Elvira's POV
The palace of Solvelyn was more beautiful than imagined and obviously more dangerous.
It glittered with marble halls and gold ceilings, chandeliers with thousands of crystals. Everywhere I turned, there were grand paintings, lush gardens, silk-draped corridors.
But beneath the beauty, it was a palace of knives.
Every look was a dagger.
Every smile, a trap.
Every compliment, a slow, deliberate poison.
In the days following the wedding, I was attended all the court's social events, with Kael's warning in mind .
A tea here.
A luncheon there.
Endless, glittering affairs where the noblewomen wore silk and spoke with honeyed venom.
"Oh, Princess Elira," one lady cooed as she passed. "How… refreshing to see such beauty gracing our halls."
Another murmured with a soft laugh, "Elyndor customs must be so simple tell us, did you really marry without love there as well?"
Each backhanded compliment cut deeper than a blade.
But i smiled, unfazed, I knew what I had signed up for and I knew it wasn't going to be easy.
They wanted me to falter.
I would give them nothing.
At one particularly suffocating garden party, I met her.
My first obvious enemy.
Lady Ivenna.
She was tall , with her golden colored hair, and clothed in a gown of red silk, she looked more like a queen than a courtier.
Her beauty was cold, calculated, flawless.
And her hatred was instant.
The moment we met, I could the crackle of animosity, sharp and undeniable.
Ivenna approached with a sweet smile that didn't touch her emerald eyes.
"Your Highness," she said, voice dripping with false reverence. She curtsied, but only shallowly just enough to be insulting. "What a… fascinating creature you are."
I knew her type, I had dealt with so many back home. "Fascination is a powerful thing, Lady Ivenna. I hope you don't become obsessed." I said
A few ladies nearby gasped softly behind their fans.
Ivenna's smile fell. For a moment, the mask slipped, and there it was pure, naked disdain.
"You'll find,that not everyone here is eager to embrace new… traditions." Ivenna said
She leaned closer.
"Some of us remember what Elyndor blood truly brings."
The unspoken word hung heavy in the air: curse.
I would give it to her, she put up a good challenge, but I didn't come to Solvelyn to be stepped on.
"Tradition is such a delicate thing. Easily broken… if one isn't careful."
The corner of Ivenna's mouth twitched in barely concealed rage.
The opening blows had been exchanged.
This was no longer just marriage.
No longer just survival.
It was war.
And I had just met my first real enemy.