Sera's POV
The chains around my wrists are so tight they've cut into my skin.
I don't look at the blood. I look at Lucian instead the man I was supposed to marry in three days as he stands before the Eternal Court and destroys me with lies.
She stole from the Emperor's vault, Lucian says, his voice steady and strong like he's telling the truth. I caught her myself. She was trying to steal immortal essence to sell on the black market.
The courtroom explodes with gasps and whispers. I want to scream that he's lying, that HE was the one who dragged me to that vault, who told me we were going there for a romantic surprise. But the gag in my mouth won't let me speak.
My stepsister Morgana sits in the front row, dabbing her eyes with a white handkerchief. I can't believe my own sister would do this, she sobs. We loved her so much.
Liar. LIAR.
I saw them together two nights ago Lucian and Morgana kissing in the garden, laughing about how stupid I was, how easy I was to frame. They didn't know I was watching from my bedroom window. They didn't know I heard everything.
But when I tried to run, tried to warn someone, the guards were already at my door.
Now I stand here in chains while they perform for the court like actors in a play.
The worst part? My father sits three rows back, staring at his hands. He won't look at me. Won't defend me. When the judge asks if House Ashlyn has anything to say on my behalf, my father stands slowly.
My heart jumps. Finally. FINALLY, he'll tell them the truth. He knows I would never
House Ashlyn disowns Sera Ashlyn, effective immediately, my father says, his voice flat. She is no longer our blood. No longer our responsibility. We wash our hands of her crimes.
The words hit me harder than any physical blow ever could.
My own father. My own FATHER.
The courtroom spins. I can't breathe around the gag. Black spots dance in my vision.
Then a voice cuts through the chaos like a knife through silk.
Silence.
Everyone stops talking immediately. Every head turns toward the black throne at the front of the room.
Emperor Caspian Nyx hasn't moved this entire trial. He's been sitting there like a marble statue beautiful, cold, and completely still. His dark hair falls across his forehead, and his eyes are the color of a frozen lake in winter. He wears all black, and power rolls off him in waves that make the air feel heavy.
He's ruled the Eternal Realm for over a thousand years. He's never smiled, never loved, never shown mercy to anyone.
And now he's looking directly at me.
Remove her gag, he orders.
A guard unlocks it. I gasp for air, my jaw aching.
Caspian's ice blue eyes pin me in place. Sera Ashlyn. Do you deny these charges?
This is it. My only chance.
I deny them completely, Your Majesty, I say, my voice shaking but clear. I was set up by Lucian Vale and Morgana Ashlyn. They're the real thieves. They framed me to cover their own crimes.
Lucian's face goes red. She's lying! She's desperate
I didn't ask you to speak, Caspian says softly, and Lucian goes pale and shuts his mouth.
The Emperor studies me for a long moment. My heart pounds so hard I think everyone can hear it. He's an immortal who's lived for centuries. Surely he can tell I'm telling the truth. Surely he can see
The evidence against you is overwhelming, Caspian says. Your magical signature was found all over the vault. Stolen items were discovered in your chambers. Multiple witnesses saw you near the treasury that night.
Because they PLANTED everything! I shout. Please, Your Majesty, I'm innocent
Innocence is irrelevant. His voice is colder than winter. What matters is proof. And the proof says you're guilty.
No. No, no, no.
However, Caspian continues, and the whole room holds its breath, execution seems wasteful for someone with your particular... talents.
What does that mean?
He stands, and everyone in the courtroom immediately bows. I can't bow because of the chains, so I just stare up at him as he walks down the steps of his throne. Each footstep echoes in the silent room.
He stops right in front of me. Up close, he's even more terrifying. Power radiates from him like heat from a fire.
Sera Ashlyn, I find you guilty of treason against the Eternal Court, he announces. Your sentence is permanent servitude in the Twilight Citadel. You will serve until your mortal life ends. No freedom. No mercy. No hope of pardon.
The courtroom erupts. People are shouting about how unusual this is, how the Emperor never takes personal servants, how this is either a great mercy or a terrible curse.
I can't hear any of it over the ringing in my ears.
Permanent servitude. For a crime I didn't commit. In the home of the cruelest immortal alive.
Guards grab my arms, hauling me toward the exit. I catch one last glimpse of Lucian and Morgana they're holding hands, trying not to smile.
They won.
They destroyed me and they WON.
The guards drag me down, down, down into the depths of the citadel. Stone stairs that seem to go on forever. Cold air that smells like earth and darkness. Finally, they throw me into a cell and slam the door.
I crash against the far wall and slide to the floor, my chains rattling.
For a long time, I just sit there in the dark, too shocked to even cry.
Then I hear it.
Footsteps in the hallway outside my cell. Slow. Deliberate. Coming closer.
The footsteps stop right outside my door.
Through the small barred window, I see a face.
Emperor Caspian's face.
But something is wrong. His eyes aren't cold anymore. They're warm. Alive. And he's looking at me like... like he knows me.
So you're the one, he whispers, and his voice sounds completely different. Human. Mortal.
Before I can respond, before I can even breathe, he presses something through the bars. A small piece of paper falls to the floor.
Then he's gone, footsteps fading back down the hallway.
With shaking hands, I pick up the paper and unfold it.
Five words are written in hurried handwriting:
They're trying to kill me.