Chapter 3

My mother began sorting the possessions I would take to the Blood Court.

She sat at the long table with my bridal inventory and crossed out one item after another.

My share of the southern hunting grounds.

The woodland estate Grandmother had left me.

My jewelry and the ceremonial gold ornaments passed down through our family.

By the time she finished, only a few chests of winter clothing, healing herbs, and old books remained.

“The journey north is dangerous,” Mother said. “Traveling with gold and jewels will only make you a target.”

I watched the list grow shorter.

“Who will receive everything you removed from the list?”

Mother said nothing. I didn’t ask again because I already knew.

Everything would eventually find its way into Evelyn’s rooms.

Just like my bonding gown, my moon-blessed pendant and my chambers.

And everything else Mother had taken from me with the same words:

Let your sister have it.

That afternoon, Evelyn appeared at my door with swollen eyes.

“I had another nightmare,” she whispered. “I dreamed I was trapped in the Blood Court’s royal palace.I couldn’t feel the moon, and my wolf couldn’t hear me.”

Her gaze fell on the wooden music box beside my bed.

“Could I keep Grandmother’s music box in my room for the next few nights?” Evelyn asked. “Its song might help me sleep.”

I closed the lid.

“No.”

Grandmother had given it to me shortly after Evelyn returned to our family. While everyone else devoted themselves to making Evelyn feel loved, Grandmother was the only one who noticed that I had become invisible.

Whenever I woke from a nightmare, she would wind the key and hold me until the melody ended.

She had been the only person in this family who never asked me to give Evelyn whatever she wanted.

On her deathbed, she had handed the music box to me.

“Never let anyone convince you that you deserve less love,” she had told me.

Now that she was gone, the music box was the only thing that made me feel close to her, and remember what it was like to be loved.

Evelyn’s lips trembled.

“I only want it for a few nights. You’ve always been stronger than me, Elara. I thought you would understand why I need it.”

“It isn’t yours to take.”

Mother immediately wrapped an arm around her.

“It’s only a music box, Elara. Must you make your sister beg for everything?”

My brother frowned.

“You’re leaving. Let Evelyn keep it if it helps her sleep.”

I stared at them.

“I’m being sent into enemy territory to marry a vampire prince I’ve never met. Doesn’t anyone care that I might be afraid too?”

I held the music box tighter against my chest.

“Grandmother left this to me. When I’m afraid, its song is the only thing that still makes me feel safe. Why must I give Evelyn even that?”

Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.

“I knew you blamed me. Fine. I don’t want it.”

But her fingers reached for the music box.

“Let go, Evelyn.”

She pulled even harder. I caught her wrist and took the music box back.

Evelyn stumbled backward and fell against the foot of the bed.

“Evelyn!” Mother rushed to her side.

“She pushed me,” Evelyn sobbed. “I only asked to borrow it. I didn’t mean to upset her.”

My brother seized my shoulder and shoved me away.

“Are you satisfied now?”

I fell onto the stone steps. My injured knees struck the edge, tearing the wounds from yesterday.

Blood seeped through my skirts. No one came to help me.

They were too busy surrounding Evelyn, who was crying in my mother’s arms.

When Rowan arrived, I thought he would ask what had happened.

Instead, he looked at Evelyn’s tear-streaked face and frowned at me.

“You’re frightened, Elara. I understand that. But taking it out on Evelyn won’t change the agreement.”

“I didn’t push her.”

“Then why is she on the floor?”

His disappointment hurt more than my bleeding knees.

“Because she tried to take the only thing Grandmother left me.”

Rowan’s expression softened, but only slightly.

“It’s just a music box. Is it really worth hurting your sister over?”

My lips parted. Before I could answer, Father stormed into the room.

“What is all this noise?”

Everyone began speaking at once.

Evelyn cried. Mother defended her. My brother accused me of losing control.

Father snatched the music box from my hands.

“Enough. This family will not tear itself apart over some worthless old toy.”

Father turned toward the fireplace with the music box in his hand.

I lunged for it, but my brother caught me around the waist and dragged me back.

“Please, Father, don’t do this!” I struggled against my brother’s hold. “It’s the only thing Grandmother left me. You’ve already taken everything else. Please, just let me keep one thing to take with me.”

I looked desperately at Mother, then at Rowan.

Neither of them moved.

Father hurled the music box into the fireplace.

The wooden box struck the stone and broke apart. Its tiny mechanism gave one broken note before falling silent.

“There,” Father said. “Now neither of you has it.”

My brother finally released me. I crawled toward the fireplace and gathered the broken pieces with trembling fingers.

One jagged edge sliced my palm, but I barely felt it.

By the time I pulled the last piece from the flames, Grandmother’s music box had fallen silent forever.

They had taken my gown, my bonding ceremony, and my future.

Now they had destroyed the last thing that reminded me I had once been loved.

Father thought he had ended an argument.

Instead, he had crushed the last bit of hope I still held for this family.

When I returned to my room, a box bearing Rowan’s family crest sat on my bed.

Inside was a notice dissolving my engagement to Rowan.

His family had already reclaimed their copy of our engagement agreement.

A maid lowered her head.

“Lord Rowan said that since you are to marry the vampire prince, it would be improper for your engagement to remain.”

Beside the box lay the handfasting ribbon I had made for our bonding ceremony.

Two wolves were embroidered beneath a crescent moon. I had planned to bind it around our joined hands while we spoke our vows.

Now there would be no vows. I cut the ribbon in half.

There was no one left in Silvermoon for me to miss.

I wasn’t coming back.