A Whisper of Night

1.1 || ASTNORDEN 💫

 The glass was warm now, damp after hours of lying against her palm.

Astna's fingers tightened around the vial in her pocket as she watched the last petitioner trudge out the door, a bloody lamb slung over his shoulder. The wolves outside the castle walls were becoming more and more daring, and as for the wolves within the palace... That could've been me, she thought, draped over someone's shoulder, skin black and bloody.

Her eyes flickered to Elsking. Her brother sat as if carved of stone, his gaze trained on the guards as they shut the doors with a resounding boom. Sweat beaded over his pale brow. Try as she might, she couldn't unsee the look of surprise on his face when she'd stalked into the Hall that morning.

"I believe that is all for today," Minister Foerling said, folding her wizened hands. "Does any member of the Parliament have an issue of importance?"

Astna took a deep breath, then pulled the vial from her gown. 

The Hall fell silent as she rose.

"My - my Lady?" Minister Foerling said uncertainly.

"My apologies, Minister," Astna said calmly. She turned her gaze to the audience, studying all hundred of the Parliament's faces. Against the black marble of the hall, everyone looked as pale as a ghost.

Any one of them could be guilty. Any one of them could be working with Elsking, working to undermine me and my fragile hold on the land. 

She held up the vial. "This is my issue of importance. I believe it is called the Red Death, or Trystfae."

Murmurs swelled in the hall. Numbness tingled through Astna's hands - the black marble of the Hall was beginning to feel like a void, threatening to suck her off the dais. 

Nevertheless, she plowed forwards.

"My handmaiden, Lilian, perished most gruesomely last night...yet the soup she consumed was meant for me."

The hall erupted into discourse. Her gaze turned from one side of the hall to the other, following each of the faces, before they found Elsking's flickering eyes. He had taken a sudden interest in the black doors.

"Silence!" roared Minister Foerling. "Silence!" Her bushy gray eyebrows were drawn together, her pale eyes narrowed. "My Lady...with all due respect, do you have any proof that your handmaiden was poisoned, and hadn't simply choked to death?"

"Oh yes," Astna said. She nodded at Medic Vitblek. "Medic Vitblek was unable to find any traces of food in her throat. The blood from the nose and corner of the eyes, as well as her seizures before death, are all indicative of Trystfae. Isn't that right, Medic?"

Vitblek was seated at the far end of the hall, watching the proceedings with a wary eye. With his black robes, he was almost indistinguishable from the walls. "Yes," he said slowly. "It is true. The girl showed all the signs of poisoning."

She tucked the vial back into her robes. "Furthermore, Trystfae is easy to attain from the alleys, although it doesn't provide the cleanest death." She now turned to the Ministers, raising her voice over the mutterings of the Parliament. 

"Ministers, this poisoning is a grave threat to the entire land. Although I would gladly give my life for the wellbeing of Valchtnallan, I do believe I am more useful living than dead. I therefore expect a full investigation into this and death for the culprits."

She sat down.

For a moment, nobody spoke. And then Bartling Handel, the Minister of Trade, cleared his throat.

"My Lady," he said, "forgive me, but why did we not hear about this earlier? Wouldn't it have been best for the people to know about this as soon as possible?"

She raised her eyebrows. "I know there would be people who would doubt the legitimacy of my claims," she said. "Surely you would agree that determining Lilian's cause of death would come before making any accusations, especially when it would...unsettle...so many people."

Elsking still hadn't spoken. She forced herself to not look at him. I'll question him later, she thought, after the Parliament leaves.

"All good reasons," Handel was saying. "Yet wouldn't it be a wiser option to look further into this...er...unfortunate event before we proceed with investigations?"

"First you say I move too slowly," Astna said, "and now you say I move too quickly." She could see the sheen of sweat on Handel's face as he sank back into his seat. What a disappointment...I'd thought he wasn't one of Elsking's men. 

She sighed. Elsking's men...I don't even remember when our rivalry hadn't split the court in two.

Astna shook her head, folding her hands on her lap. "I expect the names of all the men involved in one week's time," she said. "It would make a lovely birthday gift, wouldn't it?"

She nodded to Minister Foerling, signaling that her petition - does the Lady of Valchtnallan even need to petition? - was over.

Uneasy voices swept through the Parliament. That didn't go too badly, she thought, although her heart was hammering in her chest. Her hands were cold, trembling as she folded them in her lap. Had she sounded too pretentious? There wasn't anything wrong with that, right? She was their Lady.

Astna let her gaze wander through the auditorium as Minister Foerling tried to silence the men. Valchtnallan Hall had been built by her father, the story went, as a wedding gift for her mother. Thousands of gemstones glittered in countless shades of purple over the black marble of the pillars, floors, and walls. A million more jewels shimmered from the domed roof, forming the shapes of beasts and flowers and warriors, constellations in a sky of inky stone.

The roof was exceptionally renowned, and not only for its beauty. I do not want gems and a dome, Lady Valenjae had said, when King Arslan had presented the Hall to her. Not when we can rule the stars and sky.

And so Astnorden's father had promised to bring her mother the very heavens...before the Lion Queen had had him drowned.

"Silence!" Minister Foerling roared, and the Hall fell silent. "Is this how the Parliament is supposed to behave in session?" She turned to Astna. "My Lady...of course your request shall be granted." 

She looked slightly confused, and Astna couldn't blame her - perhaps she was the only ruler in the Five Kingdoms who'd ever made a petition before her Parliament. 

"Is there anyone else with an issue of importance?" the Minister asked. 

Nobody moved.

"Very well," she said. "Then we are dismissed."

Astna let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She turned to Elsking, resting a hand across his arm before he could stand.

Elsking let out a terrified squeak - his large dark eyes seemed to pop out of his scrawny face as he struggled to pull away from her.

"My dear brother," she said smoothly, her fingers tightening around his wrist. "We must talk."

~~

And here's the first chapter of A Whisper of Night!

I'm super excited for this novel - please let me know what you think of Astna, Elsking, and the political situation. This is my first time attempting a political fantasy, so I'd appreciate any feedback. :)

Please vote and comment! Thanks so much for reading!