Esmira (Enora)
Princess?
Could the dead woman on the library floor be Princess Esmira of House Eldarion?
A Bloodright wolf of royal descent, the bride from Ceranthia who was supposed to marry Alpha King Roderic tomorrow and unite two kingdoms on the brink of war.
And I, a common maid, had been found kneeling in her blood.
My body shook with a fresh wave of panic.
“I didn’t kill anyone!” Tears streamed down my face as the implication became clearer to me.
“I heard a noise, I went to look and found her sprawled on the floor, dead.”
The room erupted into strained voices, accusations, and someone even slammed a fist on the table.
Lord Aven watched the chaos, his eyes glazed in thought.
Then he finally spoke.
“Enough.”
And the room fell silent.
“This is not the time for blame,” he said calmly.
“The royal wedding takes place in a matter of hours, and it will proceed as planned. If Alpha King Eldric of Ceranthia learns that his daughter was murdered inside this palace, it will not be letters he sends; it will be armies. The peace we spent a decade building will collapse in a single night.”
He turned his gaze to me.
“How long have you served in this palace?”
“Six days, my lord.”
He nodded, staring at me thoughtfully.
“Then not many people here would recognise a more dressed version of you.” He studied my face.
“She is the right height, has a similar build to the princess, and at a distance, you can easily pass for her.”
“Lord Aven, that cannot be possible,” one of the men in the room rushed to him.
“If Eldric finds out we—”
Aven waved him aside and continued his assessment of me.
“Your colouring can also be managed. The princess arrived veiled, and the King had seen her only once.” His pale eyes narrowed slightly as he studied me.
“You have no wolf?”
“Yes, my lord,” I nodded.
“I am a commoner.”
“That is both a problem and a solution, but we will manage it with suppressants. The court will believe the queen’s illness has temporarily dulled her Bloodright.”
He took a step back and nodded with satisfaction.
“You will take the princess’s place. You will become Esmira Eldarion tomorrow and become Luna Queen of Valdren.”
My eyes widened as I stuttered, “I can’t — I’m a commoner from Dunmere — I don’t know anything about being a princess—”
“The alternative,” he said, as though I hadn’t spoken, “is that you are executed at dawn for the murder of Princess Esmira. You were found kneeling over her body with her blood on your hands. No other proof will be needed.”
“But I didn’t do it! I didn’t kill her!” I wailed.
Lord Aven smiled.
“That is entirely beside the point, my dear.”
He crossed the room to the table and picked up a scrap of parchment and a quill, which he dropped in front of me.
“If you want to live, you will do as I say from this moment. Write down the name of every person who knows you well enough to recognise your face, both inside and outside the palace. Every single name.”
I picked up the quill with trembling hands and scribbled down eleven names, not knowing that each one was a death sentence.
***
[Present Time- After the royal wedding]
For the next three hours, I sat at the table beside Roderic’s empty chair and nodded politely at the few nobles who approached to congratulate me.
By the time the crowd thinned out, Lord Aven walked up and said stiffly, “Come with me.”
I rose without a word and followed him down stone stairs, through an iron gate, and out into the hot mid-afternoon air.
A carriage was waiting, and without question, I climbed inside silently.
The ride lasted a while, but I was too numb to keep track of time.
When we finally stopped, evening had settled in.
We stepped out at the edge of a clearing.
Though it was not yet fully dark, lit torches had been staked in a wide circle.
And kneeling inside the wide circle in a row with their wrists bound behind their backs were eleven people.
I knew every face.
Old Harmon, the stable hand who was teaching me to read.
Bessa, the cook who always saved me extra bread on cold mornings.
Young Tommin.
Maret and Lise.
My aunt.
My uncle.
My cousins.
And at the end of the row, my mother and my two sisters, Darya and Nelle.
“These are the names you gave me last night,” Lord Aven said.
“Confirm them.”
I nodded, wondering what scheme he was up to now.
“Yes.”
Lord Aven nodded, then raised his hand and dropped it.
It happened so fast I didn’t understand at first.
The guards moved down the row in a flurry of steel, piercing through their bodies without hesitation.
Bessa fell.
Tommin’s body crumpled sideways, his hand twitching once in the dirt before going still.
My aunt, my uncle, my cousins, all of them lay before me, soaking in their blood.
Only my mother and my sisters remained.
I stared at them, trying to understand what had just happened.
