Still, when he caught sight of her, he smiled warmly.
“Kara,” he said, stepping towards her. “You look... radiant.”
She smiled, grateful for the kindness in his tone, but she could see it in his eyes – he didn’t feel it either.
“Thank you.”
Henry offered her his arm, and she took it. She could do this. She had to. The night unfolded with proper conversations and carefully chosen words. Kara danced once or twice, smiled when expected, and laughed politely at Lord Galen Caldris’s quite frankly terrible jokes. Though Henry and he looked similar, both with the same neat blonde hair and pale eyes, Galen was loud where Henry was quiet, boisterous where he was gentle. Friendly, certainly, but Kara found him a bit much. All too soon, the music slowed and conversations hushed as her father climbed onto the stage, Henry’s father in close step behind him. Her father raised a hand and the room quieted.
“Honoured guests,” Alaric began, his voice commanding but warm, “tonight we gather to celebrate the strength and unity of Vallenna, as demonstrated beautifully in this year’s Arcalon. But we must also look to the future.”
Kara fought the urge to run from the room. This was it. Her mother squeezed her hand, but Kara couldn’t look at her.
“I am proud to share that two of Vallenna’s finest will soon be joined in marriage. A match between my daughter, Karalynna Hale,” Alaric said.
It’s actually happening.
“And Henry Caldris.”
The world spun around her. Her hands went numb. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think of anything except–
Sebastian knows.
Applause rose around them – swelling as guests nodded and smiled in approval. Everyone was staring at her. She had to move, play to the crowd. It was expected. So Kara stepped forward, Henry at her side. He offered her his hand with quiet grace.
She took it. It was steady in hers. Not fire, not lightning – just steady. Lord Caldris turned to the crowd, beaming, but it was Henry who spoke.
“We’re honoured by your support,” he said, voice clear and calm. “This marriage is about more than us. It’s a promise to Vallenna’s future. And... I couldn’t be happier.”
He looked at Kara as he said it, his smile soft, genuine. But she saw it: a moment of doubt before his smile returned.
He deserves more than this. We both do.
Kara could feel Sebastian’s stare from across the room. She fixed her gaze on the polished marble floor; every instinct of self-preservation willing her not to look. Her vision actually blurred with the effort.
Don’t look, for the love of the Four. Do. Not. Look.
She looked.
Sebastian’s eyes were on her. She’d known they would be. But his face was blank. No expression. No reaction. As if she were no one at all. She would rather he’d mocked her. Raged.Anythingbut that emptiness. But she couldn’t leave, couldn’t show it. She had to play the good little heir. The happy bride-to-be. Even if it broke her. Desperate, she reached with her Lyran instincts, trying to feel past her own turmoil, past the crowd’s tide of emotion. Nothing. Too many people. Her own emotions too loud. If Sebastian felt something, she didn’t find it.
Or maybe he just didn’t care.
The rest of the night was full of warm congratulations, first from Oryen, then Morra and so many others. Everyone seemed content to talk of weddings; flowers, food, colour schemes. Would it be held in Hale or Caldris? So many questions Kara couldn’t answer.
Her father could, though. “It will be held in Hale, of course,” he boomed to one group. “The preparations are already being made. It will be before the end of this Fire Cycle.”
Sienna, however, didn’t congratulate her. She approached her quietly, expression full of concern. “Are you okay?”
She was the only one who’d asked that question.
“Not really,” she admitted. “But I will be.”
Sienna hugged her tightly. And as she did, Sebastian stole into the corridor outside.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said and followed him out.
Kara found him in one of the empty hallways off the ballroom. It was dimly lit and lined with old Council portraits. He didn’t turn at the sound of her footsteps.
