In Blood Coffin, I Reclaim My Crown

Chapter 3 The Ceremony

The following morning, WhiteRose Church was packed with sacred lilies imported from the human realms. Their perfume was overly sweet, almost suffocating, drowning out the iron scent beloved by the Nightblood Clan.

Leah sat upon the elevated dais, fitting her bridal gown. The long dress, spun from BloodMoon spider silk, spilled across three steps, graceful, like a snare laid out for prey.

Noblewomen clustered around her, offering praise in hushed tones.

"Lady Saintess truly is like an angel."

"At last, His Majesty will have a gentle new queen."

"Isabella was far too cold. She never behaved like a proper lady."

Their voices faded the moment I stepped inside.

Leah, however, only smiled and beckoned me forward. "Isabella, the officiant said the former queen must personally secure the bridal veil for the new one. You'll stand behind me holding the sacred chalice until I drink the royal blood."

She tilted her head, eyes shining with feigned innocence. "You won't make this awkward for me, will you?"

Carlyle stood by the altar, conversing with an enforcer in a silver mask. The mask bore the rose cross of the Holy Sanctum.

Behind him, over a dozen enforcers were already seated in the chapel's front row. They held Leah's invitations and carried Carlyle's royal seal.

Yet beneath their cuffs, each of them had a small black rose stitched in. It was my mark.

Carlyle saw none of it. Neither did Leah. Because they only ever saw what they chose to believe.

At Leah's words, Carlyle turned his head. "Just do it."

No reason given. No pause. Like ordering a servant to drop to her knees and scrub stone.

I stepped up onto the dais and took the veil. Leah tilted her head slightly and whispered, low enough for only me to hear. "Did it hurt last night?"

I placed the veil over her shoulders.

She continued, "His Majesty said you never break. But I think when they ripped out your Crownmark of Blood, you must've been close to tears."

I tightened my grip on the veil.

Leah's breath hitched. "L-Let go."

I leaned close to her ear. "If you're going to sit in the queen's seat, you'd better have a strong neck."

Her eyes reddened instantly as she turned toward Carlyle. "Your Majesty..."

Carlyle crossed the distance in a few steps and seized my wrist. His grip was so tight it felt like bone might splinter. "Isabella, don't take it out on Leah."

I looked down at his hand. That same hand had once cupped my face and sworn I would never be wronged again. Now, for another woman, it looked ready to break my wrist without hesitation.

"Let go. Apologize to Leah."

The whole chapel was watching. I broke into a smile. "Fine."

I accepted the abdication oath from the officiant. The parchment was filled with harsh, accusing lines.

The former queen voluntarily relinquishes the throne. The former queen recognizes the new queen's pure lineage. The former queen will spend her remaining years repenting for jealousy.

I skimmed it once, then tossed it straight into the silver candles. Flames roared up. The officiant turned deathly pale in an instant.

Carlyle barked, "Isabella!"

Leah suddenly fell to her knees, clutching her chest as tears streamed down her face. "Your Majesty, don't blame Isabella. She only resents me. If Isabella won't bless me, I can step down as queen."

She lifted her face, voice shaking as if it might collapse. "But the Holy Sanctum is here. If the wedding is called off, they'll say the Nightblood Clan broke its oath, that Your Majesty can't even protect a human woman."

Carlyle's face went completely cold. He seized my hand and dragged me toward the altar. A basin of holy water stood there, its silver surface faintly rippling. For the Nightblood Clan, even a touch meant flesh burned to the bone.

"If you refuse to apologize, then do it the human way." Carlyle stared at me icily. "Wash your hands for the new queen."

The noble section fell utterly silent. Making a former queen cleanse the new queen's hands with holy water. This wasn't a ceremony. It was my dignity being thrown into silver flames.

Holden shot upright. "Your Majesty, you can't! The Queen just lost her Crownmark of Blood. She can't touch holy water, or she'll..."

"She enjoys playing queen, doesn't she?" Carlyle cut him off. "Then let everyone see if she's worthy."

Leah shook her head in panic, though a trace of satisfaction flashed in her eyes. "Your Majesty, please don't. I'm afraid Isabella will get hurt."

I looked at Carlyle. "Are you sure?"

He frowned. "I said, do it."

‘Very well.' I raised my hand.

The instant my fingertips sank into the holy water, my skin began to smoke. Agony tore through me like silver needles boring straight into bone.

A collective gasp rippled through the chapel. Carlyle's eyes shifted, only for a heartbeat. Yet a faint cough from Leah forced that hesitation back down.

With the same hand still burning, I picked up a silver pair of shears. Just as everyone expected me to break, I sliced open my palm.

Dark red-black blood beaded and fell into the deepest layer of Leah's wedding gown. Only a single drop. The BloodMoon spider silk absorbed it at once.

"This is an ancient custom of the Nightblood Clan." I set the shears down. "The former queen blesses the new queen with blood."

The officiant stammered, "Y-Yes, that rite does exist."

Carlyle fixed his eyes on me. I let him stare. The paler I grew, the steadier my hand became.

He would take this for nothing more than pride refusing to bow after humiliation. He would never realize that every step I took toward Leah was another nail in her coffin.

Butler Arnold rushed in through the side entrance, voice lowered, "Your Majesty, all 13 Enforcers have entered the city. They are seated in the front row. BlackRose Seal is also activated."

I glanced at the silver-masked enforcer beside Carlyle. Beneath his sleeve, a blood-drinking short blade was faintly outlined. That blade was not meant for me, but for every traitor present.

To prove Leah could be accepted by both bloodlines, and to force me to watch my own replacement with my own eyes, Carlyle had personally brought the Judgment Enforcers into EternalNight City.

He believed it was nothing more than Leah's family bearing witness, and that I, now stripped of my Crownmark of Blood, had been reduced to nothing but a cold, unreadable mask.

Leah raised a hand to her silver cross and smiled at me, sweet enough to turn blood to ice. She wasn't merely stealing a man. She wanted to become the first sacred-blood queen of the Holy Sanctum and the Nightblood Clan.

What she truly sought was never Carlyle's love, but the twin crown of the Nightblood throne and Holy Sanctum sainthood.

As I stepped out of the chapel, holy water-burned blood still dripped from my fingertips, drop by drop, falling onto the white lilies, where their petals blackened and died in an instant.

Arnold walked behind me, his voice barely above a breath. "Your Majesty, after tonight, there may be no turning back."

I looked back at the chapel. Inside, hymns rang out in sacred unity, silver light flooding every corner. My husband bent to kiss another woman's hand. My crown had been placed into her chalice. My Bloodwood Coffin had been laid with her favorite white roses. And 13 Enforcers had already taken the front row of EternalNight City.

I gave a slow smile. "Turn back?"

I lifted my scorched hand and pressed the final blood seal onto the BlackRose Gate.

"They'll drink my blood tonight, sleep in my coffin, and stand on my throne. Before tomorrow night, I'll have them begging beneath my lanterns, even while they cry for judgment."

The seal flared to life. 108 Blood Lanterns across EternalNight City opened their eyes together in the unseen dark.