ECLIPSE
As the daughter of Alpha Monart, Eclipse rode the most luxurious carriage, bringing along with her boxes of jewelleries and dresses that was befitting of a princess.
Most of her dresses were meant to seduce Malric NorthSteed and win his heart if she went by the plan that the Hollow had laid out for her, yet she turned variables upon variables in her head as the carriage propelled forward.
Your mission has been compromised.
She couldn't get the letter off her head. Between who could have possibly sent the letter and the meaning of those words, she was quite concerned.
It made sense that the Hollow wouldn't want to waste such an opportunity to get close to Malric NorthSteed. To send only her on this mission would be a waste, so they certainly would want to send a more seasoned assassin as well.
Perhaps someone the rank of an Ark, or even a Sage.
And depending on their approach, that certainly compromised her mission.
So in her head, she mulled over the first fifteen days, wondering if she would survive it to the fifteenth day.
A selection contest like that would certainly feature an elimination method, so perhaps she should be more concerned about not being eliminated before she had her chance.
The carriage came to a sudden stop, and her eyes shut until then, flew open.
She drew open the curtains to the carriage. "Are we here already?" She asked the driver, but she didn't need his answer as right before her, the infamous Ice Walls stood.
A fortress made of nothing but hardened ice boulders, the ice wall was one of the wonders of their world.
For its towering and magnificent structure, it certainly deserved the prestige. And this was the first time she was beholding it.
It was certainly beautiful. So beautiful she couldn't help but admire it.
Engraved on the top most of the gate were the words, "The Arctic North" carved in the old wolf tongue. And just by extending her senses a bit, she could send thousands of hidden Epsilons behind the walls.
They were the reason why no one dared try to take the North by brute force. Their army was worthy of their centuries of influence.
Still, what stood out for her was how Malric NorthSteed managed everything from the cocoon of his palace. She had to admit, it took a level of capability and control.
A man, the rank of a military commander going by his dressing, approached them,m.
"Your pass?" He demanded of her driver who produced the official invitation from the Alpha King.
Eclipse observed the exchange wordlessly.
"A prospective bride I see," the commander said in the most bored tone she had ever heard, "your carriage stops here. We shall personally escort your lady into the city by order of the Alpha King."
The driver didn't protest. It was clear he was eager to escape the looming danger that came with just standing before the North.
Hurriedly, he had her boxes transferred from the rear of the carriage. And when all was done, he helped her down.
"I shall now leave you here, Miss." he muttered with a bow. "It is said your personal properties shall be conveyed straight to your lodgings."
She smiled. "Thank you for your kind service."
But he was already bolting off.
The commander wordlessly led her to another carriage which surpassed her original carriage in every single way.
It was clearly a royal carriage from the palace, and it was driven by a man armored from head to toe who could only be a knight of the order of the WolfKnights.
Eclipse took note of it. The WolfKnight's was a centuries old order established five hundred years ago by the then founding Luna Queen of the North who was rumored to be a reincarnation of the moon goddess herself.
For such a knight to drive her carriage, that could only mean one thing—she was headed straight to the palace.
The journey to the capital alone took hours, and when they entered the bustling capital, Eclipse could feel it in her bones that she was in the most prosperous city in their world.
The chatter of children, merchants, and passing nobility all carried to her. Everyone seemed to be talking about one thing only which seemed to be the hottest topic in town—
—the bridal selection contest.
Their excitement was strange, but one thing was clear to her; these people were very much invested in whom their Alpha King took as a wife.
She would imagine they would stone her to death should they find out her intentions. And they would be justified to do so, just the same way her vendetta was justified.
It was nightfall when they reached Silverhold, the first palace fortress. And it wasn't until she stepped down from her carriage did she realize she was one of the last people to arrive for about more than forty brides were all standing in front of the firmly shut gate of the Silverhold.
The unspoken message was clear, it was not easy to enter the palace. Yet something felt off.
No matter the Alpha King's prestige, all these women were from prestigious families and to keep them standing like that was not very hospitable.
Burying the urge to observe the women and weed out the other assassin sent by the Hollow, she took her place and remained standing with them.
