Chapter 14: A Dance of Lies and Death
The golden halls of the imperial palace gleamed under the morning sun, but for Duke Valen, they might as well have been the cold stone walls of a prison.
The summons had been clear.
Attend the imperial court at once.
His carriage rattled through the palace gates, the guards barely sparing him a glance as they pulled the doors open. The usual courtiers lingered in the corridors, but their eyes watched him too closely.
They know.
Duke Valen forced his shoulders straight, gripping the folds of his silk robe to hide the trembling in his fingers. She cannot act against me so openly, not without proof.
Or so he told himself.
Inside the throne room, Seraphina sat upon the imperial seat, draped in dark silk, her eyes sharper than a blade.
She was not the same empress he had once schemed against. No, this woman was something else.
Something reborn in fire and vengeance.
He bowed low. "Your Majesty."
Silence.
Only the distant sound of the wind beyond the stained glass windows filled the vast chamber.
Seraphina tapped a single finger against the armrest of her throne.
"Duke Valen," she murmured, her voice smooth. "You look… troubled."
Valen lifted his head, forcing a polite smile. "I am honored to stand before you, Your Majesty."
"A bold statement," she mused. "Considering you planned to betray me."
The words struck like a whip. A few nobles gasped, but most remained silent, their gazes darting between the duke and their empress.
Valen stiffened. "I… do not understand."
Seraphina sighed, tilting her head. "Then allow me to enlighten you."
She lifted a hand—and a servant stepped forward, carrying a rolled parchment sealed in red wax.
She turned it slowly in her fingers. "Does this look familiar?"
Valen's breath caught in his throat.
The letter.
The very same one he had sent to the Third Prince of Velanthia. The very same one that should have been in the hands of his most trusted messenger.
Yet, somehow—she had it.
He swallowed. "Your Majesty, I—"
She flicked her wrist.
The scroll unrolled, revealing the treasonous words written in his own hand.
And then, she dropped it.
The parchment hit the polished floor, rolling to a stop at Valen's feet—a declaration of his own guilt for all to see.
Seraphina's gaze darkened. "You sought to sell my empire to a foreign prince."
The nobles murmured in shock. Some of them, the more ambitious ones, looked away. Perhaps because they had once whispered in Valen's ear, uncertain whether their own sins would be dragged into the light.
Valen's mouth went dry. "Your Majesty, I have been loyal—"
Seraphina stood.
The sheer force of her presence silenced him at once.
"Do not waste my time with lies, Duke Valen," she said, stepping down from her throne. "You and I both know what you have done."
She stopped a few feet away, looking down at him.
"And now, you will answer for it."
The Verdict
Valen's mind raced.
This was not how it was supposed to happen.
She was supposed to be blind. Weak. Naive.
But the woman before him was none of those things.
She was fire and shadow, vengeance wrapped in silk, and she was going to destroy him.
"Your Majesty," he tried again, voice raw, "I beg for mercy—"
"Mercy?" Seraphina's smile was colder than ice. "Did you offer me any when you plotted my downfall?"
She turned to the court.
"Duke Valen has betrayed the empire. His loyalty is not to the throne, nor to the people, but to his own ambition."
She met his eyes one last time.
"For treason against the empire," she declared, "Duke Valen is sentenced to execution."
The court erupted into murmurs. Some were shocked. Others, however, were unsurprised.
This was not the same Empress Seraphina they had once known.
This was a ruler who would not be crossed.
Guards stepped forward, grabbing Valen by the arms as he began to protest.
"Your Majesty! No! I—"
His cries faded as he was dragged from the throne room, the doors slamming shut behind him.
Seraphina stood there for a long moment, gazing at the empty space where he had once knelt.
Rhys, standing at her side, whispered, "You've made a statement today."
Seraphina exhaled.
"This was only the beginning."