Page 52

Chapter

Fifty-One

I’d never been to a Fae or royal wedding before.

Let alone one where multiple couples were getting married, where I craved one of the grooms, or where my best friend was in love with one of the brides.

In terms of weddings that I’d attended—which, to be fair, had been few—this was by far the worst.

In my panic running from the library, I’d forgotten what was happening later this morning.

The music started—a dirge masquerading as a wedding march.

The couples began their slow, excruciating procession down the aisle, thousands of eyes watching their every step.

The air in the throne room felt thick, suffocating.

It clung to my skin, the weight of my dread curling like smoke around me.

I scanned the aisle again.

Alvar walked behind the couples with Thalius and Deter flanking him like loyal hounds.

At the rear, Addie walked with a fellow scribe I didn’t recognize.

My heart seized. If I’d made it to the library, Addie wouldn’t have been there anyway.

I scanned the crowd again, searching for familiar faces, for any sign of solace in this sea of judgmental eyes.

The new court members were seated near the center.

I spotted Kadian and Oz, but neither of them saw me.

Tamra must have found a spot with Amera, and Marsh…

Marsh wasn’t here. He said he wouldn’t be, not until the coronation.

My gaze flicked back to the aisle.

Each bride looked perfect, pristine, and hollow.

Their hair sculpted into elegant piles, their dresses works of art.

My heart twisted at the sight of Lil.

Her gown, shimmered like the sea itself, flowing with every step, crashing against the stone floor.

Iona, by contrast, was fire incarnate.

Her dress flickering with reds, oranges, and blacks as if the flames danced and swirled at her feet, eager to consume.

The crowd whispered about their beauty, their status, and how they would no doubt produce “gorgeous heirs.” I fought back the bile in my throat.

I shouldn't be here. I should’ve stayed in the library, surrounded by the comfort of dust and parchment, burying myself in anything but this .

My eyes drifted down the aisle. Thirty feet. Dainan was thirty feet from me, and my world shrank to him. His scent hit me before I could brace for it: smoke, citrus, and salt. It was heady, intoxicating, and the effect was immediate. My body jolted to life as though every dead nerve in me lit up, burning like wildfire through my veins.

I tried not to stare, tried not to let my hunger show, but my gaze refused to pull away. His eyes met mine, and panic flickered in his eyes. He didn’t want me here. I shouldn’t be here.

“I’m sorry,” I mouthed, though my apology felt like a brittle leaf in the storm of emotions between us. His expression hardened, his features tightening as if he’d just remembered who he was, who I was, and the unbreakable roles we had to play. I looked to Iona, desperate to see if she noticed, but she remained unaware, lost in the grandeur of her own wedding. Lil, on the other hand saw me. Her eyes flicked to mine for a second, too quick, and then back to the aisle, pretending she hadn’t seen me. My stomach clenched.

The couples reached the front of the aisle, and an officiant appeared, accompanied by Asana. Everything was falling into place. The nightmare was starting.

The officiant began speaking, his voice echoing through the room, but the words muffled around me. I was drowning in the pressure. The air felt too thick; I couldn’t breathe. He gestured to the couples, his hands outstretched like he was offering them up as sacrifices. And maybe he was. This wasn’t a wedding—it was a spectacle. A political statement. A transaction.

“We begin with Prince Rai Luchien and Lilianna Towler,” the officiant announced, and I could’ve sworn I heard Lil scoff. Good girl. Keep fighting.

The vows began, the ancient words binding them to one another with every recitation.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Addie rifling through her papers, her expression focused, intent. What is she doing? My attention flickered back to the front.

“Until the end,” Rai repeated, and I could barely stand to hear it. My eyes drifted away again, settling on Addie once more. She smacked a paper as though she had just found some crucial piece of information. My heart pounded in my chest, a small, irrational hope.

The officiant finished. “May your union be blessed through the eternities.”

Lil’s married.

The reality crashed into me. Lil was married.

And now…now it was Dainan’s turn.

I can’t do this . I couldn’t watch this. My stomach twisted, my vision blurred, I need to leave . The officiant turned toward Dainan and Iona, beginning to speak the same damning words. The sickness clawed at me.

But something wasn’t right. Addie had moved, now standing beside Alvar. She pointed to something on her paper, her face sharp with urgency. Alvar’s eyes widened, his face paling as he grabbed the paper from her. My pulse quickened.

Something’s wrong.

I leaned forward instinctively, almost stumbling into the aisle as I strained to hear. Alvar approached the officiant, his hand on the Fae’s shoulder. The room seemed to hold its breath as he spoke. “This has been a grave error.”

The crowd murmured, a wave of unease rippling through them. Thalius shot to his feet, rage blazing in his eyes. He snatched the paper from Alvar and scanned it, his lips tightening. “It doesn’t matter,” he shouted, his voice echoing in the grand hall. “It’s done. They are wed.” He flung his arm toward Lil and Rai, both of whom stood frozen, confusion written across their faces.

Alvar didn’t back down. “It can be undone,” he said, his voice steady, his gaze locked on the paper. He held it out, gesturing toward Dainan. Dainan took it, scanning it before looking up, his eyes frantically searching the crowd.

