Chapter 1
My ragged breathing stirred the edge of my white veil. It obscured my view, distorting the shapes around me.
My vision dimmed from lack of air. I had only just regained consciousness and was completely disoriented. Where am I? How did I get here? Why are there so many people around me?
I weakly raised a hand to pull off the wretched thing and finally take a deep breath. After all, I could figure out what was going on later, but then…
“What are you doing, silly!” someone hissed like a snake beside me, catching my arm and pulling it back.
I flinched, not from pain, but from… No, it can’t be! That voice! Daphne?! But how?! You’re dead!
“His Highness will be here any moment, and if you pull another stunt, I swear, this time I’ll…”
She never got to finish. A voice boomed over our heads:
“His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Raphael Valcorian.”
WHAT?! The world tilted the moment I heard that name! Even though I was kneeling before the altar, I lost my balance and began to topple backward.
I trembled with disbelief and panic. Raphael is here? Does that mean…
“Cordelia, what’s wrong?” My sister caught me again, her grip firm, this time to support me rather than punish. Now there was barely concealed worry in her voice. Daphne…
She had always been like that. Sharp-tongued, stern, and unapproachable on the outside, but deep down, my big sister was fiercely loyal and loving.
But, at the same time, her sharp mind and kind heart never stood in each other’s way. My sister was remarkably sensible and wise.
Oh, gods, how I’ve missed you, Daphne! This thought made me clutch her hand and whisper, “Daphne. Are you really here? What’s happening?”
I couldn’t see her face, but I heard the familiar edge in her voice. My sister was frowning, clearly displeased.
“What are you talking about, Corrie?” she hissedand her usual stern tone returning. “It’s our wedding day. If you’re up to mischief again, now is hardly the time. You’re not a child anymore, sister…”
She kept talking, but I no longer heard her. Two words rang like an alarm bell in my ears. Wedding day?! NO! Please, anything but this! My thoughts darted about like a flock of frightened birds. Then, as if to mock my panic, the master of ceremonies announced in a loud, solemn voice:
“His Highness, Prince Theodore Valcorian.”
***
I didn’t need to lift my veil to imagine how my own death is walking toward me along the temple’s lavish carpet, embroidered with gold. And not just mine…
Today, death took the form of a tall, handsome young man with unusual white hair and a proud face no god would be ashamed to wear.
Theodore walks a little behind his brother, the crown prince, but that doesn’t stop him from outshining Raphael with his unusual appearance and the cold aloofness of a flawlessly beautiful marble statue.
No one can help staring at him. Everyone wants to see him brought to heel today by the commands of his father, the king, and the might of his hated wife’s family. Fools! What fools they are!
“Corrie, pull yourself together,” Daphne whispered so softly I could barely hear her, giving me a painful pinch. “The ceremony is starting…”
Before she could finish, something dark blocked our view. A pair of soft boots embroidered in gold with a fire-breathing dragon came to a stop beside my sister.
“Rise, young lady,” the crown prince said in a slightly hoarse voice as he held out a large hand to Daphne. “It’s time for you to leave your father’s home.”
Raphael was visibly nervous, but he spoke the ritual words clearly and without hesitation. Just as he had the last time.
“I submit to my husband and leave my father’s home to enter my own,” my sister answered the prince in a quiet but confident voice. These words formed the second part of the ritual and effectively completed the ceremony. From this moment on, a man and woman are considered husband and wife. Everything else is just entertainment for family and friends.
“Then let’s go.” Raphael clasped the hand my sister had placed in his and gently wrapped an arm around his bride as he helped her to her feet.
My hands clenched, and tears welled in my eyes. These two… Responsible, dependable Raphael, who used to steal glances at Daphne when he thought no one was looking.
Everyone at court noticed, but tactfully kept quiet. In private, they chuckled fondly at how smitten the elder prince was with his own bride-to-be. And Daphne…
My sister never told anyone, but I’m sure she was drawn to the crown prince. Not as her future sovereign or a stepping stone to greater status, but as a man.
They never had the chance, but I’m sure they would have been happy together. Over many years, they would have nurtured that extraordinary bond between souls so rarely found in our world.
They would have been a good king and queen. If only they’d had the chance to live just a little longer.
Black swept across what little I could see through the white veil. HIM! I shuddered, and tears began to flow unbidden. My whole body froze in terror. The younger prince towered over me like an ominous cliff, his presence filling every inch of space.
I recoiled from his outstretched hand and would have fled in panic, but my legs refused to obey.
“Rise, young lady.” His voice was nothing like Raphael’s. The sweet, melodious voice of a murderer. “It’s time for you to leave your father’s home.”
Not a trace of nervousness, not a hint of interest. He wasn’t asking, and he had no doubts; he was simply giving an order.
In my previous life, I’d been blissfully happy at this moment, triumphant and breathless with happiness.
“He’ll be mine, all mine, ” I’d thought, foolish and full of myself.
Oh, how often I later berated myself for that selfish carelessness and greed. How I mourned the innocent loved ones I’d lost. Father, Mother, Daphne, my cousins, friends, confidants, servants—my entire household, down to the last puppy in the kennels—had been wiped out on orders given in this very same soft, sweet voice.
And the king, the crown prince, the queen? Theodore’s revenge had claimed their lives too.
So is it worth it, Cordelia? Is a dynastic marriage and the fulfillment of your secret girlish desires worth all those lives?
I didn’t answer my own questions. I simply rose, though my legs felt weak with anxiety.
The guests began whispering in surprise when I broke with the ritual, but I was only getting started.
I tore off the stifling bridal veil and faced my future executioner, looking him straight in the eye.
The face I’d found so beautiful and alluring in my previous life now seemed predatory, repulsive, and deadly.
