[Lavinia's POV—Dawnspire Wing—Private Garden—After Months]
A month.
That was all that stood between me and sixteen.
The newspapers wouldn't shut up about it. Every morning they landed on my breakfast table like gossipy relatives who'd had too much coffee:
"CROWN PRINCESS LAVINIA TO COME OF AGE—EMPIRE PREPARES FOR GRAND CELEBRATION"
"HIS MAJESTY'S ONLY DAUGHTER TURNS SIXTEEN NEXT MONTH."
"NEXT EMPRESS BLOOMS INTO HER RADIANT PRIME"
Radiant prime.
I had literally woken up with my hair stuck to my face and drool on my pillow that morning. Radiant, indeed.
It wasn't just a birthday. I knew that. The Coming-of-Age Ceremony was when the empire would decide if I was ready to stand as its next ruler. Papa would be watching. The nobles would be watching. The foreign envoys would be watching.
And yet… I was the one who would have to sit there for hours, wearing twenty pounds of embroidery, smiling so wide my face would cramp.
