Evelina lookedat herself in a long, golden-framed mirror. Her stomach flipped as her gaze traveled down the dress Lyria had brought to her this morning.
It was the most stunning gown she’d ever seen, composed of delicate gold and white fabric. Tiny crystal beads were woven into it, filling the bottom hem and trailing up to the waist like ivy. The top was supported by thin straps, just enough to keep the dress in place.
But the back was what made Evelina’s breath catch. It scooped low, stopping near the base of her spine. The hem of the dress fanned out, a train so long that it would take up half the aisle when she walked down it.
It was the kind of dress she’d imagined marrying Daimon in.
But he had his duty. She had hers.
Every moment with Daimon felt like she was flying against the sun, knowing that she would one day get too close. Her happiness wasn’t her priority anymore. Her people were.
She didn’t know how to rule, not when it was always meant to be Carwyn. But she would do this for her. Would do this for her mother. For Ren, Keir, Elias, and Ranick. For all the soldiersshe couldn’t save and those who had given their lives for the empire.
Then there was Senna. Someone she had considered a friend from a young age, someone who was already marrying out of duty to his people. He was sacrificing for their empire just as she was, all the while grieving the Rider he, too, had lost.
She turned away from the mirror and faced Lyria. Her sister gazed at her, eyes hopeful and misty. She wore a pale pink dress that gathered at her waist and spread out widely around her, embellished with embroidered pink flowers sewn from head to toe.
“Evie, Mother would be so proud of you,” she said softly. “Carwyn and Ren, too.”
Evelina swallowed down the emotions clinging to her throat. The image of Carwyn’s face frozen in Xenos’s ice flashed through her mind, remembering the way the pain stayed frozen in her eyes too.
She threw her arms around Lyria, hugging her tightly. “I wish they were here.”
“Me too,” Lyria said. She pulled back and wiped a few stray tears away. Her eyes were sad, and Evelina knew the day would be far more bitter than sweet for the both of them.
“I always imagined Ren walking me down the aisle on the day I got married,” Evelina admitted.
Lyria walked over to the door, picking up a small basket. “I will be with you the whole way,” she whispered. “It’s time.”
They walked arm in arm to the throne room. Evelina could already hear the light music that played, and the chatter of hundreds of people who had spilled into the corridors. They passed Aegis guards stationed in the hallways along the way, which would have been odd before the war but was now commonplace.
Once outside of the throne room, Evelina began to panic. She turned to Lyria, eyes wide as she realized what she was about to do.
“I can’t do this,” Evelina whispered.
Lyria grabbed her shoulders lightly. “If you want to run, then I’ll hold your dress and we’ll run,” she said. Evelina’s brows jumped up. “If you want to storm in there and find a way to do this without having to marry Senna, I’ll open the door. If you want to cry, I have a shoulder and a cloth to dab your eyes with.”
Evelina’s eyes filled with tears.
“But, for what it’s worth,” Lyria said softly as she squeezed her shoulders, “you’re going to make a marvelous queen. You’re kind and gentle, but you’re also one of the bravest people I know. You don’t balk in the face of peril or uncertainty—you take it head-on.Thatis the kind of queen this realm needs right now.”
The music shifted behind the door, a lullaby for a bride. Evelina reached for Lyria’s hand and took a deep breath. Lyria was the only family she had left now. She didn’t know how she would get through this day without her.
“You’ll be with me the whole way?” she whispered.
Lyria smiled and pulled her into a hug. “Every single step.”
Evelina pulled away. She nodded at the two Aegis stationed outside the throne room and took another steadying breath as they opened the doors.
The room was packed wall-to-wall with people. Paper butterflies tied to strings hung from the ceiling, and the aisle had been lined with a sea of lavender and white flowers.
Ellerry waited at the end of the aisle with Senna at the bottom of the steps that led to the twisted-branch thrones. Senna wore a perfectly fitted white jacket and pants, covered with gold thread sewn into swirls. A perfect match to her gown.
The council sat on either side of the thrones. Maliena gave her a gentle, somber smile.
Lyria squeezed her arm and they stepped forward together.
Evelina smiled at those standing as she passed them. They wore flowing gowns and tailored jackets, jewels around their necks and flowers in their hair.
