Cassia's POV
I'm going to die tonight.
I don't know it yet as I spin across the ballroom floor, laughing so hard my sides hurt. But death is already walking through the palace doors, wearing black armor and carrying my name on a list.
"Cass, slow down!" My cousin Seraphine grabs my arm, giggling as we stumble to a stop near the dessert table. "You're going to trip and fall flat on your face in front of everyone!"
"Let them watch!" I grab two glasses of sparkling juice from a passing servant. "Tonight is perfect, Sera. Did you see Father's face when Lord Hammond agreed to the trade deal? We're going to be richer than the king himself!"
Seraphine takes the glass I offer, but something flickers across her face. Too fast for me to read. Then she smiles—that beautiful smile that's been my comfort since we were children—and raises her glass. "To the Thornewood family. May we rule this kingdom's social scene forever."
"Forever," I echo, clinking my glass against hers.
The ballroom sparkles with a thousand candles. Musicians play in the corner while nobles dance and laugh. My parents stand near the throne, talking with the kingdom's most important people. Father catches my eye and winks. Mother blows me a kiss. My heart feels so full it might burst.
This is everything I've ever wanted. My family is safe. My future is bright. And my best friend—my cousin, my sister in everything but blood—stands beside me, sharing it all.
"Midnight!" someone shouts as the clock tower begins to chime.
Seraphine's hand finds mine. Her fingers are ice cold.
"Sera?" I turn to her. "Are you okay? You're freezing."
"I'm fine," she whispers. But her eyes aren't looking at me. They're fixed on the ballroom doors.
BOOM.
The massive wooden doors explode inward. Splinters fly through the air like tiny knives. I scream and duck, pulling Seraphine down with me. Around us, nobles shriek and scatter.
Soldiers pour into the ballroom. At least fifty of them, maybe more. They wear black armor I've never seen before—metal so dark it seems to swallow the candlelight. Their faces are hidden behind helmets shaped like wolf skulls.
"NOBODY MOVE!" The lead soldier's voice booms across the ballroom. "By order of the new regime, this palace is now under military control!"
New regime? What is he talking about?
I search frantically for my parents. Father has pushed Mother behind him, his face pale but determined. "This is treason!" he shouts. "The king will have your heads for this!"
The soldier laughs. It's a terrible sound. "The king is already dead, Lord Thornewood. Executed an hour ago for crimes against the kingdom."
The ballroom erupts in chaos. People scream and run for the exits, but more soldiers block the doors. I can't breathe. The king is dead? That's impossible. We were just toasting to his health an hour ago!
"Cassia." Seraphine's voice is strange. Flat. Empty.
I turn to her, desperate for comfort, for her to tell me this is some horrible joke. But the look on her face stops my heart.
She's smiling.
Not her usual warm smile. This one is cold. Cruel. Like she's wearing someone else's face.
"Sera?" My voice comes out small and scared. "What's happening?"
She stands up slowly, pulling her hand from mine. "What's happening, dear cousin, is that I'm finally taking what should have been mine all along."
I don't understand. The words don't make sense. "What are you talking about?"
Seraphine smooths down her ball gown and walks toward the lead soldier. He bows to her. Actually bows. Like she's royalty.
"Citizens of Aurelia!" Seraphine's voice rings out clear and strong. "Your old rulers were corrupt. They stole from you. Lied to you. But tonight, that ends. I have allied with a powerful force to bring justice to this kingdom. And it starts by punishing the worst traitors of all—the Thornewood family!"
The room spins. I must have heard wrong. I must be dreaming.
"No," I whisper.
Seraphine's eyes find mine across the ballroom. There's no love in them. No warmth. Just cold satisfaction. "Yes, Cass. Your father has been embezzling from the kingdom treasury for years. Your mother helped him hide the evidence. And you..." She walks toward me slowly, like a cat approaching a mouse. "You knew everything and said nothing. That makes you guilty too."
"That's a lie!" I scream. "My father would never—"
"SEIZE THEM!" Seraphine's command cuts through my protest.
