No Reply From The Crown
***
On my birthday, Leon rode to Valecrest Castle with the marriage contract in hand, a grand procession of Royal Ceremonial Guards at his back.
A royal messenger from Selovia stepped forward, bearing an ornate gift box.
Leon saw it—and finally relaxed.
He smiled. "I knew it. Aya was only in a temper. Since childhood, she's known how to provoke me. The dowry is prepared. Whatever her anger was, it should be finished by now."
Then the great bells atop the castle began to toll.
Slow. Heavy. Funereal.
My mother stepped out, dressed in pure black.
The high priest emerged from the chapel, where he had been praying over my body. His face was grave. He took the gift box from the messenger's hands.