Pearly skin, just like a court lady’s; a long, oval face; a pointed chin; and long white hair arranged in an elaborate style for the occasion.
And above all, his slightly slanted aquamarine eyes stared straight at me. Wild demons lurked in their fathomless blue depths, and I was unlucky enough to be among the few who knew about them.
His gaze had changed only once in my previous life, revealing the full force of his hatred and rage, directed at me alone. That was the day he slaughtered my entire family and began torturing me himself.
He hadn’t hidden his feelings then, and those memories didn’t just make me tremble—oh, no. They dredged up all that pain, physical and emotional, and brought it back in phantom waves that tormented me from the tips of my toes to the ends of my hair.
But strangely enough, those very memories gave me courage, and I cleared my throat and said in a loud voice:
“I will not enter your house, Prince Theodore.” My answer drew a gasp of disbelief from the crowd, and my sister, standing beside me, forgot all etiquette and cried out, “Corrie!”
But I kept my gaze fixed on his eyes! His eyes alone, waiting for some reaction, and… of course, none came. He stood there, silent and immovable as an icy mountain, and not a muscle in his face so much as twitched.
And that made me even more certain.
“I refuse to be your wife, and I am breaking off our engagement.”
“Madness!” someone called out from the crowd. “Duke Roshwald’s younger daughter has lost her mind!”
“What a scandal!” “She’s doomed!” “Disgrace!” “Humiliation!” Voices filled with disbelief came from all sides.
Yes, yes, yes. They were absolutely right. What I was doing made no sense from their point of view. Refuse a prince?! Even if he was the younger one, and unloved at that. At the altar, before the entire court and its distinguished guests? This isn’t just an insult to Theodore himself, but to the whole royal family. And by their own subjects, no less?
This could look like a conspiracy, even rebellion… And cost the entire family the Crown’s favor.
“Cordelia!” A slap stung my cheek, making me flinch and finally tear my gaze from the prince, whose cold eyes seemed to hold me captive.
Even Daphne, usually so calm, couldn’t hold back this time. The slap hadn’t been enough for her; she seized my shoulders in a desperate grip and shook me.
“What are you doing, you crazy girl?!” Her eyes were full of fear as she stared at me. Her cheeks burned with a feverish flush, and her face was twisted with desperation.
Daphne understood better than anyone what this stunt of mine would cost us. But so did I. Oh, I understood it better than anyone else here.
“Get on your knees this instant and beg His Highness for forgiveness.” She pushed down on my shoulders, trying to force me to kneel, but I wouldn’t budge. No way! I will stand my ground!
“Corrie! Your Highness…” She couldn’t get through to me, so she tried a different approach. She turned to the prince and tried to push me behind her. “My sister isn’t well. She felt ill this morning, and I think she has a fever. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. She’s confused, and…”
“No, Daphne.” I pushed my sister aside and stepped forward again. Not because I was angry with her, but because all of Theodore’s anger and displeasure had to be directed at me alone.
“I understand perfectly well, and I’m fully aware of the consequences of what I’m doing. I will not marry you, Your Highness.”
Someone gasped and fainted, but strangely enough, the commotion ended there. Everyone froze, awaiting the younger prince’s reaction. Some gloated, secretly savoring his humiliation; others stared wide-eyed at me, the madwoman, unable to believe what was happening; and still others reveled in the scandal of the century.
The younger prince finally stirred. He slowly tilted his head, as though studying some curious little insect that had appeared out of nowhere in his path. His perfectly sculpted lips twitched as if he were about to speak, but Raphael’s commanding voice cut him off.
“Guards! Seize the younger Lady Roshwald!”
The royal guards, who had kept to the shadows until then, rushed forward and seized me firmly by the wrists and shoulders, forcing my arms behind my back.
The three of us stood frozen: two armed brutes in black doublets and a slender figure in a white dress, awaiting His Highness’s command. I was prepared for anything now, but Daphne…
“Your Highness, my husband…” She rushed to the crown prince and whispered pleadingly, “Please, have mercy…”
“Exile,” Raphael declared loudly, looking only at me as I stood surrounded by guards. He ignored my sister and his own brother alike. “As the most senior member of House Valcorian here, I strip you of all rank and status and sentence you to exile, Cordelia Roshwald, for insulting the younger prince and, through him, the entire royal family! You will leave immediately. Take her away!”
“Your Highness!” Daphne wailed as she fell to her knees before the crown prince and reached out to him. “I beg you for mercy and leniency!”
But Raphael was unmoved and didn’t even look at his wife.
The guards dragged me toward the exit, taking care not to appear too rough in front of the assembled nobles and Their Majesties. After all, they were escorting a noblewoman, even one who had fallen from favor, not hauling some petty thief off to prison.
They, of all people, knew how quickly fortunes could change at court. Besides, my sister had already married Raphael, and there was no going back now. Daphne would be queen, despite the disgrace I’d just brought on our family.
And I… I simply cast a grateful glance at the crown prince before lowering my eyes and letting the guards lead me away without resistance. They’ll get no tears, no hysterics, no pleas from me today. It’s enough that Daphne has already humbled herself in front of everyone.
The poor thing didn’t realize (and how could she know the royal family’s closely guarded secrets?) that Raphael had just saved my life.
He, of all people, knew his little brother all too well. He knew that after humiliating Theodore like that, I might simply not survive the day. But this way…
By sending me into exile, the crown prince wasn’t just punishing me in front of his brother and the guests so the younger prince could save face. He was also sending me far away from that monster, giving me a tiny chance to survive.
«The day’s not over yet», my inner voice said grimly, bringing me back down to earth. It sounded suspiciously like Mother. «None of this is over yet.»
