Mira's POV
The slap came out of nowhere.
My head snapped to the side, cheek burning hot. The bucket of dirty water I'd been carrying crashed to the marble floor, spilling everywhere.
"You clumsy fool!" Princess Vivienne shrieked, dancing backward in her golden shoes. "You almost ruined my dress! Do you know how much this costs? More than your useless life!"
I pressed my hand to my stinging face and kept my eyes down. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I didn't see you coming."
"Of course you didn't. Bastards like you never see anything." Vivienne's beautiful face twisted with disgust. She was everything I wasn't—golden hair that caught the sunshine, perfect skin, a smile that made men fall at her feet. And she never let me forget it.
Two maids rushed over, fussing over the princess while giving me hateful looks. Nobody cared that I was her half-sister. Nobody cared that we shared the same father. I was just the mistake—the king's embarrassing secret with a servant woman.
"Clean this mess up," Vivienne snapped, flipping her hair. "And stay out of my sight. I have important news, and I don't want your ugly face ruining my happiness."
She swept away with her maids, leaving me on my hands and knees, mopping up dirty water with my bare hands. This was my life. Twenty years old, and I was still unnoticeable.
But I'd learned something useful about being invisible—people talked around you like you weren't even there.
"Did you hear?" one of the kitchen maids whispered as she passed by. "The Northern King sent a message!"
My ears perked up. The North. Everyone feared the North.
"The Dragon King?" another maid gasped. "What does he want?"
"A bride! He's demanding King Castellan send Princess Vivienne to marry him, or there'll be war!"
My hands froze on the wet floor. A bride? For the Widowmaker?
The maids kept talking, not noticing me crouched nearby.
"Three wives dead already! They say he kills them with his bare hands!"
" I heard his eyes glow like fire when he's angry."
"Poor Princess Vivienne. She's as good as dead."
They hurried off, still talking. I sat back on my heels, my mind running. The Dragon King. I'd read about him in the banned books I snuck from the library late at night. The North was full of magic—real magic, not the fake tricks southern lords paid for. Dragons that could shift into people. Creatures made of ice and fears.
And the king of that cold wasteland wanted Vivienne.
For a split second, something ugly and pleasing curled in my chest. Vivienne would finally know what it felt like to be stuck. To be weak. To be scared.
Then guilt crashed over me. No matter how mean she was to me, I shouldn't wish that on anyone.
I finished cleaning and rushed toward the servants' quarters to find my mother. She worked in the kitchens, the only person in this entire palace who loved me. But before I reached the stairs, I heard Vivienne's words coming from the drawing room.
I should've kept going. I should've minded my business.
But something in her tone made me stop.
"I won't do it!" Vivienne was crying—actually crying. I'd never heard her cry before. "I won't marry that monster, Father! Please!"
"You have no choice." The king's voice was cold. "The treaty requires a royal bride, and you're my only daughter."
"Send someone else! Send—" Vivienne's voice dropped to a panicked whisper, but I pressed my ear to the door crack.
"Send the bastard! Send Mira!"
My blood turned to ice.
"Don't be ridiculous," the king said. "She's not real. The Dragon King would know immediately."
"So what?" Vivienne's voice turned sharp, calculating. "By the time he finds it out, it'll be too late. The marriage will be done. And when he kills her for the deception, you'll have your reason for war. Everyone wins."
Silence. Long, terrible quiet.
"That's actually brilliant," a third voice said. Lord Thorne. Vivienne's secret lover—yes, I knew about that too. Invisible girls learned all the secrets. "Think about it, Your Majesty. We send the bastard north, save the real princess, and get our war. The Dragon King's lands are rich with magic and resources."
"But Mira's mother—" the king started.
"Is a servant," Thorne interrupted smoothly. "Easily dealt with if the girl doesn't cooperate."
My heart hammered so hard I thought it would burst. They were talking about killing me. About using me like I was nothing—like I'd always been nothing.
"When would we do this?" the king asked slowly.
No. No, no, no.
"Tomorrow night," Vivienne said, her tears suddenly gone. "We drug her, dress her in my clothes, forge the papers. The Northern delegation comes at dawn to collect the bride. They've never seen me in person—they won't know the difference until it's too late."
"And her mother?" the king pressed.
"We lock her up," Thorne offered. "Insurance. If the baby tries to run or tell the truth, we kill the mother. Simple."
I stumbled backward, my hand over my mouth to keep from yelling. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real.
But deep down, I'd always known. In this castle, I was never a person. I was just a problem to be solved.
I ran. Down the servants' corridors, through the kitchens, out to the small yard where Mother grew herbs. She looked up from her plants, saw my face, and immediately knew something was wrong.
"Mira? Baby, what happened?"
I grabbed her hands. "We have to run. Right now. Tonight. Please, Mama, we have to—"
"Well, well. Going somewhere?"
I spun around. Lord Thorne stood in the garden door, blocking our only exit. Behind him, six royal guards filed in, hands on their weapons.
Thorne smiled, cold and cruel. "I thought you might overhear. You always were too curious for your own good, bastard."
Mother pushed me behind her. "Run, Mira! Run!"
But there was nowhere to go. The guards surrounded us like dogs.
"Take the mother to the dungeons," Thorne ordered. "As for you, Mira—" His smile widened. "You have a wedding to prepare for. Don't worry. I'm sure the Dragon King will love his new bride."
He pulled a cloth from his pocket—a cloth that smelled sweet and chemical.
"No!" I screamed, fighting as he pressed it over my mouth and nose. "Let her go! Please! I'll do anything! Just don't hurt her!"
"That's exactly what we're counting on," Thorne whispered in my ear.
The world spun. Mother's screams faded. Everything went dark.
And my last thought before the darkness swallowed me totally was: I'm going to die in the North, and nobody will ever even know I was gone.