Page 5

“ What? ” Dimitri exclaimed, suddenly on his feet and slamming his hands onto the table before us. “Father, you can’t be serious.”

My ears rung as Father and Dimitri argued, and suddenly I couldn’t hear a single word they were saying as my thoughts spiraled.

Me. Marry . My father wanted to marry me off to the King of the South, to the enemy .

I knew my father likely resented me, but I didn’t know he loathed me like this.

I’d lived my whole life hearing about the atrocities the South had committed against my people, to the point where I only knew how to feel disgust and fear towards them.

This must have been the something big Dimitri had felt our father was planning. We had recently turned nineteen, the age where Northerners were generally allowed to start getting married if they wished to do so. But I always thought I’d marry for love—not as one of Father’s power moves.

I’d only ever experienced love from within the pages of a book, never firsthand. I used to dream of finding love as a child, and even as a young teenager, with my books fueling my imagination.

All of those dreams feel as though they had just evaporated into thin air.

I looked down at my blank left forearm—the spot where, once an Inphisian gets married, the other party’s family sigil goes. Both female and male received the other’s family crest as a tattoo—a permanent mark to serve as a permanent reminder of whose family you belonged to and served.

“That’s quite enough , Prince Dimitri. This doesn’t concern you any longer—I allowed you to stay as a privilege, but obviously you can’t be trusted to behave.

Therefore, you’re dismissed.” Father’s booming voice overpowered the protests of Dimitri, bringing me back to the scene playing out before me.

Dimitri opened his mouth to continue arguing, but Father held up a hand and said, “Now, Dimitri.”

My twin’s mouth snapped shut and his jaw clenched together hard. He met my eyes and I knew he could read every emotion and anguished thought on my face in that moment.

I’m so sorry, he mouthed to me, before swiftly walking out of the large room without looking back.

My father ran a hand through his salt and pepper colored hair. “I apologize for my son’s outburst. Now that he’s been handled, what do you say, Princess Teagan?” Father asked after taking a steadying breath.

Teagan hadn’t let her carefully crafted mask of control slip, but it was cracking.

Her eyes narrowed as she gazed upon my father, and she lightly worried the inside of her cheek between her teeth.

Though the rest of her body language didn’t give it away, her eyes showed how she was contemplating all of the ways this could have gone differently—and that she still hadn’t been expecting this.

Though I hadn’t been permitted off the castle grounds very much throughout my life, I always observed people.

The guards and servants around the castle, the instructors and mentors Dimi and I had growing up, and even the people of Hollis when I had the opportunity to sneak out.

Reading other’s expressions and emotions came as easily to me as flying did.

Teagan inhaled a deep breath before saying, “You can’t expect me to make a call like this for my brother. We will consider your offer, if you’re sure none of my earlier propositions would work instead. But I must return home to discuss this with my king first.”

“Unfortunately your propositions will not work, but I believe this to be a great idea for our two peoples. I would hate for you to make such an important decision on behalf of your dear king. We will await your messenger in the days to come,” Father answered her.

The same wicked expression from earlier returned to his face once again, and he appeared as though he’d just won the entire war with one conversation.

Teagan nodded stiffly before rising from her chair. She politely tipped her head downward towards my father respectfully before saying, “You’ll be hearing from us very soon.” With that, she dismissed herself from the room without another word, the food on the table left untouched by all.

The second the door shut and I was alone with Father, I rose from my chair, wings spreading high above my form, and exclaimed, “What was that? ”

Father leaned forward to place his elbows on the table and his head atop his hands, not bothering to look my way as he gazed upon the chair Teagan had been sitting in across the table from him. “Sometimes, Aviva, you have to sacrifice those you love for the greater good of your people.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Greater good?” I asked.

“ Those you love? ” I practically yelled.

I’d never spoken to him this way before, but my control was fraying.

“Father, we both know this isn’t much of a sacrifice for you.

