“But what about the blizzard?” Lina asked, staring at Callis in disbelief.
“I will be all right.
With this map, I know where we are.
They must have sent a search party.
As long as I stay on course towards the castle, I ought to run right into them.
The cabins are numbered, so I can send them straight here to get you.”
“Wait… you’re leaving me here?
Alone?”
“Lina, the cabin is safer.
You are protected here.”
“Do you really have to go right now?
Why can’t they just postpone the wedding for a day or two?”
Callis shook his head and sighed.
“I wish we could, but Sterne weddings do not work like that.
There are certain rules that cannot be broken.”
“But you can’t go out in this snow,” Lina pleaded.
She did not understand what he was saying.
How could a Sterne wedding be different from any regular wedding?
“You have to wait at least until the… Callis?”
Callis suddenly coughed with violent force.
He wiped his mouth, and the back of his hand became streaked in blood.
“Callis!
What’s wrong?” Lina rushed to his side.
“Why are you coughing blood?!”
Without answering, Callis stared at the crimson color before turning to peer out the tiny window.
It was dark outside.
The snow was piled to waist height at least, more in some places.
The wind howled against the eaves.
He knew that the wedding ceremony was about to begin.
He had to get back.
He had to.
But as soon as he advanced towards the door a second time, he coughed again.
His legs gave out, and he crumpled to the floor.
“Callis!” Lina shrieked, rushing over.
His coughing continued, splattering blood with every raspy breath.
It dripped from his nose and the corner of his mouth.
His face had turned sickly, the color drained from it.
Lina, not knowing what else to do, simply wrapped him in a blanket.
He began to mutter deliriously amid his repeated bloody coughing fits.
“Seria.
Seria.
Seria…”
Finally, a glowing, chain-like constellation of light appeared around Callis’s neck.
It simply hung there at first, like a collar, but then it began to constrict, tighter and tighter.
It was strangling him.
“What is going on?!” Lina wailed.
She recognized the constellation from her lessons.
It was said to signify the promise made by those who had entered into a binding oath with a Sterne.
But why would it be strangling Callis?
He wasn’t even a Sterne…
“Callis!
Callis!” Lina yelled hysterically.
She grabbed him and held on tight.
Then, in desperation, she tried to pry the luminous band of light from Callis’s neck, but to no avail.
She watched as the life began to fade from Callis’s eyes.
* * *
The wedding hall was a magical spectacle.
The ornate chandeliers fractured light into thousands of dazzling beams.
A long red carpet lined with tall flowers in delicate glass vases stretched from the entrance to the altar.
Sacred insignia glimmered above flickering candle flames.
The host of priests and priestesses who had come all this way for my wedding were gathered together like a choir.
Their expressions were drawn and frightened, and the sounds of their intermittent sighs were the only sounds in the air.
Callis had yet to return, and I was the center of attention.
Just me, alone, standing in front of the altar, the eyes of everyone in the hall glued on me without a groom.
The hall was packed.
There was not a single empty seat to be had.
All those noblemen and women, as well as the knights who had escorted them all this way—none of them would have dreamed of missing the conclusion of this disgraceful scandal.
The wedding dress, which Begonia had painstakingly altered to perfection, was truly awe-inspiring.
It fit comfortably and elegantly around my body and was adorned by hundreds of gems that shimmered in the light.
The finishing touch was a veil of the most delicate lace, held in place with a diamond dewdrop pin.
Large golden bowls were placed on either side of the officiating priest, casting beams of reflected light across the altar.
The bowls were filled with holy water, and they each had a tiny hole from which the water was meant to leak.
Droplets fell at regular intervals, each making a quiet plop, like a water clock.
I stared at the bowls, remembering the visit Callis and I had made to the High Church a month before.
It was for the Ceremony of Vows, which must be performed ahead of a Sterne wedding in order to bond the groom to the Sterne.
Callis had to dip his hand into an identical bowl so that the holy water could purify him.
It was also there that I learned how a Sterne wedding ceremony begins the moment the holy water starts to drip and ends when the last drop has fallen.
I did not understand why such a strict measure of time was required.
In my case, it was more like a ticking time bomb.
While I stood there awaiting my doom, I concentrated on my expression.
I focused solely on the golden bowl, wishing not to betray a single hint of my true emotions.
Suddenly, a scream erupted from the far end of the hall.
“My lady!
My lady!”
“Lady Sterne!”
Other voices joined in as I turned around to see what all the commotion was about.
The entire hall was staring at me in wide-eyed horror.
I followed their frightened gazes down to my feet, where a pool of blood was spreading beneath me.
I gasped at the sight, and this brought on a harsh coughing spasm.
