Chapter 3 — The Empress's Test
Part 1 — The Morning Court
When the bells announced dawn, I had not slept. The palace did not believe in silence; even the stones seemed to hum with whispers. Servants moved in shadows, bells rang the hours, water flowed through hidden channels. I listened to all of it and thought of the hand I almost touched.
Sera entered with two maids carrying trays of food I didn't recognize. She studied my face and didn't ask about sleep. "The Empress has summoned you to morning court. Wash. Eat something. You will need strength."
I stared at the bowls of rice, strange fruits, and bread glazed with something gold. "What if it's poisoned?"
"The Empress does not poison brides," Sera said evenly. "Not unless she must."
That did not comfort me.
They dressed me in a gown of pale blue with sleeves that trailed like water. My hair was braided into a crown, pins pressing against my scalp. The Mark on my wrist burned faintly, as if it knew I was being prepared for judgment.
The man in gray appeared again, scroll in hand. "The Fated Bride will follow."
The halls were louder in daylight. Courtiers lined the walkways, their whispers darting like minnows.
"…the sixth one…"
"…she looks weak…"
"…but the Mark glowed, they say…"
I kept my eyes forward and my steps steady, even as the weight of their stares pressed against my skin.
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Part 2 — The Empress's Eyes
The throne room in daylight was harsher than it had been by torchlight. Every flaw was visible: the crack in a tile, the line of fatigue beneath a courtier's eyes. The Empress sat on her throne with the same stillness, but in the sun her crown looked less like jewels and more like a cage of silver bars.
I knelt again, as instructed. My knees ached against stone.
"Rise," she said.
I stood, hands clasped before me.
"Eva," she said, her voice cool. "The Mark binds you to my son. But the Mark is not enough. Words can lie. Flesh can deceive. I will see your truth."
My mouth went dry. "How?"
She raised one hand. An attendant stepped forward, carrying a shallow bowl filled with water as clear as glass. A second attendant followed, bearing a cage of doves. Their feathers gleamed white as snow.
The Empress pointed to the bowl. "Touch it."
I hesitated, then lowered my fingers into the water. It was cold, biting. The Mark flared bright silver beneath the surface. The doves stirred restlessly in their cage.
A murmur rose among the courtiers. Some crossed themselves, others looked away.
The Empress's gaze sharpened. "Again."
The attendant lifted one dove and placed it in my hands. Its wings fluttered, frantic, its heart beating so fast I thought it would die from fear.
"Hold," the Empress ordered.
I did. The Mark on my wrist glowed against the bird's feathers. Slowly, impossibly, the dove stilled. Its trembling ceased. It looked at me with round black eyes and cooed softly, calm.
Gasps rippled through the room.
The Empress leaned back slightly, her face unreadable. "Interesting."
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Part 3 — The Prince's Shadow
I thought the test was over, but the Empress lifted her hand again. The courtiers straightened, expectation buzzing like bees.
The doors opened, and the Crown Prince entered.
Even in daylight he carried darkness with him, a storm in human shape. His boots echoed sharp against the stone. The courtiers bowed, but their fear was louder than their reverence.
He stopped before me, closer than the Empress, closer than anyone had a right to be. His gaze flicked to the dove still in my hands. "It lives," he said, as if surprised.
"It does," I whispered.
He extended his bare hand. "Give it to me."
The rules screamed in my skull: Do not touch his bare skin.
I froze.
The Empress's voice cut across the silence. "Obey."
The room held its breath. I lifted the dove slowly, praying my fingers would not brush his. He took it, his skin grazing the edge of my palm.
The Mark seared hot.
I bit back a cry, but the dove did not struggle. It rested in his hands, calm as it had been in mine.
A shudder went through the court. One man actually dropped his fan.
Kael's eyes met mine, steady, unreadable. For a moment, I thought I saw something dangerous soften there—curiosity, maybe even wonder.
Then it was gone.
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Part 4 — The Empress's Verdict
The Empress rose from her throne. The courtiers dropped to their knees in waves, their robes spreading like pools of color across the floor.
"The Mark does not lie," she declared. "The bride calms what should not be calmed. She tempers what should not be tempered. The moon has chosen well."
Relief should have washed over me, but instead dread curled tighter in my chest. Being chosen did not mean being safe. It meant being bound tighter to this curse.
The Empress stepped down from the dais and circled me once, her eyes sharp as knives. "You will marry my son at the next full moon. Until then, you will learn the rites, the rules, and the dangers of this palace. Fail to learn, and you will not live to see the wedding bed."
Her words rang through the chamber like a sentence passed.
Kael set the dove back in its cage and closed the door softly. Then he looked at me one last time, something unreadable flickering in his eyes.
When he turned and strode from the hall, the silence he left behind was heavier than thunder.
The Empress returned to her throne, voice final. "Take the Fated Bride to her chambers. Her lessons begin tonight."
I bowed stiffly, the weight of every gaze pressing into me. My wrist burned beneath the Mark, silver light still pulsing faintly.
I was still alive. But for how long?
[End of Chapter 3]