A Shattered Dawn

Chapter 41

Adrian has always gotten everything he wanted in life.

He is the oldest child. The heir to the throne.

He has always been everything I wanted to be.

I didn't want to mess up his life. I didn't want to kill him at first.

It all started that one night, at the ball celebrating my marriage to Malik.

Sure, he is handsome. But I was not happy that night. I knew how my life would pan out from then on: I would live with Malik, give him children and he would travel and trade, leaving me at home, to do what? Sit waiting for him to come home?

This was not the life I had imagined as a child.

I wanted to do more with my life. And at that moment, as I danced with him, I felt anything but free as he lifted me off the dance floor.

Our father has always preferred Adrian. He is a perfect child, after all.

I wanted to change things.

I was so close, once, when he was going to marry that sweet girl who thought she was my best friend. I was going to kill Lucia once they were married. But, unfortunately, it never happened.

So, on the night of the ball, when Malik told me he knew who the foreign girl was, I knew that it was my only opportunity to change my life. Change things—permanently.

He told me that he traded with her father, and he mentioned his daughter.

Acilya.

Why Malik knew his daughter's name, I do not know. Maybe they were even friends. But that is beside the point. I did my research. I learned about Gabriel Niehdre, the legendary thief who took an all-powerful stone—a weapon, from the royal grounds ten years ago.

He left it with his wife, who was killed, and then it disappeared.

I did not find any records about his daughter. It was as though the royal guards let her slip away and refused to report their mistake.

I put the pieces together. It was simple to understand.

His daughter had the stone. And she was alive. And she was here, at the royal grounds, courting my brother.

The stone alone would not propel me to become the heir to the throne.

I needed to do more.

I dug deeper, researching about a shadow, a silent assassin hunting through the Celestial lands. No one has seen their face.

It was surely possible that Acilya was this foreign reaper.

I knew I could do better than bribing my father with the stone. I could have some fun with this. I could get rid of my perfect prince of a brother and get the stone at the same time.

I carefully constructed my plan. It was not flawless, but it would work. I would make sure of it.

Before I could even begin, Adrian came to me, telling me that he found a bejeweled knife in Acilya's possessions. I reassured him that I had my own and that most women carry small knives.

I needed to keep them together.

He needed to trust her completely. I didn't know her plans, but I needed to stay ahead of her.

He said he locked it away in his safe.

Thanks, Adrian. I grabbed it, one night, and sure enough, the stone was in the knife. I removed it, stashing it away where no one would find it.

I knew Acilya would be searching for her lost weapon. Surely she knew it was missing and was searching the palace. I needed to pit her against someone. And I needed Adrian gone.

So I told Lucia, Acilya's best friend, that I saw her ring in Adrian's quarters. I put a ring similar to hers in his quarters.

He caught her looking for it, but nothing happened. I wanted Adrian to get angry at Lucia. Kill her. It would ensure that Acilya would take care of him.

But he didn't.

So I did it for him.

I killed Lucia and told a servant to spread rumors about seeing Adrian push her off the ledge.

I thought this would spur Acilya into action. I couldn't kill Adrian myself. But she could.

I even planted a fake stone in Adrian's office. I knew Acilya would search there and suspect Adrian of stealing her weapon.

But then they were going to get married. This was not part of my plan.

Was she truly in love with him?

She is a murderer. A killer.

I needed her to do her job.

I told my father who she really was. He smiled. I think he was excited to see what would happen at the marriage. So I gave him the stone. He thanked me for my service to the throne.

He put it in the crown that was to be given to Adrian at the wedding. I found it. I stole it, and all of my hard work was just—gone. My father wasted it on Adrian.

I thought all hope was lost until, at the wedding, she challenged him for his Eternity. This was good, of course, because there was a chance that she would win the Challenge and I would be the heir. But I still worried that Adrian would win.

But Acilya had to win for my plan to work.

And she did. Then she called me out. She was smarter than I thought she would be, and my father made excuses as to how I could not take Adrian's place as heir since someone was testifying against me. Saying that I was a murderer. Which was true, but I couldn't let it doom me.

He also hinted, once that stupid girl left the room, poison–ridden, that it was so unfortunate that she would leave the royal grounds with our stone.

So I attacked Acilya. She was a smart girl. Strong, too. I knew she didn't deserve to die. I just had to make it look like she did.

She escaped.

But my father doesn't know that.

I had the servants report that her body was found inside her quarters. She died from injuries during the Challenge. How unfortunate.

Letting her live was my one gift to her, after all the suffering I put her through. I don't regret it, though. I needed to do it. All of it.

I am glad she survived. She reminds me of myself, in a way. She does everything she can to get what she wants. She prioritizes herself. She prioritizes survival.

But I got my way in the end.