Chapter 2

Alaric.

The day is hot and stupid, and the people are stupid too. They groan and shout and fawn and sing bawdy melodies out of tune. I am bored out of my skull but know better than to show it.

My father also hates these horrid traditions—he hates everything—but he still stands by them. “For the good of the realm,” he says with a bitter taste in his mouth. His traditions will suffocate him one day.

I sigh and let my gaze disappear over the crowd. I’ve felt strange since the procession this morning. Agitated. Like something big is going to happen. Ever since I saw…

“Don’t usually see a girl in a veil in Celestria,” comes a voice from my right. Sir Elias Humpston, my only friend in this hellish farce.

“What?” I reply.

“Pay attention you sullen sod,” says Elias. He’s the only person in the realm besides my father who could call me a sod without hanging.

I turn to face his smiling green eyes.

“Pay attention to what, you insubordinate ass?” I retort.

“Shut up and look!”

I look down from the platform to see a veiled woman striding across the arena. She is completely covered in long robes from head to toe, despite the heat of the day. Her clothes are plain, homespun, but her gait is straight and fine. Her hands drift delicately beside her. She certainly doesn’t move like a low-born woman.

Her face is completely covered except for her eyes. I lean forward unconsciously.

“I knew you’d like that,” smirks Elias, who’s been watching me.

“I don’t ‘like it’,” I clip back.

“As you like,” says Elias with an affable grin. “Where do you think she’s from?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” I say coldly.

Elias is always trying to goad me into the company of women. He would probably even condone a low-born woman, provided it wasn’t serious. But I can’t ever reciprocate their affections.

All around me on the platform the ladies of the court pout and preen, fanning at their heaving, corseted chests in the heat. Each one of them is trussed up on this rare occasion to see the crown prince, each desperate to be noticed by me.

It makes me feel nothing. No woman, no person, could ever really know me. Better to stare at nothing.

Still, I can feel the strange young woman below pulling my attention. I look away.

My father is seated to my left, his brow furrowed, his eyes unreachable. He hasn’t heard the banter between me and Elias, thank gods. The smallest things upset him.

“Why is she covered,” I hear my father mutter under his breath. The veiled young woman is now facing the royal platform. She gives a deep curtsy, but her posture remains defiant.

Suddenly my father stands up.

“Young woman,” he cries loud enough for her to hear below, “congratulations on your artistic accomplishment. I’m sure it was well deserved. The judges are wise.”

The crowd, usually in a constant yell, has grown quiet with the presence of this strange woman.

“You have no need to hide, young woman,” says my father in a firm tone. “Remove your veil and show us your face, so we may know who has been so honored today.”

The figure below straightens. A voice, soft but determined, rings out from behind the veil.

“Your Majesty,” says the voice, “I am greatly honored by your court. My name is Seraphina Darkwater. But I cannot remove my veil.”

The crowd responds in shouts and whistles, hoots and lewd calls.

“Show us, girl!”

“Take it off, you low-born hussy!”

“What are you hiding, you haughty cow?”

I wince at the words, but I don’t know why. She’s just an ordinary girl in a veil.

“Seraphina Darkwater,” booms my father, the anger rising in his voice, “you must be new to Celestria. You are forgiven for your trespass. But you will not be forgiven a second time. Girl, take off your veil.”

Silence falls over the crowd as they wait for her reply. It is slow in coming.

Finally, the strange sweet voice replies steadily from behind the veil.

“Your Majesty, again I am greatly honored. But I cannot remove my veil.”

The crowd is shocked into silence, aghast at the slight to the ruler of the seven kingdoms. Then a wall of sound rises from the spectators, yelling insults, thirsty for action, blood. They are dogs, they will take anything.

In the din, I look at the mysterious girl. Who could remain so defiant to the most powerful man in the world, my hateful father?

I look more closely. Only her eyes are visible. Only her eyes —

“You will be imprisoned, woman!” says my father in a roar.

I am flooded by an amethyst light. Her eyes, meeting mine, sparkle like purple jewels from above her veil. She casts her eyes down. It’s gone as quickly as it came.

I feel strange. I feel something, after many years of feeling nothing.

I stand up, hardly conscious of what I’m doing.

“Your Majesty,” I hear myself say loudly to the crowd more so than to my father, “leave this woman alone. Let her wear her veil.”

I turn to my father. His brow is completely soaked in sweat. His steely eyes gaze at me with both curiosity and anger.

Elias too is giving me a puzzled look. Never before have I used my voice as the prince in public. Never before have I wanted to. And, of course, never before have I dared to challenge my father.

My father’s face is growing in fury. His grey eyes flash with a profound hatred for me. He has never forgiven me for being born. This is the first time we’ve spoken to each other in months. Here, in front of this bloodthirsty crowd, for all to see.

“Boy!” he hisses at me in red-hot rage, too quiet for the crowd to hear.

Looking away from me, the king stands to face the crowd. Firmly, coldly, he says, “Guards, please escort this girl to the garrison. To be executed.”

A roar of pleasure surges from the crowd.