Seraphina's POV - Wedding Day, Present
Someone in this chapel wants me dead.
The thought screams through my mind as the priest drones on about love and devotion. My eyes scan the crowd, searching for the killer.
Lord Blackwell stands in the third row, smiling. Guilty or just cruel?
Lady Cordelia dabs at fake tears with a handkerchief. Jealous enough to murder?
The Emperor himself sits in the front, looking pleased. The man who forced this marriage. The man who knew my father was innocent but killed him anyway.
Any of them could be the one.
All of them could be.
The bride and groom will now exchange vows, the priest announces.
Kael turns to face me fully. Up close, I can see things I missed from far away. The scar on his jaw is recent, still slightly pink. His hands shake the tiniest bit. And his eyes dark and intense hold something that looks like desperation.
Seraphina, he says, and his voice cracks slightly on my name. I vow to protect you with my life.
The crowd murmurs. That's not the traditional vow.
Kael continues, his eyes locked on mine. I vow to honor you, to give you freedom, and to spend every day trying to atone for the wrongs I've committed.
More murmurs. The Emperor shifts uncomfortably.
Kael's hand squeezes mine gently. And then, so quietly that only I can hear, he whispers: Third row, left side. Man in blue. He's reaching for something.
My heart stops.
I force myself not to look. Not to react.
It's my turn for vows now.
I My voice shakes. I clear my throat, buying time. I vow to stand beside you.
The man in blue is moving. I can see it from the corner of my eye.
In prosperity and hardship, I continue, my mind racing.
His hand goes to his jacket. Is that a weapon? Poison? A signal to someone else?
Until death I pause, let the weight of those words hang. parts us.
The crowd's faces blur together as I walk down the aisle. Hundreds of people, thousands of eyes, all watching me. Judging me. Pitying me. Envying me. They don't know what this costs. They don't know that every step forward is a step deeper into nightmare, that the white dress feels like a burial shroud.
The man pulls something from his jacket.
Kael's entire body tenses beside me.
Time seems to slow.
The man's arm rises.
And I realize he's not aiming at me.
He's aiming at Kael.
DOWN! I scream, throwing myself at Kael.
We crash to the floor as something whistles through the air where his head just was. A knife embeds itself in the altar behind us with a sickening trunk.
The chapel erupts into chaos.
People screaming. Guards rushing forward. The Emperor shouting orders.
Kael rolls, pulling me beneath him, shielding me with his body. Stay down!
More knives fly. One barely misses my head, so close I feel the wind of it.
There's more than one! Kael shouts to his guards. Secure the Emperor! Protect the bride!
But the guards are fighting their way through panicking nobles. We're exposed. Vulnerable.
A figure in servant's clothes leaps onto the altar, knife raised, coming straight for me.
Kael moves faster than I thought possible. He blocks the attack, grabbing the assassin's wrist, twisting until I hear bone crack. The knife falls. Kael's fist connects with the man's jaw, and he drops unconscious.
Can you run? Kael asks me urgently.
Yes, but
Then run. Now. Back exit behind the altar. Don't stop until you reach the east wing.
What about you?
His smile is grim. I've survived worse than assassins.
Another attacker comes at us. Kael shoves me toward the back of the altar. GO!
I grab my skirts and run.
Kael's eyes meet mine, and for a moment i see something that might be regret. Or fear. Or recognition. Whatever it is, it vanishes quickly, replaced by careful neutrality. The General's mask. The Bloodhound's cold efficiency. I wonder if he ever takes it off, if there's a real man under all that armor.
Behind me, I hear fighting. Steel clashing. Men grunting. Kael shouting commands.
I reach the small door behind the altar and wrench it open. A narrow corridor stretches ahead, lit by flickering torches.
I run.
My wedding dress catches on corners, tears on rough stone. I don't care. I just need to get away, to think, to understand what's happening.
Who were those assassins? Why attack during the wedding? Why target Kael when he said I was in danger?
Unless... he was wrong about who they wanted dead.
Or he was lying about protecting me.
I reach a fork in the corridor and stop, gasping for breath. Left or right? I don't know this palace well enough.
Footsteps echo behind me. Running. Getting closer.
I choose right and keep going.
The corridor opens into a small room some kind of storage space with old furniture and dusty curtains. Dead end.
No. No, no, no.
I spin around, looking for another exit. A window. Anything.
The footsteps are right outside now.
I grab a broken chair leg, holding it like a weapon. My hands shake but I force them steady.
If I'm going to die, I won't make it easy.
The door opens.
A figure steps through, backlit by torchlight so I can't see their face.
I raise my makeshift weapon. Stay back!
Seraphina, it's me.
Kael's voice. He steps into the light, and I see blood on his uniform. Not the dark red spray pattern means it came from someone else.
Are you hurt? He moves toward me, hands out, showing he's not a threat.
Don't come closer! I back against the wall. How do I know this isn't part of your plan? Maybe you arranged those assassins toto
The priest's words wash over me meaningless, empty. Sacred vows profaned by being spoken over the graves of my family. Does God laugh at moments like this? Or does He weep? I used to believe in divine justice. Now I only believe in the justice I can create myself.
To what? Nearly get killed at my own wedding? He stops moving. Seraphina, I know you don't trust me. You have no reason to. But right now, people are trying to murder both of us, and we need to work together to survive.
Why should I believe anything you say?
Because I'm the only one who's been honest with you. His voice is raw, urgent. That document. Your mother's locket. The warning about poison. Have I lied about any of it?
I want to say yes. Want to find proof he's still the enemy.
But I can't.
Who were they? I demand. Who sent assassins to our wedding?
I don't know yet. But I have suspicions. He glances back at the corridor. We need to move. There could be more. The east wing has a safe room were
A sound makes us both freeze.
Slow clapping.
Someone else is here.
A woman's voice, smooth and cold, comes from the shadows in the corner: How touching. The bride and groom, together at last.
Lady Cordelia steps into the light.
She's holding a crossbow aimed directly at my heart.
And she's smiling.
Did you really think, she purrs, that I'd let you marry him? That I'd let a traitor's daughter steal everything I've worked for?
Kael moves in front of me. Cordelia, put down the weapon.
Or what? You'll stop me? She laughs. You're unarmed, Kael. And I'm an excellent shot. Move aside, or I'll put a bolt through you to get to her.
Why? I ask, trying to buy time. Why kill me? What did I ever do to you?
You exist. Her smile turns vicious. You're the last Valence. While you live, there's always a chance someone will discover the truth about what really happened to your family. Can't have that.
My blood turns to ice.
You? I breathe. You were part of it?
Part of it? Cordelia's laugh is like breaking glass. Darling, I planned it.