"Hey! Blind slut!" Rhynera called after Lumina before she could walk to her room.
Lumina’s hands tighten against the cane she holds as she struggles to keep her anger in check.
"How do you feel about getting the opportunity to marry a prince just like me?" Rhynera’s voice trickled with mockery as she strolled ahead, her smile sharp as the edge of a blade.
Lumina turned her head ever so slightly, a gentle smirk playing on her lips. Her voice was soft, almost mocking.
"Well... it feels delightful. After all, a prince still chose to marry the blind, cursed one you swore no man would ever touch."
The words slammed into Rhynera’s pride like a slap. Her jaw tightened. Her eyes gleamed with fury. The air around her cracked.
Her hand shot forward and in a flash of searing blue, a bolt of lightning tore through the space between them swift, sizzling, deadly.
It was Rhynera’s powers, Lightning Arc, a streak of raw celestial power born from her rage. The air around her hummed with power, her golden hair rising slightly as static raced through her veins.
But just before it struck, Lumina moved. A whisper of movement. Barely a blink.
She twisted her body, stepping aside with graceful instinct as if she had seen the lightning coming through the soul of the wind itself. The bolt crashed into a nearby column, splitting it with a deafening crack, and scattering dust into the air.
Lumina’s chest rose and fell sharply, her breath caught, heart pounding. Her cane trembled in her hand but she had dodged it.
In the Celestial realm, everyone thinks Lumina lacks power but what they can’t tell is that she can enchant one with her words, even though she has become as good as her mum.
"Princess Lumina!" Stella cried out, rushing forward in alarm to help her lady up.
Then she glared at Rhynera, "The King warned everyone not to use their powers before the wedding!" she hissed, her voice shaking with disbelief.
But before she could say another word, a sharp crack echoed again.
Rhynera raised her hand, her fingers charged with a crackling glow, and sent another lightning arc slamming into Stella’s side. It wasn’t strong enough to kill, but enough to throw her backward. Stella’s body hit the ground with a sickening thud close to Lumina.
She groaned in pain, clutching her shoulder, eyes wide in shock.
Rhynera’s expression was cold with no remorse. "Say more and I will make sure I end you both right now!" Stella was about to respond but Lumina grabbed her hands, shaking her head and gesturing for them to leave.
No matter how hard, Rhynera screams after them they both ignore them and leave.
Whereas in the king and queen chambers, one could see how Mireya is fuming mad and pacing around while King Ryker just sat a bit lost.
"My King, you cannot be serious!" Queen Mireya’s voice rang out, sharp.
"We cannot allow her to go to the realm of Drakonis. My daughter is the only one permitted to enter that world, she is the only child worthy of such a destiny!"
King Ryker groaned, his hands pressing against his face as if trying to hold his patience together. His temples throbbed, all he just wanted to do was rest.
"Mireya," he said, voice strained. "You know we can’t refuse this offer. To decline would be seen as an insult or a rejection of the Drakonis royal line. That’s not how we begin an affiliation with one of the most powerful realms in existence."
Mireya’s eyes narrowed, disbelief carved across her face. "So you’re telling me that after all these years... you are just going to let her walk into that realm?" she asked moving closer to him now with her hands around her waist.
"The same girl you have always called a blessing, hiding her away like a relic now she’s suddenly good enough for royalty?"
"You know what the High Priestess said in the past," Ryker murmured.
"She told us to keep her happy. To ensure she lives in comfort. So a curse wouldn’t fall upon our realm."
Mireya scoffed. "And now she is to get married to Drakonis? Do you not see the danger in that? You’re going to put her on the same level as my daughter? If Lumina becomes the wife of that prince... the world will see them as equals."
"The last prince," Ryker corrected with effort. "Rhynera has been promised to the crown prince. They will never be seen the same."
"Don’t play that game with me, Ryker," she snapped. "You don’t care who she marries. You have always treated that girl like a secret treasure, hiding behind your smiles, pretending to be her father... But this? This wasn’t part of our plan."
The king sank back onto his throne, his expression clouded with frustration.
"She’s marrying the cursed prince," he muttered, more to himself. "Everyone knows he’s strange... not relevant even among his blood. I doubt she will last long in that palace." He tried making her understand some reason but Mireya’s lips curled bitterly.
"You forget what was supposed to happen when she turns twenty. We were meant to kill her, Ryker. Wipe the chaos from this world."
"And what if..." her voice lowered, trembling with fury, "what if she bears his child before then? What if your foolishness allows her to anchor her blood into their legacy?"
The king stood suddenly, rage crackling beneath his skin, before he could control himself he smacked her across the face.
The sound rang out like thunder, silencing the room.
Queen Mireya staggered, one hand flying to her cheek. She stared at him in utter disbelief, her pride wounded deeper than her skin.
"You dare smack me?" she hissed. "You hit me over that cursed girl? That illegitimate witch you pretend to protect?"
"You don’t understand, do you?" Ryker growled. "I have seen what she is. I have felt it. She is a blessing, Yes. But she is also a warning. If we disobey what the High Priestess foretold... if we deny her this path... we are not just insulting Drakonis. We are inviting wrath from something far greater."
"And what do you think the High King will do," Mireya spat, "when he learns his son is being married to the chaos that once nearly destroyed the Northern Realms? Have you forgotten what her mother did?"
Ryker didn’t respond. He couldn’t. The weight of memory pressed hard on his shoulders, and the ghosts of the past whispered through his silence.
"She is going. That is my final decision. He lands closer to her, his voice turning cold.
"And as for watching her... I have my ways."
Mireya stared at him, her fury raw and breath trembling, but she knew she had lost this battle. For now, she would find her ways in the future, she wouldn’t let the marriage take place.
Whereas in the corner of the room, unseen, a servant slipped away quietly.