Chapter 3 Word From Ravencrest

Nobody moved. The five thousand people dressed in their absolute best stood completely frozen, holding their breath. The great hall, which had been so full of laughter and music just moments ago, suddenly felt as cold as a tomb.

King Edric finally spoke, and I had never heard our king sound like that before. He sounded tense and incredibly careful, showing a vulnerability I did not know he had.

"Speak, then," the King commanded.

"I am Lord Cassian Vane," the man said, stepping fully into the hall. Dust flew off his heavy boots as he moved. "I am a messenger from Ravencrest, representing the Dowager Queen."

The name Ravencrest sent a visible shiver through the crowd, whispered frantically from person to person. Next to me, Isolde squeezed my wrist so hard it hurt. The room seemed to drop ten degrees in an instant.

"The Dowager Queen sends word that her son, Prince kael Delmond, needs a wife," Lord Cassian continued. "She has ordered that the search include Ashenvale this season, and the choice will be made tonight, right here while everyone is gathered."

The silence that followed this time was not just surprise. It was pure dread. It spread through the room instantly, and I watched several young women turn pale and reach out to grab their husbands or fathers arms.

"Prince Kael Delmond," my father muttered next to me, mostly to himself. The sheer fear in his voice shattered whatever calm I had left, because seeing my father react like that told me everything I needed to know. He was an elder, a man who kept his head in every crisis, but right now his face was entirely blank with shock.

"Six wives," someone nearby whispered frantically, low but clear enough for everyone to hear in the quiet room. "Six wives in three years."

"And none of them lasted more than six months," another voice added, the words sounding like a death sentence. "No one knows why."

I looked at Isolde. The girl who had been laughing and dancing just a few minutes ago was completely gone. She looked terrified, her face entirely drained of color. Her lips were trembling, and she looked at the messenger as if he were a monster that had just walked out of a nightmare.

"Your Majesty," Lord Cassian said, looking directly at the King. He sounded almost bored, as if he had delivered this exact same speech in a dozen other kingdoms before ours. "The Dowager Queen knows this is not pleasant news. But she also assumes Ashenvale understands what happens if you refuse."

I did not know the exact details of what Ravencrest could do to us, but I could see the answer written on everyone's faces.

Ravencrest did not just have a massive army, they had the power to completely destroy a kingdom with a single order if they wanted to. No one dared to cross them, and no one ever won a fight against them.

King Edric's jaw tightened, his face twisted in disgust that he was trying hard to hide for the sake of his duty.

"And if I say no?" the King asked, his voice shaking just a bit.

"Then Her Majesty will assume Ashenvale no longer wants to continue existing," Cassian said casually, as if he were talking about the weather rather than the fate of our people. "I do not think anyone in this room wants that."

No one said a word. The threat was loud and clear. Next to me, my father reached out and grabbed my hand, gripping it tightly. His skin felt icy, and his fingers were trembling against mine.

The King looked around the silent, terrified room. He looked at the five thousand frightened faces, then at his own wife, who had her hand pressed over her mouth. His composure cracked for a split second before he forced it back. He looked smaller now, weighed down by the lives of everyone in the hall.

"Go ahead," he said, and the words seemed to physically pain him.

Lord Cassian gave a cold, humorless smile and gestured toward the chandeliers above. Slowly, the lights in the massive hall began to fade. One by one, the candles flickered out, plunging the grand room into darkness.

"The magic needs darkness," he announced into the growing blackness. "This will not take long."

Around me, people started praying in panicked whispers. Mothers pulled their daughters close, and fathers stepped in front of their families. The whole room shifted as everyone asked themselves the same terrifying question, who is it going to be?

I found Isolde's hand in the dark and held on tight, my heart hammering against my ribs. I kept telling myself what every other girl in the room was probably thinking,

please, not me, please, not anyone I love, not tonight.

I did not realize yet how useless those prayers were.

In the pitch black, I could not help but think about the six women who came before us. I did not know their names, and nobody in Ashenvale had any reason to know them. They were from other kingdoms, chosen at other balls just like this one, probably praying the exact same prayers. Did they feel this same sick, hollow feeling in their stomachs right before their names were called? Or did the news come to them in a gentler way, a letter or a formal summons that let them prepare themselves before their lives were ruined?

The darkness felt heavy, almost suffocating, pressing down on all five thousand of us. My mother stood perfectly still, holding Caron tightly with her right hand. Her left hand pressed flat against her chest as if she were trying to keep her heart from bursting. I could hear Caron breathing rapidly beside her, her usual anger entirely swallowed up by the same fear that gripped the rest of us. My father had not let go of my hand since the name Ravencrest was spoken, holding on even tighter now that the room was totally dark, as if he could physically protect me from whatever was coming.

"It will be fine," Isolde whispered beside me, though her voice shook so badly I knew she did not believe it. "It has to be someone else. It has to."

I squeezed her hand back, having nothing comforting to say. I wanted to tell her she was safe, I wanted to tell myself I was safe, but the words felt like paper shields against the danger in the room. Then, out of the dark ahead of us, a faint, cold humming sound began to fill the room as the magic started its search. It felt heavy and predatory, moving through the air like an invisible beast, looking for its prey.