Minutes bled to hours, and hours stretched to over three hours of her standing. Despite the fact that that much standing meant nothing to her, she still had to pretend fragility by occasionally bending and stretching her legs to showcase her silent discomfort. For however could a fragile lady like Eclipse Monart take such torture.
Even at that, she still had to maintain an air of nobility, but the same couldn't be said for the other women who now broke into collective sounds of disgruntlement.
"How dare a mere Beta keep me standing." One of the ladies hissed to her fellows, "back at home, my father's beta would never make a sound, much less act out like this."
"I've heard the Cardinal Betas are not like ordinary Betas." A timid voice added.
The first lady scoffed. "A beta is still just a beta." She hissed.
Eclipse was just about to tune them off when a lady approached her with a smile on her face. "Hello," she said shyly, "it seems you and I are the only ones who have not yet formed factions here."
True. Each of the brides seemed to have formed a clique of some sorts, but she pretended not to notice.
"Is that so?" She said, looking around as if observing the same for the first time, "I am far too nervous to actually speak to anyone." She chuckled.
"I can relate. My name is Ara Zenith. And you're?"
The Zenith pack from the South?
"Monart. Eclipse Monart." She introduced with a small smile.
"Beautiful name," Ara said, pulling her cloak closer. "But I swear, if this gate is not opened anytime soon, my wolf would freeze."
On cue, the gates were drawn open. So slowly everyone held their breath all at once as if expecting a five headed monster to come through.
Yet what came through from it might not be less than a monster either.
Kael NorthSteed.
She recognized the Beta of the East just from the wrong placement of his eyes.
With that way he seemed not to look, but was in reality looking.
But something else tickled her senses, and she resisted the urge to reach to her wolf to find out what it was.
Something was wrong, and she soon found out what it was for immediately the gates were fully drawn open, archers appeared on the walls like summoned ghosts.
Each of them were drawing a bow with silver arrows that glittered like stars against the night.
The brides panicked all at once, attempting to run in different directions but were stopped as guards appeared behind them, barricading any chance of escape.
Eclipse ducked low, pretending fear while her mind raced a million miles per second. What did she just walk into?
"I apologize for the ruckus," Kael's voice traveled to them, stiff as death itself, "but it has come to our attention that there are assassins within your ranks. So for your safety, we must eliminate them."
What?
She didn't flinch though, struggling more to appear truly unnerved by the development.
Kael took steps closer to the small bridge that separated the palace walls from them.
It felt like he was staring straight at her, but she knew it was an illusion caused by his mismatched eyes.
"Shall I have to come and point you out?" He drawled a threat that no assassin in their right mind should take very seriously.
She was unthreatened though, ducking to the floor with the rest of the brides.
The next thing that happened, she felt before it even happened.
But her role as the demure lady Eclipse Monart meant she couldn't afford to react to the looming threat that was coming from right behind her no matter how sharply honed her instincts were.
A hand dragged her up, hands circling around her neck just as a silver blade pressed against her throat.
"Don't come closer!" Ara Zenith screamed, "if you do, I shall slit her throat and spill her blood on your snow!"
What the…?
So the woman who had approached her, acting all coy was a variable? It was a pity though… how easily she shattered under the pressure of Kael's words. Her end was definitely not going to be a good one.
Ara Zenith was definitely a foolish assassin because if she thought Kael would take her threat seriously, she was sorely wrong.
She pressed the silver blade against Eclipse's neck until her flesh broke and burned.
"Shall I spill the blood of one of your goddamn brides right here?!" Ara screamed, her voice shaky and frenzied.
It was clear she was new to this. But why?
Her threat was received with as much as a grain of salt. Before their eyes, Kael NorthSteed raised his fingers in readiness to make the gesture for the archers to fire at them.
His expression was impassively cold like ice.
The kind of ice that made the walls of the borders of the North.
Eclipse could have easily maneuvered herself away from the arrows that were about to rain on them.
She could have easily pried the dagger from Ara Zenith and ended her life right then and there for daring to use her as hostage.
She could have escaped everything….
…but she could not because she was supposed to be Eclipse Monart.
Sweet, beautiful, kind lady like the girl she was five years ago.
So she remained perfectly still, eyes sliding shut as she took her most dangerous gamble just yet.
And the arrows were fired.