It began with rain.
Soft. Steady. The kind that tasted like endings.
The fire hadn't started yet.
Not the real one.
But the whispers already had.
---
I stood in the Hall of Mirrors. The old court ballroom, its windows fogged from storm and steam. A servant was blotting the floor. Another muttered apologies as petals from last week's feast still littered the corners like forgotten sins.
I was waiting.
Still in white.
Still in love.
"He said he'd come," I told myself, smoothing the lace at my wrists. "He always does."
But the candles burned low.
And my heart began to burn with them.
---
Then Serina entered.
Not like a sister.
Like smoke.
"You shouldn't wait for him, Elara," she said, adjusting her sleeves. "It's bad for your image."
"You shouldn't speak of my husband," I replied, more gently than I meant.
She smiled.
The same smile she wore at my trial.
"You think being his wife makes you safe?" she said. "You're just a placeholder."
I turned away before she could see the crack.
"What do you want, Serina?"
"Only what you always had. Attention. Power. A title I deserve."
"You're jealous."
"And you're blind."
---
Later, I would remember the taste of that moment—like sugar over poison.
I left the hall without seeing Auren at all.
But I passed a maid who curtsied too quickly.
A guard who wouldn't meet my eye.
A scroll on my desk with the seal already broken.
---
That night, I heard whispers through the garden wall.
"They say she was too close to the west…"
"The Empress never liked her…"
"He's been meeting Serina at nightfall…"
"Elara will be tried in secret—"
I ran.
To Auren.
He was laughing with councilmen. Drinking. Smiling.
Golden. Brilliant.
My shadow in reverse.
"Auren," I said, breathless.
He turned. Slower than usual.
"Elara."
"Is it true?" I asked. "Am I… to be accused?"
A flicker. Just for a second. Regret? Or relief?
"There are concerns," he said. "We're handling it."
"You're handling it?"
"Please, not here."
"Then where?" I snapped. "At my execution?"
---
He reached for me.
I pulled away.
"I gave you everything," I whispered. "Even when your own mother broke you."
His eyes flinched at that.
But he said nothing.
And in that silence—
I shattered.
---
Rain fell harder.
The trial came quickly.
Cladus wasn't there. I remember asking for him.
They said he'd been "reassigned."
Serina sat in my place at court that day.
The lilies were already being stitched.
---
And when the flames came—
I remember only the smell of lavender.
My own perfume, burning.
---
"Do you regret it?" I asked, voice trembling.
Auren didn't answer.
Because dreams don't lie.
And even then,
he didn't say no.
But when I looked into his eyes for the very last time , what I saw shocked me
There was a hint of helplessness and sorrow in his eyes
I couldn't believe it
I woke up.