But why? How does this help you? Princess Teagan had multiple good ideas that would actually benefit our people, yet you kept turning them down.

Why is this the only option that works for you?

” Tears welled in my eyes, threatening to spill onto my cheeks as I spoke.

My father and I had never been particularly close, but I never thought he’d do something like this.

Even if we’d never had a typical father-daughter relationship, he was still the male who taught Dimitri and I to fly.

He was still the one who taught us to wield a sword and daggers and bows.

He was still the father who told us stories of our late mother before bed anytime we begged as children. So how could he do this to me now?

Father sighed and ran a hand through his hair, turning to finally meet my eyes.

“Aviva, I don’t have to explain my plans or strategies to you.

There’s more at play here than you know about.

If the messenger from the South returns and they agree to my terms, you will do as you’re told.

There will be no debates about this, understood? ”

A single tear escaped and rolled down my face as I tried, one final time. “But Father—”

I was quickly cut off as he raised a hand to silence me, just as he had done to Dimitri, and ground out between clenched teeth, “ Understood? ”

My bottom lip quivered before I ran a hand down my face, pulled my wings back in close, and lifted my chin. There was no room for emotions here; he’d only become more agitated.

I knew from experience.

“Yes, Father,” I said, not allowing my voice to shake as that indifferent mask of mine slid back into place. If he was going to pull this card, the least I could do was not make a fool of myself in front of him.

“Good. You’re dismissed. Stay on the castle grounds in case you’re needed,” Father said, already turning away from me again.

I forced one foot in front of the other until I made it outside the room, where I found Dimitri waiting.

“I heard everything, Viva. I’m so sorry. I promise I had no idea this is what he was planning,” he said, taking me into his arms and wrapping his wings around me in a tight embrace.

The moment his wings closed around us, I loosened the grip I had on all of my emotions I had been holding back. Tears freely flowed down my face and my chest shook from the pressure as I held on tightly to my twin.

Dimitri’s wings around us gave me enough privacy to feel like it was alright to be vulnerable for a moment.

Being raised as Northern royalty, we were taught that emotion was solely a weakness.

Anytime I cried as a child, Father would simply ignore me until I stopped—then carry on as if nothing had happened.

Father always said that emotions were what would get you killed if you weren’t careful.

After a handful of moments, my tears ran dry and I released my brother, raising my hands to my face and wiping the tear tracks away. I squared my shoulders back, putting the emotionally disconnected mask I wore every day of my life back on, and nodded to Dimitri to let him know to lower his wings.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t object. He tucked his white, silvery-gray tipped wings back against his body and motioned for me to lead the way.

***

I found Aurora waiting in my chambers, reading one of my books about the different zirilium, with another book about the Northern ritual of the veltik khan next to her—a fight to the death.

The one in her hands was one of the few volumes I owned that actually mentioned something about the South and what they could wield.

Usually information on the South was limited, but being royalty did have some perks.

The moment I walked in, she tossed the book onto the bed next to her and hopped up. “So, how did it—" Aurora stopped mid-sentence when she saw the look on my face. I saw her eyes shift over my shoulder to Dimitri, who I imagined was shaking his head, silently signaling for her not to ask.

“I need to clear my head, so I’m going for a fly. Can you fetch Eden for me and meet me at the back exit? I don’t think I’ll make it to the stables without being caught. Father ordered me to stay on the grounds,” I said to Aurora, clenching my fists in an effort to keep my hands from shaking.

When my emotions were as intense as they were right now, my zirilium became much more difficult to control, and that much harder to hide from my twin.

They had been closely tied to my emotions for as long as I could remember.

Holding it all in like this, it made me feel like there was an eternal static crawling under my skin.

Most Northerners my age had full control over their zirilium by now, but Father had never taken the time to properly train me, despite being able to wield both the weather and water himself.

Most of his time was spent preparing Dimitri to rule someday.

“Yes of course, I’ll meet you there,” Aurora said, turning to leave, then turning back.