It was only when the guards advanced toward my family with bloodied swords and Darya’s whimper reached me that something broke loose inside my chest.
“No — NO!”
I ran across the clearing and threw myself onto the ground beside them.
My arms wrapped around my mother’s shaking body while my hands reached for Darya and Nelle, trying to shield them.
“Please, my lord!” I cried out, looking up at Lord Aven through a blur of tears.
“Kill me instead. Kill me. I don’t care. Take me and let them go. Please, I’m begging you—”
Lord Aven gazed at me with disdain, clucking his tongue.
“You’re a queen now, Esmira. Compose yourself.”
My chest hurt, and my breath came in broken gasps, but I forced myself to let go of my mother.
I stood on shaky legs, swallowed the sob rising in my throat, and walked to Lord Aven.
When I reached him, I dropped to my knees.
“My lord.” My voice dissolved into a sob.
“I will never contact them again. I will cut every tie. They will never know what I’ve become. I swear it on my life. Please. Spare them.”
Lord Aven scoffed and crouched until we were eye to eye.
He gripped my jaw and tilted my face upward.
“I believe you,” he said.
“Truly, I do. But you must understand something about commoners, Esmira. They’re desperate, and desperate people talk.” His grip tightened.
“House Vaelis and the eastern lords are already sniffing around this marriage. How long before someone connects the dots and offers your mother a few silver coins? How long before your little sisters mention to a friend that their sister looks an awful lot like the new queen?”
“It won’t happen.” I grabbed the fabric of his coat, clinging to his legs.
“I swear to you. I’ll do anything to prove my loyalty. Anything.”
Lord Aven studied me for a long moment, then straightened, pulling himself free of my grip, and sighed.
“Very well. Since you’re an Eldarion, I’ll consider your request. I will send your family far away from here, and they will be provided for.”
I exhaled deeply.
A tear rolled down my cheek.
“You’re too kind, my lord. Thank you.”
He snorted.
“Say your goodbyes. Quickly.”
He signalled the guards, and they cut the ropes.
The moment they were free, the three of them collapsed into me.
We lowered ourselves to the cold, blood-soaked ground and wept.
“It’s alright,” I whispered into my mother’s hair.
“Everything is going to be alright.”
“Enora, what’s happening?” My mother pulled back and gripped my face.
“Why are you dressed like this? What have they done to you? Why did they kill them?”
I held her hands, my lips trembling as I tried to smile through the ache in my chest, choosing not to answer all her questions.
“Lord Aven is going to take you somewhere better. Far from here. You and the girls will be safe.” I pressed my forehead to hers.
“Just trust me, Mama. Please.”
“Esmira.” Lord Aven’s voice cut through the clearing.
“We don’t have all night.”
“But your name isn’t Esmira—” my mother protested, staring at me with confusion.
“What’s going on, dear?”
I ignored her question and kissed her forehead.
I kissed Darya’s cheek and pulled Nelle close, holding her for one extra second.
Then, biting hard on the inside of my cheeks, I turned around and walked away.
I had barely taken two steps when sharp swishes sliced through the evening air, so fast they barely registered before pained screams filled the clearing.
I spun around.
Three arrows protruded from my mother’s body.
She was half-kneeling, half-reaching for Darya, who had two arrows — one in her chest, one in her stomach.
Nelle was crumpled on the ground, an arrow through the back of her skull.
“MAMA!”
I screamed and lunged forward, but two guards seized me from behind, pinning me between them.
I fought like an animal.
I clawed and kicked and twisted and screamed until my throat tore raw, because my mother was still on the ground and she was still moving, her hand reaching toward me across the dirt.
But I couldn’t reach her.
The guards brought me to my knees, pinning me in place as Lord Aven approached and crouched in front of me again, until his pale grey eyes filled my vision.
Behind him, the torchlight flickered across the bodies of everyone I had ever loved.
“And now you understand,” he said quietly, “what happens if anyone discovers that you’re not the real Esmira. Your family’s fate will look merciful compared to yours.” He folded his hands in front of him.
“You will watch the King and report everything to me. Who he meets, what he says, where he goes, what he dreams about. You will make him fall in love with you, and you will be my eyes inside that palace.”
My gaze drifted past his shoulder to where my mother lay, and the fight drained out of me.
“As you wish, my lord,” I murmured.
He reached for my chin and tilted my face back to his.
“Tell me. Who are you?”
“I am Esmira of House Eldarion.”
He smiled.
“Good girl.”