Soldiers grab my parents. Father fights back, landing a punch on one soldier's jaw before three more tackle him to the ground. Mother screams my name.
"MOTHER!" I try to run to her, but Seraphine catches my arm. Her grip is iron-strong.
"Let this be a lesson," Seraphine announces to the crowd. "Betray the kingdom, and you will pay the price. Execute them."
Time stops.
"No," I breathe. "No, no, no—"
Two soldiers draw their swords. The blades gleam in the candlelight.
"PLEASE!" I'm sobbing now, clawing at Seraphine's hand. "Sera, please, they're innocent! We're family! PLEASE!"
Seraphine leans close to my ear. Her breath is warm against my skin, but her words are colder than winter frost. "We were never family, Cass. You were just useful. Until now."
The swords fall.
My mother's scream cuts off.
My father's last word is my name.
I hear myself making sounds—animal sounds, raw and broken. My legs give out. Seraphine releases me, and I crumble to the floor, staring at the bodies of my parents lying in pools of spreading red.
This isn't real. This can't be real.
"Take the girl to the dungeons," Seraphine orders, her voice bored now, like I'm nothing more than a chore to be finished. "Tomorrow, we'll have a public execution. The people need to see justice done."
Hands grab me. Rough and uncaring. Someone hits me across the face, and pain explodes through my skull. I taste blood.
As they drag me away, I see Seraphine place my mother's crown on her own head. She catches my eye and smiles.
"Sweet dreams, cousin."
Everything goes black.
When I wake up, I'm lying on cold stone. My head throbs with every heartbeat. I try to move, but my hands are chained to the wall behind me. The metal cuts into my wrists.
Where am I?
My eyes slowly adjust to the darkness. I'm in a cell. A tiny, freezing cell that smells like death and despair. Water drips somewhere nearby. The only light comes from a torch in the hallway beyond the iron bars.
Then I hear it.
A scream. High and desperate and achingly familiar.
My mother's voice.
But that's impossible. I saw the swords. I saw her fall. She's dead.
She has to be dead.
The scream comes again, closer now. Definitely my mother. Or something that sounds exactly like her.
"Mother?" I croak out. My throat is raw from crying. "MOTHER!"
Footsteps echo in the hallway. Someone's coming.
I scramble backward until my back hits the wall. My chains rattle. My heart hammers so hard I think it might break through my ribs.
A figure appears outside my cell. Tall. Wearing a dark hooded cloak.
"Who are you?" I demand, trying to sound brave even though I'm shaking. "What did you do to my mother? I heard her! She's alive!"
The figure tilts its head, studying me like I'm an interesting insect.
Then it speaks.
The voice is male. Deep. And completely emotionless.
"Your mother is dead, Lady Cassia. What you heard was her ghost, trapped in these dungeons where she drew her last breath." He pauses. "But don't worry. Tomorrow, you'll join her."
He starts to walk away.
"WAIT!" I lunge forward as far as my chains allow. "Who are you? Why is this happening?"
The figure stops. Slowly, he reaches up and pulls back his hood.
The torchlight reveals a face that makes my blood turn to ice.
He's young—maybe mid-twenties—with silver hair and eyes the color of storm clouds. His face is beautiful in a cold, sharp way, like a knife made of ice. But it's his expression that terrifies me most.
There's nothing in those eyes. No anger, no mercy, no emotion at all. Just empty, endless winter.
"I am King Theron Nightshade," he says quietly. "And tomorrow, I'm going to watch you die."
He turns and disappears into the darkness, his footsteps fading away.
I'm alone again. Alone with my mother's ghost-screams echoing through the dungeons. Alone with the knowledge that the most feared man in the world—the Dark King himself, the monster who's destroyed seven kingdoms—has come to Aurelia.
And somehow, I'm on his list.
I curl up on the cold stone floor, chains digging into my skin, and wonder what I possibly could have done to deserve this fate.
My mother's scream echoes again.
This time, I scream back.