One by one, more names were called, until nine souls stood marked for the task.
Jasmina watched as parents rose in fury, voices clashing as they protested the decree that would send their children into peril.
Then the herid’s voice cut through the hall.
“Jasmina of House Hart,” he called.
Silence fell like a blade.
Every gaze turned upon her.
Beside her, the prince’s hand tightened around hers, his jaw clenched.
He said nothing, yet the weight of his displeasure filled the space between them.
Whispers moved through the crowd.
Few understood her.
She bore no rudeness, yet an air of quiet arrogance clung to her — never wielded in malice.
Beneath it lay a fierce aura that bent lesser men to silence.
None believed the Council would choose her, even when it was clear no other fit the task as she did.
Still, belief and truth are rarely kin. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“What will the prince say?” murmured the nobles, for they remembered well.
Those sent on such ventures before had never returned.
No letters.
No word.
Only the certainty of death.
Lord Harid stood, his voice steady and unyielding as stone.
“I speak the will of the Council,” he declared.
“There is no error in my words.”
“Why my sister?” Onxy demanded, his voice like steel striking stone.
Wrath lined his face.
He would not accept it.
Nor would their mother, who had kept her children sheltered from court and blade, desperate to keep danger from their door.
Jasmina stood, battling with a long moment of silence.
She stepped forward to stand before Jasmina, placing herself like a shield.
“Your daughter appears well to me, Lady Ella. She does not bear the mark of the infirm.”
“She is afflicted,” Lady Ella insisted, voice trembling though her eyes did not.
“My daughter battles a sickness you cannot see with your eyes.”
“Lady Ella, you make this difficult,” the Lord harid.
replied, his voice firm as iron.
“Do not insult the Council with falsehoods. Your daughter was called, so as many other families her.”
“Yes, let her go, Lady Ella,” Lady Avia said, her voice cutting through the hall.
“My son was called as well, and I do not weep for him.”
Murmurs rose as more ladies of the court pressed forward, urging Lady Ella to yield and give Jasmina to the task.
It was Lady Ella’s greatest fear…