My white wedding gloves, intricately laced by Begonia’s artisans over the course of two months, were now spattered with blood.
“Lady Seria!” Abigail rushed toward me.
A group of priests quickly intercepted her and held her back.
“You must not touch her!” the head priest warned.
“Are you insane?
Something is wrong with her!
She is dying!” Abigail protested.
“We must allow the ritual to proceed!
The rules state that Sternes are not to be interfered with!
If you touch her now, it will further disrupt her divine energy, making this worse!”
“Where is Marquis Hanneton?” a voice demanded.
Though I was aware of what was happening around me, my head was spinning.
I became too dizzy to stand and collapsed onto the rug.
As I lay there in pain, I reflected on how I had thought I’d managed to avoid the tragic ending, and yet here I was, dying an equally tragic death.
Amidst all my striving to be good and alter the script, had I done something wrong?
Was Seria simply an irredeemable villainess?
Were such things truly inevitable?
Tears rolled lazily down my face, for I had no strength to cry in earnest.
The heavy diamond ornament that was holding the veil fell out of my hair and onto the floor.
I was in excruciating pain.
I knew I was going to die.
I could feel death.
It was near.
My consciousness had faded to a tiny pinprick of awareness.
“Your Grace!”
“Your Highness!”
I didn’t have the strength to lift my head or look behind me, but I heard someone trudging down the aisle.
My veil was lifted away from my face as I saw who it was.
It was Rouche Berk, kneeling down beside me.
“You must not touch her, Your Grace!”
“You cannot make contact with the Sterne!”
“It looks as if she is already dead,” Rouche responded to the frantic priests, “and yet you have done nothing.”
“We cannot…!”
Rouche grabbed my shoulders.
He gritted his teeth as he looked over my blood-soaked wedding dress.
The crumpled veil lay bloodied on the floor.
It seemed that the whole world was nothing but blood.
Even his hands were dripping in it.
“Seria Sterne!” Rouche howled in the silent hall.
“You must be strong!
Hang on!
Don’t you dare die, damn it!”
Rouche squeezed my hand gently, comfortingly.
It was more than a touch; he was conveying to me that everything would be okay.
For the briefest moment, I felt him.
I understood him.
My vision was growing dark, but I felt my hand in his, and I believed him.
Rouche let go of my hand, rose to his feet, and stepped up to the altar.
He then dipped his hands into the holy water.
“Commence with the Ceremony of Vows,” he ordered.
“But how—” said a priest.
“Keep it simple.
Do as I say.”
The priests seemed both entranced and frightened as they began to arrange everyone’s proper placement at the altar.
They opened their holy books and began to recite the rites.
When they touched Rouche’s forehead to bless him, a pure white light exploded forth, showering the altar in brilliance.
They had to skip quite a few steps in order to significantly shorten the ceremony, but it was enough to make the union official.
Lennon brought Rouche a pair of white gloves.
He promptly put them on and bent over me, staring into my face.
I remember seeing his crimson eyes gazing at me through a thin crack of consciousness.
He then scooped me up into his arms.
I felt like I was floating.
“Proceed!
Hurry!” he commanded, his voice echoing throughout the stunned hall.
“And so, to the Sterne, blessed by the holy throne, you swear yourself for all eternity…”
In my last moments of consciousness, I thought I saw a strange chain-like pattern around Rouche’s neck, either hung or stamped there, like a tattoo.
Only it seemed to be glowing.
And that was the last thing I remembered.
* * *
Please don’t let me die like this.
I want to live.
I want to survive.
Don’t kill me!
“Seria Sterne!”
The voice blasted into my ears, jarring me awake.
I was covered in a cold sweat.
My eyes adjusted more slowly than normal until they finally focused on a familiar pattern.
It was the ceiling of my room.
My eyes felt moist.
Had I been crying in my sleep?
I seemed to have woken from a nightmare, but I didn’t remember anything.
I wiped my wet eyes with the back of my hand before feeling a warm, soft cloth on my forehead.
“Use this.”
I knew someone was sitting at my bedside, but my eyes were still trying to focus.
All I could see were silver eyelashes, crimson eyes…
It was Rouche Berk.
With no recollection of anything that had occurred, I stared at him in dumb wonder.
I didn’t have the strength to sit up.
I felt dizzy and somewhat numb.
It was as if a tidal wave had washed over my mind, leaving it barren but somehow cleared of clutter.
“Your Grace,” I choked out weakly.
I wanted to be cautious, for one thing that I had not forgotten was how scary this man could be when he was upset.
“I apologize, but I do not think I can get up to bow.”
Rouche chuckled, his red eyes strangely affectionate.