Crimson Noon

After her father’s funeral, Vera wanted to fly away on Bane, but instead she d to watch her Aunt Elizabeth and cousin Kenneth fly off on their dragons instead. Kenneth was being sent to Zanzan to deliver a message to their king, an invitation to come and seek peace with Rune’s new queen. Elizabeth was going with him for protection. Vera hadn’t had her coronation yet, but in a few days, she would stand before her people and have her father’s crown placed upon her head. A raven had arrived with the report that their army in Bear Forest had been successful in eliminating the Zanzan forces that had invaded their shore. Their ships had burned just as their bodies had. All of the nobility had gathered in the throne room upon her request. She wasn’t queen yet, but she would be. James stood beside her on the raised dais. She didn’t sit the throne yet because she kept to precedence. And though she’d had her dragon burn her father’s body just the day before, she still left his spaces empty for the time being. Grief had a way of showing itself in the smallest gestures. She cleared her throat, and the chatter in the room silenced itself. “I have gathered all of you here to announce my engagement. My debuting season is what brought many of you to the castle just a short while ago. We never imagined that it would bring what it has. I have made my choice and am now engaged to James of House Oar.” There was clapping and cheers at this announcement. But her eyes found the one person that wasn’t ecstatic. Macon Rayne stood near the front of the crowd, his piercing blue eyes locked onto hers. He was her first choice, would always be where her heart belonged. But as her father had pointed out, he was liege lord of the north, their most loyal ally, and had to remain in the north because of that. Only in stolen moments and secret meetings could she allow herself this heart’s desire. And once she was wed, she wouldn’t even have that. As much as it pained her, she had a duty to her people and to the realm. And as the crown, they came before herself.