Preface- The mark of the axe and the rose
The sun over Lys had always been generous, but that day, even its light felt cold upon the white marble of our palace. I knew the herald would arrive. Ever since the alliance with Ferro was proposed, every hour had been a countdown to my own sentencing.
“Princess Liora of Lys,” the herald read in a booming voice, “is cordially invited to the court of King Aric for the consummation of the Alliance and the celebration of their sacred marriage.”
Sacred.
My fingers tightened on the delicate lace of my Lys gown. The elders of the Senate of Roses nodded with resignation. Peace, they reminded me, always comes at a price. And that price was me. My home, my freedom, my very heart, all destined to be sacrificed at the altar of a king who knew only fear and steel. I felt the first pang of the Resonance, a tremor in my chest. Not from fear of the unknown, but from the inescapable truth whispering within me: this was not the beginning of a union, but the start of a war. A silent war, fought in the halls of a grim castle, against a paranoid king and a dark-eyed guardian who promised to be both my protector and my end.
The invitation was made. And I had no choice but to accept.
