Morning arrived slowly over the palace, pale light slipping through the curtains.
Somewhere outside, bells echoed softly through the courtyards as servants hurried through awakening hall.
Some servants crossing with a water basin while some were sweeping the far path.
Elyndra was already awake.
She was already dressed in high collar black embroidered gown.
She stood before the bronze mirror in silence, fastening the last clasp of her sleeve while candlelight flickered gently across the room.
The palace had taught her quickly; sleep lightly, wake early.
Behind her, the chamber doors opened carefully.
”Your Highness,” Senna greeted softly before bowing her head.
“You are awake already.”
Elyndra glanced toward her reflection.
“I couldn’t sleep much.”
Senna stepped closer, carrying combs and silver hair ornaments in her hands.
“Then at least allow me to help with your hair.”
She sat at the bronze mirror while Senna dressed her hair with quiet careful hands, pinning it up in the style the palace seemed to expect.
Senna’s fingers moved carefully through her dark hair, slow and practiced.
For a while, only silence filled the chamber.
Then footsteps sounded outside.
Quick.
Light.
Familiar.
”Princess Moriah of Nymeria has arrived.” The Eunuch outside announced.
Before Senna could even answer, Moriah entered with warmth already.
Moriah came through the door the way she always did.
Her pink robes were bright in the pale morning light, her hair already done, her smile already in place.
Then she stopped and looked at Elyndra properly.
”You didn’t come for dinner last night,” she said.
Not an accusation.
Just a statement with concern.
“You truly worried me yesterday, were you unwell?”
”I wasn’t hungry,” Elyndra said.
Moriah crossed the room and stood beside her, studying her reflection in the mirror.
Her eyes moved towards Elyndra’s collarbone.
The necklace she made her wore yesterday wasn’t there anymore.
She must’ve removed it.
Something crossed her face.
A frown but gone quickly.
Then she waved her hand and smiled.
”A princess cannot skip meals, Elyndra,” she said, with the tone of someone delivering an obvious truth. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“It’s not proper. It’s not healthy.” She sat on the edge of the chair nearby and continued talking.
About the meal she had missed, about the food in Azgareth versus Nymeria, about a particular dish from home she was already missing terribly.
Elyndra found herself almost laughing at one point.
Almost.
”Done, Your Highness,” Senna said softly, stepping back from her hair.
”Sister Elyndra, if you continue looking like this, the other princesses may truly declare war.”
Elyndra blinked once before a small laugh escaped her unexpectedly.
The sound surprised even her.
Moriah stood, took Elyndra’s arm, and pulled her toward the door.
”Come,” she said cheerfully.
“Let’s not be late.”
—
The third test was held in the main hall again.
The remaining princesses were assembled in their line, the queen on the seat, the room carrying the particular weight it alway carries.
Elyndra took her place, arranged her expression and then noticed him.
The crown prince was in the hall.
He sat beside the queen.
His face expression, Unreadable.
He had not been at the previous tests.
Today he was here and his eyes were already on her when she looked up.
She looked away.
Looked back at the front of the hall.
Looked at the floor briefly.
She could still feel it.
That steady attention, patient and unmoving, the same weight it had in the corridor, in the dark garden and at the gate on the very first day.
It settled between her shoulder and she could not shake it off.
Her chest felt strange.
She was nervous.
The realization arrived with an irritating clarity.
She was nervous.
Why?
because a crown prince was watching her from across a room?.
The thought unsettled her more than his attention did.
She breathed in slowly.
Breathed out.
She did not look at him again.
From somewhere down the line she felt Lythia’s gaze too.
She stood dressed in violet silk robes, jewels glittering softly around her neck, but bitterness sharpened her beautiful features the moment she caught the crown prince watching Elyndra.
The Crown Prince’s gaze lingering around Elyndra longer than before.
—
By the end of the trial, whispers had already begun spreading through the hall and Lythia’s patience had finally broken.
The moment they stepped outside into the open courtyard, Lythia’s voice cut cleanly through the air.
”How impressive,” she said lightly.
“The princess from nowhere continues to capture attention.”
Several princesses nearby fell silent immediately.
Elyndra stopped walking.
Princess Rhael frowned.
“Princess Lythia”
”But perhaps,” Lythia continued smoothly, ignoring Rhael, “that is expected from someone raised among mountain tribes instead of proper courts.”
A few of the other princesses laughed quietly.
Elyndra said nothing.
”It’s remarkable really,” Lythia continued, tilting her head slightly.
“For someone from a place like Velmora.” She let that sit for a moment.
“Such a small kingdom.” She smiled.
“I’m sure they must’ve lacked almost everything back there that’s why they’re putting too much effort to get some power from Azgareth.”
The princesses behind her said nothing.
They didn’t need to.
”Your people must be so proud,” Lythia said.
“To have sent someone so…eager… to represent them here.”
The word landed exactly the way it was meant to.
Elyndra looked at her.
Not with anger.
Not with hurt.
She looked at her with absolute nothing on her face.
”Loser,” Lythia muttered lowly but very much for Elyndra to here it.
Elyndra remained silent.
Only her fingers tightened slightly beneath her sleeves.
Lythia smiled faintly at her silence before turning away with few others, her dress swaying behind her across the white stone path.
”Sister Elyndra…” Moriah said softly as she stepped forward.
Elyndra exhaled slowly.
“I am fine.”
But even she could hear how cold her own voice had become.
She turned and left.
She kept her steps even.
Her hands still.
Her face composed.
Inside she was furious.