CHAPTER 1- THE SPY AND THE CROWN
656 Words
The castle was burning.
That was the first thing I saw when I crossed into enemy territory.
Smoke. Fire. Screams.
My name is Lady Seraphina Veylor of House Veylor.
And I was sent here to kill a king.
---
Three days earlier.
"Are you certain about this?" My brother, General Darius, asked.
He slid a dagger across the war table to me.
The blade was black. Laced with poison that killed in 60 seconds.
"Yes," I said. My voice didn’t shake. "The Veylor kingdom will fall
if King Alaric Sterling doesn’t die before the winter solstice."
Darius studied me. "You’ll be alone. No backup. If they catch you..."
"They won’t," I said. "I’ve trained for this since I was 12."
My job was simple.
Infiltrate Sterling Castle as a servant. Get close to Crown Prince Alaric.
One night. One kiss. One stab to the heart.
Return home a hero. Save 10,000 Veylor lives.
Simple.
Except I’d seen Prince Alaric once.
At the border treaty 2 years ago.
He was 25. Tall. Black hair. Eyes like a winter storm.
And he looked at me like he could see straight through my lies.
"Gods help you, Sera," Darius whispered. "Come back to me."
---
Now.
The servant's quarters smelled like ash and fear.
I was "Mira". A kitchen maid from a burned village.
No one asked questions when refugees flooded in.
My hands shook as I scrubbed blood from the stone floors.
Not my blood. Soldier's blood.
"New girl," the head maid snapped. "Stop crying and work.
The Prince returns from battle tonight."
My stomach dropped. Tonight?
That was too soon. I wasn’t ready.
"Yes, ma'am," I whispered.
---
I saw him from the balcony.
Prince Alaric Sterling.
He rode in on a black warhorse. Armor dented. Cape torn.
Behind him, 20 soldiers. All of them looked dead inside.
He dismounted and the entire courtyard went silent.
He was more than I remembered.
Taller. Broader. Scar across his jaw.
And those eyes. Gods, those eyes.
They scanned the crowd. Landed on me.
For 1 second.
I forgot to breathe.
Then he looked away.
"Casualties?" he asked his commander. Voice rough.
"200 men, Your Highness. We took the eastern border back."
"And the Veylors?"
"Retreated. For now."
Veylors. My people.
Guilt burned in my chest.
He walked past me without another glance.
But I felt it. The weight of him.
Like the air changed when he was near.
That night I couldn’t sleep.
---
Day 4 as "Mira".
My job was serving dinner to the royal family.
I’d never been so close to him.
He sat at the head of the table. Eating nothing.
Drinking wine. A lot of it.
Across from him, his advisor Lord Cassian.
"Your father wants you married, Alaric," Cassian said.
"I don’t care what the King wants."
"The alliance with House Maren would secure the south."
"I said no."
His voice cut like ice.
Then he looked up. Saw me.
I froze with the wine pitcher in my hand.
He was staring. Like he remembered me from somewhere.
From the courtyard? From the treaty?
"Girl," he said. "What’s your name?"
"M-Mira, Your Highness," I said. Keeping my eyes down.
"Where are you from?"
"A burned village near the eastern border, my lord."
"Look at me."
I did.
Big mistake.
His eyes were gray. Not just gray. Like a storm about to break.
And they were looking at me like I was a puzzle he needed to solve.
"You’re lying," he said softly.
My blood turned to ice.
"My lord?"
"Nothing," he said. "You may go."
I ran.
That night I wrote to Darius:
`He suspects me. I need more time.`
---
Day 9.
The Prince started appearing in the kitchens.
"Checking food supplies," he said.
But he watched me.
Every time I poured his wine.
Every time I curtsied.
Every time I breathed.
"You're clumsy," he said on Day 10. I’d spilled water.
"
- Writer
