CHAPTER 2

The dungeon door groaned open with a metal screech so unpleasant I was convinced it had been trained to scream on purpose. Cold light sliced into the cell, sharp and rude, illuminating the dust swirling in the air like it was celebrating my misery.

Two guards stomped inside, grabbed my arms, and dragged me upright as if I were an unruly sack of turnips. My legs buckled, but they did not care. It was almost impressive, their commitment to being terrible at their jobs.

My dress was stiff with dried blood. My wrists had raw grooves that were now bleeding in slow, dramatic drips. My throat ached from screaming into stone walls that clearly did not believe in answering back.

“Where are you taking me?” I whispered.

Both guards behaved like I was invisible. Wonderful. As always, I had the social relevance of a dying moth.

They hauled me up the winding staircase. My bare feet slipped on the cold stone steps. The castle seemed different today. The walls whispered. The ceilings watched. Even the torches flickered like they wanted front row seats to my downfall.

The courtroom doors burst open.

Noise slammed into me like a wave.

Nobles were packed shoulder to shoulder, sparkling with jewels and bad intentions. Their eyes glittered with anticipation. It felt like walking into a theatre production where I was the only actor who had not received a script.

The guards shoved me forward. I fell hard, my knees skidding across the stone. Pain shot up my legs, but I forced myself upright because the alternative was lying down in front of people who already wanted to kill me.

The council sat behind their curved table, stone faced and soulless. They stared at me like I had personally offended their breakfast.

I lifted my chin. “Before anything begins, I would like to see evidence. Actual evidence. Not rumors. Not staged lies. Evidence.”

“Silence,” a councilor snapped.

“No,” I shouted back. “I will not be silent while you destroy me.”

“You will obey,” another hissed. “Or you will be gagged.”

I laughed quietly. It came out like a cracked piece of my sanity escaping. “How convenient for all of you.”

A palace steward stepped forward. Someone I had once greeted politely in hallways. His hands shook so badly his sleeves trembled.

“I saw the princess holding a blade,” he said. “She rushed toward the queen.”

“You were nowhere near the upper hall,” I snapped. “You were in the kitchens. Fetching honey cakes. You are lying and you know it.”

The poor man wilted like a dying houseplant.

Next came a servant girl. Barely older than me. She wrung her hands dramatically.

“I heard Princess Aveline swear she would destroy the queen,” she said. “I heard her say the throne belonged to her alone.”

“What room were you in,” I demanded. “Tell them exactly where you stood and what you heard.”

She blinked rapidly. “The east hall.”

“I was in the west wing,” I hissed. “If you are going to lie about me, at least try to get your geography correct.”

The crowd muttered. The council scribbled.

A guard stepped forward. “She ran when we approached. Only someone guilty runs.”

“I ran because you were trying to break down my door,” I shouted. “Anyone would. Even a goat would.”

That caused murmuring again, which I took as a personal victory.

Then every whisper died when the next person stepped forward.

Kaelan.

My betrothed.

My future husband.

My childhood companion.

The noble heir. The war hero. The man who once gave me a rose and told me it reminded him of me because it was dangerous to touch.

He was standing beside Seraphine.

Seraphine rested her hand on his arm like she was claiming a prize.

And he let her.

The sight hit me like a physical blow. For a moment I forgot how lungs worked.

Kaelan looked at me with calm, emotionless eyes. Eyes that once softened for me now looked at me like he was reading a boring report.

“Aveline,” he called, voice steady and clear, “I saw you with my own eyes. I heard your threats. I saw you raise the blade.”

I stared at him. My heart cracked. “What are you doing?”

He did not blink.

“You tried to harm the queen,” he said. “You even threatened Seraphine. I cannot ignore what I witnessed.”

Seraphine lowered her lashes as if his words caused her emotional pain. She needed an award for the performance.

“You saw nothing,” I whispered. “You and I both know that. Why are you lying? Why are you doing this to me?”

Kaelan’s jaw clenched. “You have changed. I never imagined you capable of violence.”

“Do you hear yourself?” I snapped. “You spent the entire day with me. You knew I never left my chambers. You told me you believed me. You told me you trusted me. Why have you forgotten that? Or did someone pay you to forget?”

His eyes flickered.

Fear. Not of me. Of them.

Seraphine leaned into him, offering fake comfort. Disgust crawled through my stomach.

“You betrayed me,” I whispered. “You betrayed your future wife for her.”

A ripple moved through the crowd as if gossip itself had grown legs.

Kaelan remained still.

Seraphine stepped forward, her voice trembling so beautifully I almost applauded.

“I did not want to speak,” she said. “I wished to protect Aveline. But she told me I was an obstacle. She said the throne should be hers alone. She said she would cut me down.”

“I never said that,” I snarled. “You conniving garden snake.”

Gasps erupted. Nobles flapped like startled pigeons. Someone whispered that I needed to be contained. Another asked if I had cursed their cat last summer.

Lysandra drifted forward next, hands clasped dramatically over her chest.

“I pity her,” she said softly. “She is sick. Lost to dangerous power. I beg the council to offer mercy, but I fear she cannot be controlled.”

“Mercy?” I shouted. “From you? You want me dead. You always have.”

Chaos exploded again.

“She curses the queen.”

“She attacks her family.”

“She has lost her mind.”

My pulse hammered. My breath turned thin. The guards yanked my arms behind me so hard a bolt of pain shot through my shoulder.

“Stop,” I gasped. “Let me speak. Let me defend myself.”

“Every word you say condemns you,” a councilor said.

I whipped my head toward the throne.

My father sat unmoving. His eyes dull. But when I said his name, something flickered.

“Father,” I whispered, voice breaking. “Please. Look at me. Please remember me.”

Slowly, painfully, he looked my way.

Hope exploded painful and bright in my chest.

His brow furrowed. His fingers twitched. His lips parted as if he wanted to speak.

“Father? Please,” I begged. “Tell them the truth.”

Then Lysandra placed her hand on his arm.

His expression froze.

The flicker vanished.

My heart shattered cleanly.

A councilor rose. “By the voice of His Majesty, judgment is passed.”

“No,” I breathed. “Please. Please do not do this.”

The councilor lifted his chin. “Aveline Asteria Laurel will be banished from the realm.”

The chamber erupted. Cheers. Jeers. Outrage. Triumph.

The guards released me and I dropped to my knees. Stone bit into my skin. My breath fractured. Everything blurred like water over ink.

Seraphine stood above me. She lifted her fan to hide her smile.

Behind it, she smirked.

Victorious.

Triumphant.

As if she had already taken everything that belonged to me.

My throne.

My future.

My life.

Kaelan.

Even my father’s voice.

And now they would take my freedom too.

But they had made one fatal mistake.

They had forgotten I do not stay broken for long.