Princess Heather stared up at the glowing orb hovering silently above her, its surface shimmering like a second sun in the morning sky. She wished she could reach out and shatter it, but she knew the intrusion was absolute. They had to deal with the overhead surveillance however they could.
Heather's focus shifted back to her dismal meal. She sat staring at her plate, a forkful of beans and toast frozen halfway to her mouth, her expression one of pure disbelief that this peasant food might be her last. Her gaze drifted toward Daniela, who remained draped in Crown Prince Jasper's heavy royal-blue cloak, her dark green hair swaying messily around her shoulders. It made Heather wonder which Prince would eventually be hers. Would any of them look at her with the raw, terrifying devotion Jasper showed Daniela? She shook her head, chuckling softly to herself. She was doubtful. If this journey had taught her anything, it was that fairy tales were for children, and dreaming of better days was a unique kind of pain. Resigned to her reality, she watched someone else's love story unfold, feeling like a permanent spectator to a life she would never lead.
Daniela, however, felt oddly satisfied. Jasper's looming presence settled something in her chest that had been restless for days—a sensation entirely new, a weight that felt like an anchor rather than a chain.
Heather's eyes narrowed on Crown Prince Jasper as she watched the odd reactions of the Sentinels, who seemed to notice something that was lost on the princesses. As everyone packed up the camp, the shift was obvious. Princesses walked past the warriors, offering polite nods, but there was nothing about their movement that seemed worried. Yet, each time a Sentinel passed the royal couple, they gave them a wide berth. Their eyes were permanently affixed to the ground, their blades held a fraction tighter. Some, like the Gargoleons, seemed physically repelled, keeping a substantial distance between themselves and the pair. Heather wondered what they saw that she couldn't. All she saw was a completely enamored Prince.
Varek's survival instincts screamed to life as he watched Jasper and Daniela. There was a savage edge to the Prince—a territorial darkness radiating outward, infecting the other warriors with visible, jittery nerves. None of them were immune to the potent aura of violence pulsating around Jasper; it was a silent, strict warning.
Once the initial fear had ebbed away enough for them to function, the vampires were the first to truly notice the change. To a vampire, heartbeats were like pounding drums, a rhythmic tune they heard in every waking moment, pushing them toward the lifeblood they craved. In a large encampment, no two hearts ever beat exactly alike. So, when the pounding of two hearts hit the air in perfect sync, it could not be ignored. The vampires stood like statues, heads tilted at odd angles, their sensitive ears tracking the rhythm of the clearing. The fact that Jasper and Daniela's pulses hit the air in a singular, synchronized thrum felt like a foreboding omen. They weren't sure if it was a protective link or something far more ancient, but it signaled a power shift they couldn't yet define.
All the warriors with enhanced senses could smell Jasper in every pore of Daniela. The pair made no secret of their impropriety, but it wasn't just the scent of sex clinging to them. It was the scent of power—his power, vibrating beneath her skin. Though she looked unchanged, Daniela now smelled like a demon. A powerful one.
Princess Selena, flanked by Giannina, Guinevere, and Margie, was lost in a circle of frantic whispers. Seeing Daniela approach, Selena detached herself, smoothing her hair over the thin, bald patches she'd created from weeks of anxious pulling. She stepped forward, her smile brittle and unfamiliar.
She curtsied low to the Prince. "Welcome back, Your Majesty. Princess Daniela. I wish to—"
"I wouldn't want you to make a hasty, ill-advised decision," Daniela cut her off with a cunning, razor-sharp smile. She knew exactly why the coward had come slinking over: the contract. "I believe you need more time to think."
Daniela had not forgotten Selena's earlier words about the contract being unfair. They were hours away from meeting the trolls; there was no benefit in allowing anyone to sign now. Death and fear would solidify Daniela's importance in their minds far better than mercy ever could.
The golden orb continued its patrol, circling them before hovering at Daniela's eye line. Looking directly into the orb, Daniela gave the Sovereigns back in the castle a sharp smirk before turning away.
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the viewing chamber as Daniela's smirking lips took over the screen, eclipsing everything else as if she were mocking them all. The monarchs leaned forward in unison, their faces illuminated by the Orb's ghostly light, their predatory eyes fixed on the small scrap of parchment in the projection.
"Are we all going to pretend we aren't dying of curiosity?" Queen Griselda of the Shades finally rasped, her nearly colorless eyes narrowing.
A murmur of agreement rippled through the room. King Michael sat perfectly still, his face a mask of calm knowing, though beneath the surface he was in genuine confusion; he had no inkling of what his son's chosen princess was plotting. Beside him, Queen Dahlia leaned back, a smug smirk playing on her lips. She didn't need to know the details to recognize a master stroke of leverage. She had total faith in Daniela's ability to bleed these girls dry. Whatever they promised her would only be a benefit to their Kingdom.
Crown Prince Jasper, watching from his seat in the chamber, let out a low, dark chuckle that vibrated in his chest. He looked thoroughly entertained, like a man watching a play whose ending he had already rewritten. Though his nails dug into the cushion beneath him, he didn't like anyone having such a close look at his princess. She wasn't for the masses to devour—not even with their eyes.
The Royals watched as Princess Daniela, smirk still in place, stepped past Selena and entered her carriage, lifting the seat cushions to find a fresh outfit. Crown Prince Jasper remained a silent, looming shadow at her side, following her into the cramped space without a word to the others.
