There was a silence that stretched for a long ti. Elira’s mind was forming the right words. Or maybe her emotions were slowly swirling in, taking over the machinery that had been trained since birth to stay quiet, bow, and obey.
Then she looked up. Directly into the eyes of her father. And spoke with a resolve that had been building for months.
"And what if I refuse? What will you do then? Punish ? Or worse, disown ?"
She laughed not mockingly but with the lightness of soone who had already accepted the worst outco.
"I don’t care anymore. Disown if that’s the price for my freedom. I can pay it. Strip the title. Remove my na from your noble bloodline registry. Announce it to the council, the elders, the provinces, whoever needs to hear it."
Her voice didn’t shake. "Because I would rather be a naless girl standing on her own two feet than a princess kneeling on soone else’s."
Anger consud her father’s face. His composure cracked as he started. "You insolen—"
"I AM NOT FINISHED."
The words ca out hard and flat. And loud enough to cut through every sound in the garden like a blade through paper. It wasn’t a scream, wasn’t a tantrum but a command.
It was the first ti in her life she had spoken to him as an equal. And the Vampire King was shocked into silence because of it. His mouth stayed open but nothing ca out.
Elira continued. "You talk about trade agreents. About the Council of Elders. About borders and military alliances. You talk about everything."
Her voice cracked on the last part as emotions pushed through the cracks in her armor. "Except ."
She took a breath that cost her more than it should have.
"You arranged my engagent without asking if I wanted it. You decided my future without checking if I had one of my own. And when I finally found the courage to stand up, your first instinct wasn’t to listen. It was to silence ."
Her hands were steady at her sides.
"I am not brainwashed, Father. I am not so puppet whose strings were pulled by a clever man. That fire you see in ? It was already there. Burning under every ’yes, Father.’ Every bowed head. Every silent dinner where I swallowed my words because the princess was not supposed to have opinions."
She took another step toward her father which was both cold and asured and until she was inches from his face. Close enough to see the veins in his temples. Close enough to see the rage barely contained behind his eyes.
"He didn’t create this fire. He just showed it was allowed to exist."
The slap ca.
Her father’s hand connected with her cheek before his mind could catch up with his anger. The sound cracked through the garden. His breathing turned heavy as he stared at his daughter clutching the side of her face.
Elira’s hand hovered on her cheek for a second. Then it dropped. She turned her head back to face him. The red mark burned across her skin like a badge she hadn’t asked for but would wear without sha.
"I am not the sa girl who will get scared by you. By your rage. Or by anyone. Not the council. Not the elders. Not the engagent. And not even your decisions, Father."
Her voice was steady again.
"And I certainly don’t need any of you. Not your title. Not your protection. And not your approval."
She straightened her spine. Drew herself to her full height.
"Because tomorrow I will step into that arena."
She looked at Seraphina. The girl standing beside her who was carrying the sa pain, the sa chains, the sa war against the n who were supposed to protect them.
"And we will not just fight. We will destroy whatever so-called heirs you have placed in our path. We will tear through every champion your kingdoms have grood and polished and presented as proof that daughters are lesser than sons."
Her voice rose with each word. Not into a shout. Into sothing far more dangerous. A declaration.
"And when the dust settles and your precious heirs are lying on the arena floor wondering what hit them, you will not be able to bla a professor. You will not be able to bla rebellion or brainwashing or disobedience."
She held her father’s gaze without blinking. "You will only be able to bla yourselves. For carrying that cursed mindset."
Silence fell again. Heavier than before. The kind that pressed against everyone’s chest and made breathing feel like a conscious effort.
Elira’s father was stunned. Staring at this girl who used to lower her eyes when he raised his voice. Trying to comprehend how far she had gone. How deeply the rebellion had taken root.
The silence broke when Leon’s mother moved.
Lady Sianna. The matriarch of the Bloodmond house. She stepped forward covering the lower half of her expression with an ornate fan. Her eyes were the only thing visible and they were gleaming with interest.
"I like the fire in you, girl." Her voice was smooth, asured. "You would make a perfect queen for my son."
She circled Elira. Slowly. Analyzing her from every angle like a rchant appraising a gemstone. Taking in her posture. Her defiance. The red mark still glowing on her cheek.
"But winning soone like you over through a contract signed by parents in a room you were never invited to would be an insult to the likes of you."
She stopped directly in front of Elira. "So how about this? How about we settle it with a wager?"
Every ear in the garden sharpened.
"Defeat my son in the arena tomorrow. Prove that the fire I’m seeing right now isn’t just words dressed in pretty defiance."
She snapped her fan shut.
"If you win, the engagent is annulled. Permanently. There will be no trickery. No renegotiations. No political maneuvering. I swear on the Bloodmond na."
She paused. "The prize would be you. Walking away free."
The garden held its breath. But she wasn’t done.
"But if you lose, you will honor the arrangent. You will stand beside my son as his queen. Even if your heart doesn’t allow it. Even if every fiber of your being screams at you to run. You will stay. And you will serve the role you were promised to."
She tilted her head slightly. "Is that acceptable?"
The Vampire King stepped forward. "But this is not—"
A single finger rose from Sianna’s hand. She didn’t even look at him. That one finger was enough to shut the king of an entire empire down mid-sentence.
She walked to her son’s side and placed her hand on his shoulder. "This is the best arrangent I can think of. Where justice is served. Where freedom is in her own hands."
She rubbed Leon’s shoulder gently.
"Also, victory only tastes sweet when there are stakes worth putting on the line. And what could be more satisfying than winning the girl through strength?"
Then she turned to the Vampire King. "And Your Majesty, if you think her victory would an your loss, then drop that idea. Our house will not back off from the promise of aiding your family. And we will not pursue the throne for ourselves for the next twenty years."
Her voice carried the weight of a signed treaty.
"We are the ones giving her the choice. The choice is yours, girl. So tell . What do you desire?"
Every eye turned to Elira.
The alone girl. With a burning red cheek. Standing between the devils themselves for nothing but her own freedom. All of them knew this wasn’t really a choice. It was just a flicker of hope that would die the mont she stepped into the arena tomorrow.
Her opponents weren’t people who could be easily defeated. Seraphina’s brother was a level above Seraphina in raw strength. And Leon? He was leagues apart from Elira. Even if both Seraphina and Elira fought together to bring him down, the possibility was thread-thin at best.
And Elira knew it. But that was the Elira who hadn’t t Jax yet. Who hadn’t trained with him. The Elira standing here now knew that sothing like possibility and probability ant nothing when you held the will to break them. That what people called limits were just the edges of their courage.
She gave a smirk. And said while putting her entire life on the line.
"I accept."
Her father’s voice erupted. "What?! Have you gone completely crazy?!"
Elira looked back at him. Her tone flat to begin with. "Isn’t that what you wanted, Father? You will gain the sa in any of the scenarios. If I win, I take my freedom and hand back your dream and walk off. And if I lose, then congratulations. Everything you orchestrated, all your strategy, it plays out perfectly. And I will obey like the puppet of your script."
Her voice started breaking. The pain was leaking from her words now. From her face. From every part of her that she had been holding together with willpower alone.
But she continued.
"I will be a trade piece to bring peace and joy for both your kingdom and your family. I will act just as you planned. Sit when they tell to. Bow when they say so."
She swallowed and completed it. "And conceive when..."
-x-X-x-
[A/N: Thanks Riebee and tony_adams_4787 for dropping the golden tickets your appreciation ans a lot.
(👍🏻ᴗ _ᴗ)👍🏻]
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