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Mara clutched a chestnut-colored tome as she sat on her bedroom floor. Her silky cream dress flowed out around her, the cuffs tightening at her wrists and neck. She pushed her hair back as she dropped the large book on her wooden floorboards, prying back the cover engraved with the words Sun Dance and opening up to the pages that likely hadn’t seen light in years.

Her finger gently traced the inked parchment as she read, her lips moving as she muttered to herself, trying to properly ingest every piece of information. Lost in thought, the creak of her door finally caught her attention. She turned to see Evrardin lingering in her entryway, shutting the door behind him.

“I knocked,” he said when he spotted the surprise on Mara’s face.

“Usually, people wait until they’re permitted in, regardless if they’ve knocked.” She went back to her book, trying to find where she left off. She narrowed her brows in frustration, skimming the heavily condensed paragraphs. A dirty pair of boots appeared in her periphery. She held in her huff as she looked up at Evrardin towering over her.

“About tomorrow…” he began.

“Way ahead of you.” Mara used her hand as a bookmark as she closed the book to show him the title.

She felt his knees brush her back as he stood closer, leaning to read the book’s cover. “Tomorrow is a… special occasion. Not sure you’ll find many things of use in there.”

Mara pushed herself up, leaving her book sprawled open on the floor. She spun around to face a much closer-than-expected Evrardin. She took a step backward over her tome to gain some distance between them. “Where have you been?” she demanded.

Amusement rose in Evrardin’s eyes. “Been worrying about me, have you?”

Mara’s jaw tightened. “Don’t tell me, then. I didn’t truly care, just polite conversation,” she mumbled as she walked over to her bed and sat on the edge.

“Polite conversation,” he muttered under his breath in mild amusement.

“Well?” she demanded. “ About tomorrow …” she repeated Ev’s own words.

He sat atop one of her dressers ignoring the multitude of other, more appropriate, options. “I should tell you how it’s going to go.”

“Oh, now you want to explain?! The day before!” The spite in Mara’s words ricocheted off of him.

“Don’t get pissy with me. I’m not the one who determines what gets told to you.”

“No. Of course not.” Mara fisted her skirts. “I’m supposed to just sit here and wait to do as I’m told. To stare at the wall while my insides bleed with boredom. No one to talk to.”

Ev cocked his head. “Dramatic,” he mumbled. “Is the prince not someone to talk to?”

“I’m lucky if he speaks to me at dinner—and lucky is a strong choice of words. He hasn’t been the most talkative husband. He’s proved to not be the best conversationalist.”

“He’s not your husband.”

Mara wanted to roll her eyes—of course that was the part Evrardin chose to focus on, always correcting her. “Not yet. Just testing out how it will sound. I see it as a peek into the wonderful marital life to come.”

Evrardin’s lips threatened to tilt all the way into a smile.

“This is funny?” A hint of sorrow laced her fiery words.

“It is.”

She waited for him to elaborate.

“You act as if this is all a surprise to you. What did you think was going to happen when you accepted the prince’s hand?”

Mara bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted copper. She didn’t reply to Evrardin’s harsh, but true, words.

He sighed, shifting his weight. “Better than Sir Orion, no doubt.”

Mara let out a breath. “Yes, well… that’s quite an easy feat.” Evrardin’s eyes locked with Mara’s. She tried to restrain the broken feelings from filling her eyes. Pain. Sadness.

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Mara’s eyes flickered around the room, uncomfortable holding his gaze. She knew that meant he had won whatever game they were playing, but she didn’t care. It was awfully unnerving to have his full attention.

“Tomorrow morning you’ll be escorted to the Old God’s Cathedral, under the clergy of the Solar Sect. There is going to be a big crowd. Not only are the people excited for a wedding, but to have a royal betrothed initiated before the nuptial ceremony—a precaution never exempted.”

Mara had just skimmed a passage in the tome that mentioned the ritual occurring a few days after a wedding ceremony.

“The Summer Solstice officially begins in Solstrale tonight. A far more powerful bond will be linked between you and the prince if it's done within the days of the Solstice.” Evrardin seemed to have to force the words out as he spoke to her.

“And I’m to be summoned to the Veil?” Her brows wrinkled as she frowned, thinking back to that small passage she read in her book.

“Not exactly. You’ll be submerged in the Hallowed Cistern, along with the prince. You’ll enter a sort of harmony as your souls intertwine, bonding your blood together. It’s them who will enter the Veil in your stead—your souls. Then, your life force will be forever connected with his. Your blood becoming part of the sun’s.” He turned away from her as he continued. “This will also connect you with the sun goddess, Trana. All royalty must find protection in the Solar Sect. It’s the only way to keep the kingdom thriving under Trana’s protection.”

“The gods haven’t been seen in centuries. Why does Acastus want my blood strengthened so much? Does the sun goddess even exist anymore?”

Evrardin ignored her inquiry.

Mara sighed and changed her course of thought. “If I’m to be the queen one day,” Mara began, twiddling with a stray thread of her dress as she thought out loud, “the prince will become the Sun King. But the sun bloodline has already suffered a great decline with the loss of Trana. If he’s to marry me, and I bear his children, will there even be any magick left for them to inherit? Why doesn’t he just wait until I give him children—their blood would be a fusion of the two courts.”

Evrardin’s fist clenched, and Mara cringed at the thought of her belly round with Acastus’ child. “It seems the sun's lineage is coming to an end.”

“Well, why is he marrying me, then? He has a better chance with someone else of magick heritage. A fae maybe? Wouldn’t that increase the chances of?—”

“I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for you. I don’t know why he chose you. ” While she didn’t know him well, she presumed he was lying. Was she to believe the prince’s first in command didn’t know the reasoning behind choosing Mara as a bride?

Mara stood up, her eyes no longer lingering with fire. All that was left was the melancholy that rumbled below. “Was that all?” There was no sarcasm or irritation in her voice. How fast she could shift moods. Evrardin extinguishing her fire.

“Yes,” he said curtly.

Mara pulled her hair away from her face, some sprawling onto her back, turning to go back to her studies.

Evrardin went to leave before halting. He reached out and grabbed Mara’s arm, spinning her toward him.

“What the hell ?—?”

“Where did you get that?” he asked, his tone tenebrous. Mara’s hand instinctively reached up to her shoulder where Ev was staring. Her fingers grazed over the red marks that cut through her skin. It wasn’t deep at all, but it would be a few days before the marks completely faded.

Mara was silent, her eyes flickering to watch him. Evrardin’s fingers brushed the sore spot, shifting her hair to her back as he did. Mara’s breath hitched as he loomed over her, touching her without her consent. His eyes finally shied away from her neck and narrowed in on hers. “Who?” he demanded.

She hadn’t heard him speak so lowly before and she’d be lying if she said it didn’t frighten her a little. Mara’s mouth ran dry. Her heart skipped realizing how close Evrardin’s chest was to hers. If she moved just a few inches closer, she would be flush against him. Evrardin’s hand still gripped her other arm, holding her in place.

“Do not disobey him.” His words were final, leaving no room for Mara to joke or refute. His jaw clenched as if he was connecting the dots. Like he knew Acastus did this to her. “Do whatever he commands of you.”

She gave a small nod, her eyes rounded. Evrardin seemed to come back to his senses and released her. He smoothed his tunic before clearing his throat, Mara far too aware of the heat that bloomed over her arm. Without another word, he turned and left.