Page 12 of Elven Oath

I turn toward the mirror, anticipation and unease knotting in my chest. When I looked at my reflection, my breath catches in my throat.

There I stand, dressed in the most exquisite gown I have ever worn. My hair styled in elaborate braids, adorned with flowers and jewels that sparkled in the soft light of the chamber.

The girl in the mirror didn’t quite look like me. She looked like someone ready for a grand ceremony. Like someone prepared for...

A wedding.

“Oh, Gods!” I whisper.

My heart drops to my toes as realization washes over me like ice water. The dress, the jewels, the flowers in my hair: everything about my appearance screamed tradition. Not just any tradition, though. The garb I wore was unmistakably that of a bride.

A traditional Elven wedding gown, complete with the emeralds and diamonds that symbolizes unity and peace between families.

I take a step back from the mirror, my pulse quickening. “Why...?” My voice was barely a whisper. “Why...?”

Dorina avoided my eyes, fidgeting with a piece of fabric on my sleeve, and it was Agnis who stepped forward, her expression calm but firm.

“It’s not for us to explain, my lady,” she said, her voice low and measured. “Your father will speak to you when the time is right.”

“When the time is right?,” I echo, disbelief creeping into my tone. My hands tremble as I brush them over the fabric of the gown, the weight of what is happening slowly sinking in. This wasn’t just a formal event.

This was... my wedding.

But to whom? No one had said anything. Was I to be married off like some political token, without so much as a warning? My mind spins as I think back to the visitors in the Great Hall. Could it be them? Could it be...

The dragons?

I feel the walls closing in around me, the air thick with uncertainty and a growing sense of dread. My father hadn’t told me a thing, and yet here I was, dressed for a wedding I didn’t even know was happening.

My stomach twists with the realization that my life is about to change in a way I can’t control, and no one had thought to give me a choice. Not even the courtesy of an explanation.

Anger at my father begins to take hold of me and I feel my blood begin to run hot under the surface. He could have told me instead of moving me around like some chess piece for his amusement.

Agnis and Dorina stand there silently, waiting for my next move, but I can’t even speak. My heart is pounding wildly in my ears. A thousand questions racing through my mind all at the same time.

How had this all been arranged without my knowledge? And more importantly, who was I about to marry?

There was only one thing I knew for certain: by the end of the day, everything would be different. And it seems there was nothing I could do to stop it.

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