Seraphina's POV
"I choose her."
The words hung in the air like ice about to shatter.
King Caspian's finger pointed directly at me. Every eye in the ballroom turned to stare.
My heart stopped beating.
This wasn't happening. This couldn't be real.
"WHAT?" Elise's scream tore through the silence. Her beautiful face twisted with rage. "No! That's impossible! You meant to point at me!"
But Caspian's ice-blue eyes never left mine. Cold. Intense. Determined.
"I said what I meant," his deep voice carried across the ballroom. "I choose her."
Queen Isolde shot up from her throne, her face white with shock. For the first time in my life, I saw my mother completely lose control.
"Your Majesty," Mother's voice shook as she forced a smile. "Surely you're mistaken. That's just a servant girl. My daughter—my real daughter—is Princess Elise."
She gestured frantically toward Elise, who looked ready to murder someone.
"That girl in the doorway is nobody," Mother continued, her voice getting higher and more desperate. "She has no magic, no value, no—"
"She's your daughter." Caspian's voice cut through Mother's rambling like a blade of ice. "Isn't she?"
The entire court held its breath.
Mother's mouth opened and closed like a fish. She looked trapped.
Finally, through gritted teeth, she admitted: "Yes. That's Seraphina. My... older daughter."
More gasps from the crowd. Whispers exploded everywhere.
"The Queen has been hiding a daughter?"
"Why would she hide her own child?"
"Look at her dress—the Queen treats her like a servant!"
Mother's face turned red with humiliation and fury. This was her worst nightmare—being exposed in front of the entire court.
But I barely heard any of it. My mind was spinning too fast.
Why would King Caspian choose me? Was this some kind of cruel joke? A test?
Everyone knew what marrying the Winter King meant. Death. His curse killed everything he touched. Marrying him was a death sentence.
Was Mother so desperate to get rid of me that she'd somehow arranged this?
Caspian walked toward me, and the crowd parted like he was death itself walking through them. Frost spread across the marble floor with each step. The temperature dropped so fast that people started shivering.
He stopped right in front of me.
Up close, he was even more terrifying. Tall and powerful, with sharp features that looked carved from ice. His silver-white hair seemed to glow in the balllight. But it was his eyes that trapped me—ice-blue and burning with something I couldn't name.
"What's your name?" he asked, his voice softer than before.
My throat was so dry I could barely speak. "S-Seraphina, Your Majesty."
"Seraphina," he repeated, like he was testing how it sounded. Then his expression hardened again. "Will you marry me?"
It wasn't really a question. We both knew I had no choice.
But before I could answer, Elise rushed forward, ice magic crackling around her hands.
"You can't choose her!" Elise shouted. "I'm the powerful one! I'm the one worthy of being your queen!"
She raised her hands, and ice spears formed in the air—sharp and deadly, all pointing at me.
The crowd screamed and scrambled backward.
"Elise, no!" I gasped.
But my sister's face was pure hatred. "If I can't have him, then you'll die before you do!"
The ice spears shot toward me like arrows.
I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the pain.
But it never came.
A wall of ice exploded up from the floor, blocking the spears. They shattered against it harmlessly.
I opened my eyes to see Caspian standing between me and Elise, his hand raised. The wall of ice he'd created was three times thicker than Elise's attack.
"Touch her again," Caspian said, his voice colder than death itself, "and I'll freeze your entire kingdom into a graveyard."
Elise stumbled backward, fear finally replacing her anger.
Caspian turned to Queen Isolde, who looked like she wanted to disappear into the floor.
"I came here because you sent a letter begging me to consider your daughter for marriage," Caspian said. "You wrote that you had the perfect bride for me. A princess of ice magic who could help break my curse."
Mother nodded frantically. "Yes! Elise is perfect for you—"
"You lied," Caspian interrupted. "You have two daughters. And you deliberately hid one of them from me."
Mother's face went pale. "Your Majesty, I can explain—"
"I don't want explanations. I want honesty." Caspian's eyes were like frozen daggers. "Is this girl your daughter? Yes or no?"
"Yes," Mother whispered.
"Then she's a princess of this kingdom. She has royal blood. Which means she's just as valid a choice as her sister."
Caspian turned back to me. "I choose Seraphina. The wedding will be in three days."
"No!" Elise screamed.
"Your Majesty, please reconsider!" Mother begged.
But Caspian ignored them both. He looked only at me.
"Do you accept?" he asked quietly.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to ask him why he was doing this.
But I saw something in his eyes—something desperate and lonely that I recognized because I felt it too.
And I realized: refusing him would be worse than accepting. Mother would punish me. Elise would make my life hell. I'd be blamed for embarrassing the kingdom.
At least if I married him, I'd die quickly. The curse would kill me, and I'd finally be free from this nightmare life.
"Yes," I whispered. "I accept."
Something flickered in Caspian's eyes—relief? Surprise? I couldn't tell.
He nodded once, then turned to address the entire ballroom.
"The decision is made. In three days, Seraphina will become my queen. Anyone who objects will answer to me."
The threat in his voice was clear.
Mother looked like she wanted to cry or scream or both. But she forced a fake smile.
"Of course, Your Majesty," she said through clenched teeth. "Seraphina will be... honored to marry you."
The way she said "honored" made it sound like "sacrificed."
Caspian gestured to a man I hadn't noticed before—huge and scarred, standing by the doorway like a guard.
"Commander Frost, escort my future bride somewhere safe. No one is to bother her until the wedding."
The commander nodded and walked toward me.
But before he reached me, Caspian added in a voice so low only I could hear: "Three days, Seraphina. Then you'll be free of them forever."
He walked away, his frost-covered footsteps marking his path across the floor.
Commander Frost gave me a surprisingly gentle smile. "Come on, Your Highness. Let's get you out of here."
As he led me through the crowd, I heard the whispers exploding around me:
"He chose the defective princess!"
"She'll be dead within a week!"
"The curse will kill her for sure!"
"Poor girl, she's as good as buried already!"
I kept my head high even though tears burned behind my eyes.
Elise's voice cut through the crowd one last time: "Enjoy your three days, sister. They're the last three days of your life."
Commander Frost squeezed my shoulder gently. "Don't listen to them."
"They're right though," I whispered. "Everyone knows his curse kills people. I'm going to die."
Commander Frost stopped walking and looked down at me with serious eyes.
"Maybe," he said quietly. "Or maybe you're exactly what he's been looking for."
Before I could ask what he meant, he continued walking, leading me through the palace halls.
Away from my cruel mother.
Away from my jealous sister.
Away from everything I'd ever known.
Toward a future that would either kill me or save me.
I just didn't know which yet.
But as we walked through the dark hallways, I remembered the way Caspian had looked at me—not with disgust like my family, but with something else.
Hope?
Recognition?
And I remembered his words: "When I look at you, the pain stops."
What did that mean?
Why me?
Three days until the wedding.
Three days until I became the Winter King's bride.
Three days until I discovered if I was walking toward my death... or toward the only person who'd ever chosen me.