Nerves fluttered through me now that I was here, in this room. Something I had wanted for so long was finally becoming real. I should be thrilled, aflutter with excitement and possibilities. My eyes were fixed on the future and the change I could make happen. Instead, it felt as though I was waiting to be hanged. Death loomed in the corners of the room, and I couldn’t figure out how. Or why. Or what was so dangerous about taking what was rightfully mine.
This was why I’d left the Temple of Eternal Light. Why I’d faced Conandra and fought to return to this castle. Why I’d left every possibility I could ever have with Taelon for a greater future, a necessary destiny.
So why did it feel as though all of the reasons I was here were slipping through my fingers?
Clesta had managed to dress me as a princess. A gown so white and diamond encrusted, it was an effort to stay upright in it. I felt as though I might blind anyone who looked directly at me, but this was the dress meant for this moment, and I didn’t have it in me to break Clesta’s heart. Or insult the master dressmaker who seemed to wield magic of her own.
We hadn’t had time for my hair, though. So it remained loose around my shoulders, catching quite often on the diamonds. I was afraid I’d be bald by the time the Crown was set atop my head, but my hair was a minor detail in light of everything else.
“Finally,” Tyrn gasped when he noticed me. He stood to his feet and staggered sideways before righting himself. Looking around the room, he said, “You should be escorted. By me, I suppose, but I cannot do both jobs.”
There was a weighted silence while everyone looked around the throne room and tried to determine who held the highest rank. And who would make the most appropriate escort? Curtis was master of the guard but not nobility. My sister was nobility, but only a woman. And younger than I was. Clesta was already beside me, but only my maid.
At long last, Caspian stepped forward. “I’ll do it.”
My breath trembled in my lungs. His proposal had been nothing romantic, but it resonated in some part of me that I didn’t have time to examine. Here was a man willing to put duty before romance, before his own life, so that his kingdom and the realm could be secure.
Maybe that was heartless and foolish. But wasn’t it the same thing I was doing?
Wasn’t it the same trait I admired in Taelon? How I wished he was here alongside me. What would he think of all this?Would he believe I’m doing the right thing?
I jerked my head, repulsed at the idea of him witnessing this too-quick decision. He might not object. But how could I justify a marriage to anyone void of love in light of what he and I shared?
Caspian walked to my side and held out his elbow. His thoughts seemed to be the same as mine. “See how you like it,” he murmured, low enough for only me to hear. “It might suit us.”
I pressed my lips together and chose not to respond. In my dreams, I had imagined this moment with fanfare and celebration. There was music playing. Crowds of people cheering. And the room was resplendent with the best the castle had to offer. The best of Elysia. And the best of the realm I was set to rule.
Tonight, there were just a handful of people. No fanfare. No celebration. No music. My footsteps echoed off the cavernous ceiling, my heels clicking like the tolling bells of battle.
A guard rushed into the room as if I’d spoken my thoughts aloud to him. Caspian and I turned at the same time to watch him press himself back against the heavy door he’d just slammed and wince in apology.
“Your Majesty,” he whimpered.
“Hurry, Tessana,” Tyrn snapped, frantically waving me forward.
I only just realized I’d been dragging my feet, walking as slow as I could to prolong this procession and stay the fateful moments ahead. Caspian shot me a worried look, but we both picked up our pace and met my uncle at the dais.
“Kneel,” Tyrn commanded.
I had to let go of Caspian’s arm to do so, and it took nearly all my willpower to release him. I was thankful when he didn’t move far.
Tyrn towered overhead, having both height and platform to cast his shadow over me. He pulled out his sword, and a chill ran through me at the vulnerable position I’d allowed myself to get into.
I knew Tyrn even less than I knew Ravanna, and he had always been cruel to me. Even before I left for Heprin.
So why was I here now? Why was I trusting him at all? Why had I allowed him to pull his sword on me and hold it directly next to my head? Only inches from my throat.
“Tessana...” he began but trailed off after only my name.
I was supposed to have lessons on the official ceremony, practice all the right things to say, and have a speech written for me to address the people. But everything had been pushed, ignored, or forgotten about.
So to my name, I simply said, “Yes?”
“Tessana...” my uncle began again.
“Yes?” Was I supposed to answer the call for every kingdom? Would Tyrn repeat my name until the Crown of Nine recognized me?
“Dragon’s blood,” he cursed. “What’s your middle name, child? I can’t remember.”
