“Ella, I will kick you from your seat and all the way down those stairs if you don’t move right now.” Talia's voice rose as
she slammed her hands either side of me. “I swear to the Goddess herself. You do not get to break as well. I need you!”
Drinking my glass of wine, I stared at her with emptiness in my eyes. She needed me—I needed Norok. We all needed each
other and right now, that wasn’t possible. His mind may have been there, but his body was broken. My mind was not here, and I
had no strength left in me to find it.
She swiped her hand across my glass and knocked it clear out of my hands, shattering the glass on the stone floor before she
leaned back again.“Stop being an ass and get up—pleaseNella, I need my big sister.”
Her voice broke as the nickname she gave me as a child fell from her lips. When a tear escaped her eye, I hung my head in
shame. In my grief, I had forgotten hers. Sighing, I held my hand out to her. She took it instantly as I rose from my seat. I
wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly as she began to cry.
“I’m sorry, Tal, I just feel lost without him.”
“We all do. But we need to stick together. Now, Father is asking for you and you must see him.”
We slowly headed downstairs as much to my discomfort, I knew what was coming.
We could hear the shouting and arguments going on as we walked down the stairs. Father shouting back at Mother as she
raised her voice. Tension was thick in the air and the subject of discussion—was me.
“Ornella, there you are,” called Mother as we stepped through the entrance doorway.
“Your fatherhas decided something.”
The room was filled with nobles, the same nobles which had been in the arena. All smiled and bowed at me as I walked
past. Talia clung to my arm with each step. I spotted Dorian standing to the side lines of our mother’s seat.
Father rose from his throne and waved everyone to be quiet while Mother took her seat. Talia took hers, but I refused to sit,
choosing to stand at the foot of the throne stairs.
“Princess Ornella, I have decided, with regret and the devastation that has befallen our wonderful Prince Norok. You will
now be declared as my heir.”
Even though I knew he was going to announce I was to take Norok’s place, the hole around me grew wider, ready to
swallow me whole.
“And as such, you will need a husband to help you rule when the time comes.”
That was not something I expected. Grandmother ruled for many years before she met my grandfather. I imagined I would
have been given the same allowance—the same freedom as Norok.
“We had hoped to present your husband after the tournament, but we’ve had to make a last-minute change.”
A change? The wheels of my mind ran wild as I looked at Father and then back at Mother, who seemed annoyed at his