Elara's POV
The guard's fist connected with my stomach before I could scream.
I doubled over, gasping, as they dragged me down stone steps that seemed to go on forever. Down, down, down into the belly of the palace where no one would hear me beg.
Please, I choked out. There's been a mistake
Shut up, traitor.
They threw me into a cell so hard I skidded across the floor, my palms scraping on rough stone. The door clanged shut. Darkness swallowed me whole except for one flickering torch in the corridor.
I pressed my back against the freezing wall, my whole body shaking. This couldn't be real. Hours ago, I'd been preparing for an anniversary celebration. Now I was in a dungeon like a common criminal.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Expensive heels clicking on stone with the rhythm of a death march.
The Empress Dowager appeared outside my cell, backlit by torchlight like a beautiful demon. Even now, even here, she looked perfect—not a single hair out of place, her crimson gown spotless.
Well, well. Her smile was poison-sweet. How the mighty have fallen.
I scrambled to my feet, ignoring my screaming muscles. Your Majesty, please—I didn't commit treason. I've never betrayed the empire. You have to believe me—
Believe you? She laughed, the sound like breaking glass. Oh, my dear stupid girl. I know you didn't commit treason.
My breath caught. Then why
Because you were never good enough for my son. She stepped closer to the bars, her eyes glittering with hatred. A half-foreign nobody who thought she could play princess. You actually believed he loved you, didn't you?
The words hit harder than the guard's fist.
He married me, I whispered. He chose me
He married a political alliance. Your father's armies. Your family's influence. She examined her perfect nails. But you couldn't even give him a child. Five years, Elara. Five years of being utterly useless.
Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not in front of her.
Where is Cassian? I demanded. I want to speak to my husband
You have no husband. Her voice turned sharp as a blade. He signed the divorce papers an hour ago. Legally, you're nobody. Nothing. A ghost.
The cell spun.
Now. The Empress Dowager clapped her hands twice. Let's make sure you look the part.
The cell door opened. Three servants entered, women who used to bow to me, who used to call me 'Your Highness' with respect. Now they looked at me like I was dirt.
Strip her, the Empress Dowager ordered.
No— I backed into the corner, but hands grabbed me, yanking me forward. They tore at my sapphire gown, ripping the silk Cassian once loved. My pearl necklace scattered across the floor, beads bouncing and rolling into darkness.
My crown, I gasped as they reached for my head. Please, not my
They ripped it away, taking strands of hair with it. Then my rings, emerald, ruby, the simple gold wedding band I'd never taken off in five years. I fought them, scratching and kicking, but they were three against one and I'd never learned to fight.
Hold her still, one servant snapped.
Cold metal pressed against my neck. Scissors.
No! I thrashed harder, real panic setting in. No, please, not my hair
Snip.
A long braid fell to the floor. Then another. And another.
I watched five years of carefully grown hair, hair Cassian used to run his fingers through on the rare nights he came to my bed—pile around my feet like dead things.
When they finished, I looked like a boy. Like a criminal. Like nothing.
The servants left without a word. The Empress Dowager smiled at my reflection in a shard of broken mirror someone had left in the corner.
Much better, she purred. Now you look as worthless on the outside as you've always been inside.
She swept away, her laughter echoing long after her footsteps faded.
I sank to the floor, surrounded by my own hair, my jewelry, the torn pieces of my beautiful dress. Everything that made me Crown Princess, gone in minutes.
I don't know how long I sat there. Time meant nothing in the dark.
New footsteps. Heavier. Male.
The Grand Chancellor appeared, flanked by two scribes. He held an official document, the imperial seal stamped in blood-red wax.
Elara Ashbourne, he read in a bored voice, by order of the imperial court and the Crown Prince, your family's noble title is hereby revoked. The Ashbourne name is stripped of all rank, lands, and privileges due to your treasonous actions.
No. I crawled to the bars. No, you can't, my father, my brother—they're innocent! They didn't do anything!
They raised a traitor. He rolled up the scroll. They should have taught you better.
This is insane! I didn't
Your father sent a message. The Chancellor pulled out a smaller paper, and his lips curved in cruel satisfaction. Would you like to hear it?
I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe.
He read anyway: You are no daughter of mine. The Ashbourne family disowns you completely. Do not use our name. Do not contact us. You are dead to us.
The words killed something inside me that even the divorce hadn't touched.
My father. My own father.
He believed their lies without question. Threw me away as easily as Cassian had.
I was truly alone.
The Chancellor left. Darkness closed in. I curled into a ball on the freezing stone, my butchered hair falling into my eyes, and finally let myself cry.
Hours passed. Maybe days. Guards brought stale bread and water, but I couldn't eat. Couldn't think. Could only replay Cassian's cold eyes, my father's rejection, the court's laughter over and over until I thought I'd go mad.
Then, through the fog of misery, I heard voices. Guards talking just outside my cell, thinking I was asleep.
tomorrow at dawn, one muttered. Exile to the outer cities.
She won't make it that far. The other guard laughed quietly. The Empress hired the Shadow Blades. Best assassins in the empire.
My blood turned to ice.
During the journey?
Before she reaches the city gates. Make it look like angry citizens did it. No one will question it everyone thinks she's a traitor anyway.
Smart. Can't have her talking to foreign kingdoms about what really happened.
They moved away, still chuckling.
I lay perfectly still, my heart pounding so hard I thought it would break my ribs.
They weren't exiling me.
They were executing me.
And I had less than twelve hours to figure out how to survive.