Chapter 18
The letter arrived by black courier—no emblem, no escort, no guards. Just a sealed scroll, tied with crimson ribbon, left on the grand table in Dravencourt's great hall.
Kael opened it first.
His eyes scanned it once.
Twice.
Then he handed it to Eliendara without a word.
She took it with steady fingers, already sensing the venom beneath its wax seal.
The handwriting was elegant, deliberate. The ink—red as rusted iron.
My dearest Elira,
Or should I now call you Eliendara?
You've awakened. At last.
I thought it only proper to invite you to witness what your death gave birth to: my new life. A new bond. A new future. One built atop the ashes of the old one you so tragically lost.
You are hereby cordially invited to attend the wedding of Lord Thorne Drestin…
…and Lady Eliendara Vexley.
Date: Seven nights hence.Location: The Sanctuary of Veiled Flame.
Dress well. History always remembers a well-dressed ghost.
Yours in eternal memory,—T.D.
Eliendara's grip on the scroll tightened until the parchment crumpled.
Kael's voice was low and controlled. "He's provoking you. Using your name. Your identity. To bait you."
She didn't answer immediately. Her eyes stared through the letter, seeing something far deeper—the Sanctuary of Veiled Flame.
A place that shouldn't exist anymore.
A temple that had been burned down after the fall of the First Blood Gate.
"Lady Eliendara Vexley," she whispered. "He's marrying someone using my sealed identity. He's declaring her me."
Kael stepped forward. "It's a ritual. A binding. That temple… it's not for weddings. It's for offerings."
Realization burned behind her eyes. "He's not just binding himself to her. He's trying to complete the seal. To overwrite what I've reclaimed."
"If he does that—"
"I'll be erased again," she said coldly. "Body, soul, magic. All of it."
Kael's voice turned hard. "Then we burn the temple before it begins."
"No," Eliendara said.
Kael turned to her. "Why?"
"Because I need to see who is pretending to be me," she said. "I need to know who he's using… or who let him use my name."
She looked down at the broken letter in her hand.
"This time, I walk into the trap," she whispered, "knowing it's a trap."
Kael stepped closer, gaze locked with hers. "Then I'm coming with you."
Her lips curved into a bitter smile. "You'll have to wear something black."
The flames on the hearth danced higher as if stirred by a whisper from the past.
And far away, beyond the forests and the jagged ridges of Emberfall, a masked bride stood in a blood-stained gown… practicing her new name.
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 19: The Bride Who Stole a Name
Eliendara arrives at the Sanctuary of Veiled Flame—where every guest wears a mask, and none are truly alive.
The bride descends the altar wearing Elira's old face.Her voice is perfect. Her memories exact.
Because someone gave them to her.Someone who bled them out of Eliendara's soul.