At the final fitting for my bridal vestment, I stepped out from behind the silk partition to find my sister Rosalind adjusting the silver clasp at my fiancé Caelan’s collar. Caelan Solyne — the High Priest of the Temple of Solyne, the most feared and revered hand of divine authority across all of Aurelia. I had just opened my mouth to say, “I’ll do it,” when the adornment attendant smiled brightly and walked toward Rosalind. “This way, my lady bride.” I stopped where I stood. Caelan did not correct her. The Silver Vow guardsmen at the doorway kept their gazes fixed forward, faces unreadable beneath their pale hoods. Rosalind only lowered her lashes shyly and leaned a little closer against him. Meanwhile Miles — my oldest friend, the temple’s appointed bridal portraitist — lifted his enchanted lens and began capturing image after image of the two of them. I stood there like a stranger at other own betrothal. Almost every image glowing inside Miles’s lens-stone was of Rosalind and Caelan. Not a single one of me. The actual bride. Rosalind spoke as easily as if she were the one preparing for the bonding ceremony. “Elara, bring me those starlilies, would you?” When Caelan noticed I hadn’t moved, he walked over and gently took the bouquet from my hands. Those eyes of his — eyes that had silenced entire councils of priests, eyes before which kings had been known to bow — held a rare flicker of warmth. “Elara, what are you standing there for? Go look over the scroll designs. I’ll come find you once we’re done with the portraits.” Miles lowered the lens just enough for one eye to show above it. “Elara, scoot over a little. You’re in the light.” I moved without a word and stood in the corner. That was the moment I finally understood how unnecessary I was. If this bonding ceremony didn’t need me, then I wouldn’t be here. … I quietly lifted my cloak from the bench and pushed open the heavy temple door. The silver chime above it rang once, soft as a sigh. No one called after me. I looked back. Rosalind was twirling in front of the long mirror while Caelan stood behind her, smoothing the sash at her waist. Miles lifted his lens-stone again. “Yes — that’s it. Hold there. Perfect angle.” The enchantment hummed five or six times in quick succession. I turned and walked out of the fitting hall. The polished marble corridor stretched ahead of me, cool and empty. My two Silver Vow guards assigned to my protection fell into step behind me without a sound. My communication crystal pulsed once at my wrist. A message from the temple’s bonding ritualkeeper. “Princess Elaria, the ceremony is only days away. Have you chosen the design for the Sacred Vow Scroll?” Those outside the temple called me Princess Elaria of Marenthia. Only my family and the man I was supposed to bond with called me Elara. Before I could answer, another message bloomed inside the crystal. “Or perhaps your sister could choose. Her taste is exquisite.” The corridor was so quiet I could hear my own breathing. One breath after another, like I was counting something. What was I counting? How many times I’d been forgotten in this love? I touched the crystal and let three words form in the light. “Let her choose.” I meant it. Rosalind would pick something. Caelan would agree with her in the end anyway. The reply came almost instantly. “Understood, Princess.” I stared at those words and could practically picture the ritualkeeper exhaling in relief. Every choice the bride made was always changed afterward. Easier to let my sister decide from the start. Before I could lower my hand, the crystal started pulsing again. Over and over. Miles was pushing portraits into the shared bonding crystal — the council thread that linked the whole wedding party. I opened one. His composition was flawless. The afternoon light landed perfectly on their faces. Caelan stood tall in the deep indigo robes of the High Priest, the silver embroidery along his shoulders catching fire in the sun. The two of them looked like a sacred painting come to life — the High Priest and the woman about to stand beside him before the Eternal Flame. I had poured everything into this bonding, as though doing so could prove that I was not always the one who got forgotten. I never imagined that, in the end, I’d still be the one pushed out of the frame. The crystal flared, dimmed, flared again. Images kept blooming in the shared light. I didn’t answer. No one noticed. I dismissed my escort at the temple gates and walked alone down the long white road toward the small dwelling I kept near the outer sanctum. A folded note had been left beneath my desk. Seven days until the Bonding. I picked it up, crushed it in my hand, and dropped it into the brazier by the threshold. The little flame swallowed it without a sound. The way everyone else, it seemed, had learned to swallow the silence of me.