The Sovereigns watched as Selena held the parchment in her hands painfully tight, clearly praying that one of their Sentinels would take the initiative and relieve her of the paper.
Selena's jaw tightened until it ached. Daniela was being a bitch—the once naive, crippled girl who now delighted in making everyone beg. It was a stifling amount of arrogance for someone so new to power. In a fit of rage, Selena pulled the embossed contract from her pocket and ripped the parchment to shreds. She ground the pieces into the mud with her heel before a sudden torrent of fire magic erupted from her palms, incinerating the remains into fine, grey ash.
A spike of collective fury hissed through the Royals.
"Fuck!" King Elderon hissed, slamming his empty glass onto the stone table. "She burns the evidence before we can read the terms!" His fangs poked out on full display as he spoke.
"What is she playing at, King Michael?" King Osric demanded, his stony voice echoing like a rockslide. His massive stone wings scraped against each other with a harsh, grinding sound as he demanded answers.
"Would your Crown Princess not know her sister's mind the best?" King Michael countered, irritated that he too was in the dark, but refusing to let the others see him sweat.
Crown Princess Kayla felt the eyes of every Royal in the room boring into her. Her body heated with anxiety, and she wished she could simply disappear. The sister in the orb—the one currently dominating the marriage market—was a stranger to her. Her Daniela was crippled and kind, naive to the point of stupidity. This version? Kayla didn't know her. She was inclined to believe her sister had been possessed by whatever monstrosity had gotten inside the rest of them.
Before she could speak, King Magnus cut in, his charming voice pulling the attention away from Kayla. "Princess Daniela has acted above the marriage market from the beginning, choosing to circumvent centuries of history and tradition. She should be punished."
Prince Linden nodded, agreeing with his father. He was eager to see Daniela punished, brought to heel, and reminded that she was just a woman meant to be a mother and nothing more.
Prince Landon wanted to speak up, to stop this trajectory, but when he looked toward his mother, Queen Elara shook her head. Her eyes were steely and resolute. She did not want him defending Daniela, especially if it meant going against the head of their family.
"It is a private matter between women," Queen Dahlia countered smoothly, her voice like silk over a blade. "Unless you're admitting your princesses are too weak to handle a bit of parchment." She laughed, her delicate hand covering her lips as the sound slipped past her fingers.
The kings bristled, more questions dying on their lips as the heavy oak doors at the back of the chamber creaked open.
Three Sentinels entered the room—a vampire with skin like porcelain, a Gargoleon whose wings shuddered with the strain of the great distance back to the castle, and a bird-type beastman whose talons clicked against the floor. The bird-beastman couldn't help but stare at the projections on the orb; they were so close to the game with the trolls, and he felt like one of the lucky few who had avoided such a fate. They spread out, sticking to the shadows of the back wall.
King Elderon rose immediately, walking toward the vampire Sentinel. They spoke in hushed, frantic whispers. King Osric did the same, leaning his massive frame toward the Gargoleon. King Magnus slithered toward the beastman, his scales shimmering under his suit.
Jasper's ears twitched; with his enhanced senses, the "hushed" whispers were as clear as shouts. The messengers each brought word for their King, but the reports were nearly identical: Twelve assassins dead. Bodies destroyed beyond recognition. One hostage taken. Princess Daniela radiates the presence of demon power. And her heartbeat now matches that of Crown Prince Jasper.
"Most of us can hear everything. There really is no need for secrecy," Jasper said, his eyes remaining fixed only on the Orb. She was his sole interest.
King Michael's gaze snapped to Jasper, his eyes burning with a pointed, knowing stare. He knew exactly why the heartbeats were synchronized—the soul-bond—but the rest of the room was spiraling into dark speculation. A bond was the furthest thing from their minds. The bigger issue was how Daniela now smelled of demon power. The idea that someone like Jasper could transfer his essence into a formidable mind like Daniela's was devastating to their plans.
King Elderon turned back to the room, his face a mask of cold authority. He raised his hand, silencing the whispers.
"The sanctity of this trial is being questioned," King Elderon announced, his voice booming. "As the supreme ruler, I am charged with maintaining the integrity of the marriage market. Any outside interference will be dealt with swiftly. It is considered treason to interrupt the proceedings of the marriage market. Consider yourselves warned."
King Elderon took his seat once again, his eyes bouncing between King Michael and Crown Prince Jasper. The longer he sat in this room, the more he felt as if he had gotten the short end of the stick in his deal with Michael. He couldn't shake the feeling of being swindled.
A raised, shrill voice brought their attention back to the orb. For the moment, their questions would remain unanswered.
"You're an idiot if you believe Daniela will do anything but stab you in the back," Selena spat at Heather, the only one who had actually signed. "She's just playing with us. Enjoying the misery."
Heather didn't look up from her beans. She just watched the glowing Orb, wondering if the monsters behind it could see the ash of the contract, or if they were only waiting for the blood to start flowing.
Author's Note:
I hope you are not too bother by the stylistic choice of the next few chapters. I don't want it to feel like it's dragging on. But I'm introducing characters that we've only heard about in passing. Also, how do we feel about the new cover art? The original cover art, I made when I was still discovering what I wanted this book to be. The new one feels more appropriate. But let me know below.