Searching for me.

Our gazes locked. That flicker of hope ignited into a flame. This wasn’t over. There was a way out of this.

The room seemed to collapse in on itself, every moment sharper, more frantic than the last. Thalius’s face remained calm amidst the growing chaos, detached from Deter’s shouts about propriety. I saw his lips move, a whisper aimed at Rai. Whatever passed between them was brief but shifted something in the air. Rai turned to face Thalius, nodding, a silent pact made in a room that was anything but silent.

I blinked, my mind scrambling to process the thousand threads of disaster weaving around me. I caught a glimpse of Addie, pale and trembling, still clutching those damned documents. The papers that were supposed to grant approval for the marriages, not condemn them. She stood there, frozen in her own confusion, as the storm grew around her.

But my attention didn’t stay long. Deter’s voice had risen into a full-throated scream, cutting through the room just as Iona’s cries began to ripple through the crowd. Iona—Gods, her tears, her wailing—her grief was a physical force now, adding to the pandemonium. People were starting to turn their heads, shifting in their seats. But I couldn’t let myself focus on her either. Lil. My eyes found her, inching away from Rai and Thalius, her steps too deliberate to be unnoticed. She was trying to reach Addie, positioning herself, separating from whatever calamity was about to unfold.

And then it happened.

Rai moved in a single, smooth motion, like a dancer taking center stage. He crossed the dais with purpose, and in an instant, his hand was on the ceremonial knife. My heart plummeted, my breath stalling in my chest. No, no, no. His movements were too swift, too controlled. Before anyone could stop him, before anyone could understand what was happening, Rai drove the blade into Alvar’s chest.

The room collapsed into screams. Asana’s voice ripped through the air, the sound of it more terrible than anything I’d ever heard. Alvar staggered, hands scrambling to cover the wound, but the blood was everywhere. It soaked his robes, pooling under him, red and slick. The sight was overwhelming, dizzying.

Then the storm hit. Gusts slammed into the crowd, sending chairs and people toppling. I was thrown to my knees, helpless against the sheer force of the wind. My hands clawed at the ground as I tried to stay upright, my body trembling with effort. The howling wind drowned out every other sound except the scattered cries of panic. The fury of it was unbearable, forcing me down further.

Alvar was dying—bleeding out faster than anyone could react. Asana hovered over him, hands glowing with frantic magic, but it was clear she couldn’t save him. He was too far gone.

Wind Walkers appeared out of thin air, summoned by the violence as though they'd been waiting for this.

And then Thalius moved again.

My eyes snapped to him just in time to see him seize the knife from Rai’s limp fingers.

He didn’t hesitate. With terrifying precision, he crossed the dais.

“ADDIE!” The scream tore out of me, but it was already too late.

The blade slid across her throat, blood gushing from the wound.

The papers she held scattered like leaves in the breeze, and her hands flew to her neck as she stumbled.

Time fractured. I felt it crack and slow, freezing everything but the sight of her falling.

My voice died in my throat, suffocated by the wind that now roared louder than my own thoughts.

Get to Addie .

My body screamed at me to move, but the wind held me down.

I was paralyzed, trapped by the force of the storm and the horror playing out in front of me.

Everything had gone silent—at least, it felt that way.

I could still hear screams in the distance, but they seemed detached, far away from where I was.

All that existed was Addie’s body, twitching on the floor.

“Brida, do not move.” The voice was unmistakable, cutting through the chaos like a knife.

I turned—no, forced my head to turn—fighting against the wind.

Marsh stood behind me, his face grim, the wind swirling but not touching him.

He looked so out of place, calm amidst the chaos.

“Do not move,” he repeated, his words cold and commanding.

“ARE YOU A PART OF THIS?” I shrieked, my voice hoarse, my throat raw.

I wasn’t even sure he could hear me over the deafening roar of the tempest. But his eyes answered me.

There was something dark in them—something I didn’t want to see.

He was involved, somehow.

I could feel it in the way he looked at me, in the way he stood so still while everything around us fell apart.

The wind around us shifted.

He wrapped a barrier of air around me, pulling me to my feet.

I was face-to-face with him now, but my eyes darted over his shoulder to Dainan.

Dainan’s face twisted with rage when he saw Marsh.

His entire body tensed, fury radiating from him as he fought against the windstorm to get to us.

Dainan stepped closer, shoulders squared and eyes dark, anger radiating off him in waves, as if his very body was braced to unleash something raw and untamed.

“She’s mine.” The words tore from Dainan, a feral, guttural snarl that sent a shockwave through the air.

His voice was a razor-edged whisper of rage, vibrating with a primal intensity that seized every nerve in me.

Marsh tightened his grip on me, pulling me closer.

“We’ll see,” he said, his voice smooth, unbothered by Dainan’s threat.

My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest. My eyes darted back and forth—Lil, Addie, Thalius, Rai.

Oh Gods, Rai. Rai and Thalius were making their way toward Dainan, and Dainan wasn’t paying attention.

He didn’t see them coming.

I tried to scream again, to warn him, but the wind swallowed my voice.

Everything was Chaos.

Everything was unraveling.

I opened my mouth to scream but it was swallowed by the wind.