The next morning, I checked my communication crystal. The the council thread had 99+ unread pulses. Rosalind had tagged me once, in a voice imprint. I tapped it. “Elara, I changed the ceremony hymn. The one you picked was too gloomy. A bonding should feel lighter.” Caelan’s reply came right under it. “Agreed. The original hymn doesn’t fit the occasion. Half the temple will be there. Pick something lighter.” The original hymn didn’t fit? I had spent a whole month choosing it. It was the song my parents had played at their bonding. Hearing it always made my eyes burn. They had died far too young, and I had wanted them to be present in some small way. Caelan knew that. So did Rosalind. And they still called it gloomy. Rosalind kept going in the thread. “Elara never likes making decisions. We can just choose these things for her.” Caelan replied with one word. “Agreed.” I stared at it without moving. Messages streamed past, one after another. No one noticed that I was in the thread. No one noticed that I was silent. I had no role in my own bonding. I opened my private thread with Caelan. The last exchange was still from yesterday’s fitting. I had written, I’m a little nervous. He had sent back a small glowing rune — the temple version of a pat on the head. After that, nothing. He hadn’t even reached out privately after I left early to ask what was wrong. The only thing he’d done was tag me in the council thread later that night. “What happened? Got too nervous and slipped out early?” No one answered. No one cared. Rosalind posted a portrait with the caption, Elara, today’s fitting was perfect. The vestment is officially confirmed! And just like that, it was forgotten. They went back to discussing flowers, scrolls, and altar arrangements. Suddenly, I realized I wasn’t just unnecessary. While I was packing, Rosalind suddenly called through the crystal. When I answered, someone was applying her makeup. “Elara, you’re moving way too slow. The makeup team still isn’t confirmed, so I booked one myself. I’m testing them out for you first.” I listened at Rosalind in front of the mirror and wanted to say something. But I no longer knew what. Two weeks ago, I had told her my closest friend would handle my bridal adornment. But my voice never seemed to reach her. She just made every decision for me. Had I never pushed back? I had. It always ended with the same line. “Elara, you’re the older one. Don’t make a big deal out of this.” Miles had known me longer than anyone. He always took her side. Then Caelan stepped into my life and chased me with everything he had. The High Priest the whole continent feared used to walk me home through the dark and tell me my quiet, dreamy ways were lovely. I thought he liked me that way. But after he met Rosalind, his preferences seemed to shift. Without realizing it, he started saying that women should be lively. Decisive. One day, I finally said it. “Can you stop being so close to Rosalind? You need better boundaries with her.” I thought he’d understand. Instead, he laughed, ruffled my hair, and brushed it off. “Boundaries? Once we’re bonded, Rosalind will be part of the temple family too. Do you want me to treat her like a stranger?” I went quiet. Of course I didn’t want them at each other’s throats. But the words You’re the older one, so you should be more understanding had pressed down on me for years. For the first time, they were heavy enough to suffocate me. They had all forgotten I was only two years older than her. I wanted someone to ask me, Do you like this? But no one ever cared.
I sent word to my capable subordinates and told him I was leaving the house that day. “Are you sure?” he asked. “You’ve lived there more than four years.” Four years. When Caelan and I first started seeing each other, he had wanted me to move into the temple’s inner sanctum — a heavily warded compound where only his most trusted clergy lived. Rosalind said I should keep some private space before the bonding and suggested I live alone. So I rented this little dwelling near the outer sanctum, hoping I’d see Caelan more often. He agreed. Every now and then, he’d slip away from his Silver Vow escort and stay the night. These rooms had held the sweetness of our early love. Then the arguments. The silences. The countless times he left in a hurry because of temple business. But now I had finally hit the end of it. “Yes,” I said. “I’m leaving today.” The subordinates sighed and told me to leave the rune-key under the threshold stone. I had barely closed the connection when the door opened from outside. Caelan and Rosalind walked in, laughing together. Rosalind glanced back at him with a smile. “You promised that once my lease ends, I can stay at the inner sanctum for a few weeks after the bonding. I want the chamber with the bay window in the east wing. And I want the drapes changed to pink.” I stood in the middle of the room, sure I had heard her wrong. She said it so naturally. As if she had every right to decide how long she’d stay and how our future home would look. Caelan didn’t object. He smiled indulgently. “As long as Elara doesn’t mind.” “Elara always looks after me. Of course she won’t mind.” Something tightened in my throat. “What if I do mind?” The room went silent for two seconds. Rosalind stared at me. Maybe it was the first time I had ever truly refused her. Before she could say anything, her eyes were already turning red. Caelan’s tone sharpened with reproach. “What’s gotten into you, Elara? You’ve always given her whatever she wanted. Now you’re going to make an issue out of one room?” “I’m not making an issue out of it.” “Then what are you saying?” He frowned. “Her lease is ending. She’d only stay a few weeks. She’s your sister, not some stranger we need to guard against. The sanctum is huge. What difference does one more person make?” “That’s supposed to be our home after the bonding. The home of the future lady of Solyne.” I looked at him. “Which one of us is bonding with you?” That shut Caelan up. Rosalind’s voice came out soft, eyes wet. “Elara, I just wanted to be close to you. If you don’t want me there, forget it. I won’t move in.” Caelan turned on me with that same reproachful look. “See what you’ve done? One sentence, and you’ve hurt her this badly. She’s your sister. Can’t you think about how she feels?” “And who thinks about how I feel?” I lifted my head. “You personally pulled her into the temple’s outer ministry and approved a stipend far above everyone else at her level. She barely has to worry about anything. What about me? All I have is—” “Enough.” Caelan’s expression changed. “Be reasonable. She’s your sister. I only look out for her because of you. Do you really have to be this petty?” Petty. That word again. I smiled and stopped speaking. Rosalind tugged at his sleeve. “Caelan, stop. