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ISAUNTERED INTO MYfather’s study, suspicion creeping up my spine like a scorpion.The familiar smell of raw leather, dust, and paper permeated my senses, drudging up memories I would rather forget.Nothing good had ever or would ever come from taking a seat in this room.The four walls produced nothing but endless shame and disappointment.My childhood knew it well.
My father didn’t glance up at my entrance, a greeting I was used to.He hovered over the documents on his desk, the chancellor standing close behind and whispering in his ear.I shifted on my feet.Being in the presence of my father rattled my bones with unease no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.My body sensed the danger even if my mind did not.He was my father by name and blood only.No attachment wound deeper than that.
The doors swung open again behind me, letting in a rush of air.My brother Zandyr and sister Ezrielle ignored me as they strode in, heads held high, clothes immaculate.I stiffened as they stopped to my left, my discomfort doubling.I couldn’t recall the last time we’d occupied a room together that wasn’t a banquet hall.Our father did not summon us to his office.Ever.
My gaze darted around the room, searching for a trap, every possible outcome of this meeting coursing through my brain.Ezrielle and Zandyr eyed our father coolly, but their rigid stances told me they too suspected something amiss.
“Sit down.”My father’s impassive voice grated like stone against stone.
He didn’t even bother to look at us.
I moved forward with caution before easing down into the center chair before his desk, my siblings on either side.The chancellor frowned at our intrusion before backing away a few steps.I held in a scoff.As if that provided any privacy for the conversation about to take place.Ezrielle crossed her legs.Zandyr stifled a cough with his hand.I tapped my toe inside my shoe.Tension stretched between us like a cord about to snap.
My father finally looked up, inspecting each of us in turn as if we were spindly cadets applying for the military academy.“I received word your buffoon of a brother, Rivero, was assassinated yesterday in broad daylight.”
His words died in the air, and the room reverberated with silence.
No one said anything.Or moved.
Not even a finger twitched.
One might expect tears to fall, but all our eyes remained dry as the Hadrian desert.Of the five present, I showed the most emotion—but I was also the only one capable of emotion.The only one who didn’t house a heart of solid stone.
I lowered my gaze.It wasn’t that I didn’t care for my brother.Looking beyond his foolish mistakes I had heard about from when he was younger, I knew he was a good man, but he was twice my age.Over ten years had passed since I’d last seen or spoken with him.He had married before I was born and was tasked with overseeing the northern territory of Paravellia.He’d been expected to return before the next Paravellian Balls to train underneath my father in preparation for ruling the kingdom one day.
“By who?”I asked.
My father steepled his fingers.“We don’t know.It’s under investigation, but what I have shared does not leave this room.A scandal like this getting out before the beginning of the balls would destroy any hope of our alliances.It would be disastrous.If any news of his death reaches the public, we’ll spread rumors he died in the night from a heart condition.”
I hated to admit he was right.If the other kingdoms attending the Paravellian Balls found out Rivero had been assassinated, they would back out of all alliances with us—old or new.His murder put a target on our back; to make a deal with us would be to risk a target on their back as well.Warring kingdoms rarely managed to make good alliances at the Paravellian Balls—if they managed any alliances at all.
“But in light of recent events,” my father continued, “and considering how ill of a choice your brother was for crown prince in the first place, I have spoken with the chancellor, and we have decided to change the line of succession.”
I didn’t move.I wasn’t sure any of us in the room even breathed.If not for the serious expression hardening my father’s face, I might have laughed.No one hadeverbroken the line of succession before.When a king died, his eldest child took the throne.If the eldest child passed before his father, the next eldest child took the crown, and so on.No one was skipped unless that child was already married to the heir of another kingdom.As seventh in line for the throne, I’d never imagined the possibility.Never dared to consider it.
“Your siblings Javamir, Dianzella, and Evonnora are all married.Evonnora is the only one wed to a crown prince, but Javamir and Dianzella have already fulfilled their usefulness.They possess no strategic advantage for Paravellia nor do they live here.That leaves the three of you, Ezrielle, Zandyr, and Valeris, to choose from.”
Choose from?
I held in my scoff.Ezrielle was the eldest of the three of us in the room, and I was convinced the only reason she hadn’t yet married was because no man she had met could stand her.The only thing occupying her heart was manipulation and deception.Zandyr cared about nothing but his connections and only helped those who could offer him something in return.He would cater to the nobles, not the people.To even think of putting Zandyr or Ezrielle on the throne was preposterous.Political suicide.Zandyr failed to manage the city ordinances without resorting to scandal and bribery, and Ezrielle would drive this country straight into the ground through her selfish greed.Her priorities in life lay solely with herself and her advancements.
“How will it be decided?”Ezrielle asked.
My father’s eyes narrowed.This was the moment he had been waiting for.
“There are certain alliances I want formed during the seven balls,” he said.“Trades within our kingdom I want accomplished—rumors of war on the continent could complicate our deals this year, but above all else, I want to know who is behind your brother’s murder, who is plotting against our kingdom.Whichever one of you accomplishes these tasks first and to the best of my liking will be presented as the new Paravellian crown heir at the finale.”
He couldn’t be serious.
“And if we fail?”Zandyr asked.
My father shrugged.“Maybe I’ll lock you up.I haven’t decided.”
I cocked my head.“What specific alliances are you wanting?”
“The chancellor will have the full list for you two days prior to the opening ball.You are dismissed.”
