Today I was chosen. The sun spoke to me in dreams and visions, and the priests say I am marked. I don't feel marked. I feel terrified. How am I supposed to lead a kingdom when I can barely lead myself?
The words blurred as I stared at them. My mother's handwriting—elegant, careful, shaking slightly at the edges like her hand had trembled as she wrote.
Sebtenius was reading over my shoulder, his breathing steady and warm beside me. Outside the small room, I could hear Tet and Aret talking in low voices, planning our escape from Arazon.
I turned the page.
The ceremony was yesterday. They put the amulet around my neck, and it burned. Not physically—though that would have been easier to understand. It burned in my chest, in my mind, like the sun itself was pressing into me, filling spaces I didn't know were empty. High Priest Awsar says this is normal. That the amulet recognizes the chosen. That I should feel honored.
I feel sick.
They expect me to be wise. To be strong. To make decisions that will shape the kingdom. I'm nineteen years old. I've barely left the temple district. What do I know about ruling?
Another page.
Been three months now. I'm getting better at pretending I know what I'm doing. The nobles watch me like hawks, waiting for me to fail. Especially Lord Veshric. He was certain his daughter would be chosen. When the sun picked me instead—a temple scholar with no family, no connections, no bloodline worth mentioning—he looked at me like I'd personally stolen something from him.
Maybe I did. Power was theirs for centuries. The god-kings ruled with absolute authority, and the noble houses held all the strings. Then Kii Hore made his covenant with the sun, created the choosing system to break their hold. And now I'm here, living proof that birthright means nothing.
They hate me for it. All of them. And I can't even blame them.
I paused, processing that. My mother had been nobody. Just like me. Chosen despite having nothing.
Or maybe because of it.
"Keep going," Sebtenius said quietly.
Year two. I'm starting to understand what the amulet does. It's not just a symbol—it's a key. It unlocks the Lost Books, the ancient texts written in languages nobody speaks anymore. When I wear it, I can read them. Understand them. The magic contained in those pages... it's terrifying and beautiful.
Awsar says I'm progressing faster than any sun holder in generations. That the sun has great plans for me.
I'm starting to think the sun should have chosen someone else.