tear in muscle than a mere graze of a rusty dagger. With a slow exhale, she lifted her right arm, and wailed.

Will you manage down here? came an amused voice from above.

Couldn’t you have stitched me up on the ground? Cerris roared, while hoisting herself up another few rungs.

Not really. I have too much material up here.

Frowning through the sweat gathering on her brow, Cerris clenched her teeth, and decided that it would surely be better to pull the arrow out in one go, so to speak. That was, until she faced a bee hive, the rounded shape clinging to the trunk of the tree.

"Are you joking? You are trying to kill me!" she yelled, making sure that she was loud enough this time.

Don’t worry, the younger woman called, closer than Cerris had expected her to be. They won’t sting you as long as I’m with you.

You’re not with me! You’re nowhere to be seen! Cerris panted through the awful jabs tearing at her side.

Ugh, do I have to explain everything about bees to you right now? Just calm down, they can sense I’m not alarmed and they won’t touch you. I promise.

Cerris blinked at the insects quietly buzzing in and out of their hive, entirely ignorant of her presence.

I’ve gone completely insane, she huffed, and kept on climbing.

Unable to stop her pitiful gasps of pain, she powered up, forgetting just how high oaks could go until the ground was only a vague concept and she was poking her nose above the end of the rope, and a wooden platform.

What the…

A house. A freaking house, up in the tree. Heavy breaths continued to pour out of her as she grabbed onto the first plank for stability, then climbed up until her feet were touching something stable, at last.

She was surrounded by wooden walls, through which a few windows had been pierced. In a corner, a fire was burning — although how the house hadn’t gone up in flames was to question — and the walls were lined with