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The grand hall of Valyria's royal palace was a living illusion—a gilded stage where every smile hid a dagger, every toast carried a double meaning. Elena stood frozen amidst the swirling silks and clinking goblets, her borrowed dress itching at her neck. The scent of roasted peacock and honeyed wine couldn't mask the metallic tension humming through the air.
Lila's fingers dug into Elena's elbow as she guided her through the crowd. "Stop fidgeting," the princess murmured through perfect teeth. "They need to see you as one of us now."
Elena forced her hands to still. Across the hall, Liam worked the room with effortless charm, exchanging pleasantries with jewel-bedecked nobles while his sharp eyes cataloged every reaction. His laughter at Duke Aequitas' joke was a fraction too loud, his hand on the merchant lord's shoulder lingering just a beat too long.
---
A servant offered Elena a crystal flute. The liquid inside shimmered unnaturally, tiny lights dancing beneath the surface like trapped fireflies.
"Don't drink that," Lila said, plucking it from her grasp. "It's fae wine—makes you suggestible. Archbishop Solis likes to serve it when he wants favors." She replaced it with a plain silver cup. "Stick to water until you learn who's pouring what."
The lesson was still settling in Elena's mind when the herald's voice cut through the murmur:
"His Imperial Highness, First Prince Jin Liang of Xian'Zhou, and Lord Ryota Kurogane, heir to the Sword Clan!"
Every head turned as the Eastern delegation entered. Jin moved with liquid grace, his midnight-blue robes embroidered with silver dragons that seemed to slither as he walked. Beside him, Ryota was a storm given human form—all controlled power and silent threat, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of a sword sheathed in black lacquer.
Liam met them at the center of the hall, his smile brilliant. "Prince Jin! What an unexpected honor."
Jin's returning smile didn't reach his eyes. "When we received word of your... exhibition tonight, how could we refuse?" His gaze flicked to Elena. "And this must be your little miracle."
Before Elena could react, a strangled gasp cut through the hall.
Duke Aequitas' knight, Ser Gallen, staggered, his silver gauntlets clawing at his throat. Black veins spiderwebbed beneath his skin as his goblet hit the marble with a clang, wine sizzling where it spilled. The crowd recoiled—a lady fainted theatrically, others backed away in horror. Only Baroness Nocturne stood still, lips parted in something closer to fascination than fear.
Lila gasped, pressing a hand to her chest—too perfectly timed. Liam was already moving, his face a mask of princely concern.
"Someone fetch a physician!" he shouted—but the twins were already kneeling beside the convulsing knight, their hands glowing. The light wasn't just gold. Threads of crimson pulsed through it like a heartbeat before vanishing beneath the radiance.
The knight's back arched off the floor, his mouth open in a soundless scream. Then—silence. He gasped, color flooding back into his face.
The crowd erupted in awed whispers. "A miracle!"
Duke Aequitas stood pale, his earlier smugness gone. He stared at Liam like he'd seen a ghost.
Jin murmured to Ryota in Xian'Zhou's tongue: "Convenient, isn't it?" Ryota's grip tightened on his sword.
Elena noticed two things at once: the poisoned wine had eaten through the marble, leaving a pitted scar. And the servant who'd served the knight was slipping away—their eyes wide with terror before they vanished into the shadows.
Liam rose smoothly, wiping his hands on a silk handkerchief. "The Holy Goddess's mercy spares even those who doubt her." His gaze lingered on Duke Aequitas. A warning.
"A remarkable trick," Jin said, clapping slowly. "In the East, we'd call this theater. Poison a man, then 'save' him? A classic gambit."
Liam's smile stayed, but his knuckles whitened. "How cynical, Your Highness. But then, your courts do love their poisons."
It was Lila who defused the moment with a tinkling laugh. "Brother, you'll scandalize our guests!" She looped her arm through Jin's with practiced ease. "Come, Your Highness, you simply must try the spiced swan."
As Lila steered Jin away, Liam turned to the assembled nobles. "And now, another blessing to share!" His hand settled heavily on Elena's shoulder. "Our dear Elena will demonstrate the Craft Goddess's gift."
---
The crowd parted to reveal a small forge set up near the banquet tables—an obscene display of wealth, with solid gold bellows and an anvil carved from single block of obsidian. Elena's stomach twisted. This wasn't crafting; this was theater.
"Go on," Liam urged, his fingers digging into her collarbone.
The metal awaiting her wasn't ordinary steel, but Valyrian shimmer-ore—a material so stubborn master smiths needed days to work it. Yet when Elena touched it, the ore melted at her fingertips, flowing like liquid moonlight. Her blessing thrummed through her veins, the metal reshaping itself beneath her hands as easily as clay.
She didn't remember deciding what to make. The dagger formed itself—a cruel, beautiful thing with edges that caught the light like fractured glass. When she held it up, gasps rippled through the crowd. The blade bore the Holy Goddess's sigil, burned into the metal as if by an unseen hand.
"Magnificent," Liam breathed, taking the dagger to display it. "A weapon worthy of—"
"A pretty trinket."
Ryota's voice cut through the applause. The Kurogane heir stood with arms crossed, his obsidian eyes unimpressed. "No balance. The edge will chip on first strike." He tilted his head. "But then, I suppose it's meant for display, not combat."
Liam's smile didn't waver, but his knuckles whitened around the hilt. "Not all art needs to be functional, Lord Kurogane."
"Art?" Ryota snorted. "In the East, we call that a waste of good steel."
The tension shattered as Baroness Nocturne materialized at Elena's side, her perfume cloying. "Such raw talent," she purred, tracing a gloved finger along Elena's bare arm. "One wonders what else the Craft Goddess has gifted you with, hm?"
Elena recoiled, but Lila was suddenly there, inserting herself between them. "Careful, Baroness. Divine blessings aren't for prying eyes." Her smile was sweet, but her eyes promised violence.
---
As the nobles drifted toward the dessert tables, Elena found herself momentarily alone. She exhaled shakily, her fingers trembling against her water cup. That's when she noticed—the liquid inside was vibrating. No, not just vibrating. Moving.
Tiny droplets rose against gravity, forming shapes in the air above her cup. A sword. A crown. Then, unmistakably—a cracked pearl.
Elena's head snapped up. Across the hall, Jin was watching her while pretending to examine a tapestry. His fingers moved subtly at his side, water from his own cup mirroring the shapes in hers.
A warning.
The moment shattered as Liam reappeared, pressing a pearl hairpin into her hands. "For you," he said warmly. "A symbol of your new station."
The pearl was flawless at first glance. But when Elena turned it slightly, the light revealed a hairline fracture—almost invisible, but there.
Just like Jin's warning.
The banquet swirled around her, a dizzying carousel of laughter and lies. Elena clutched the hairpin tighter, the edges biting into her palm. She was starting to understand the rules of this game.
And she was very, very afraid she'd already lost.
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End chapter 7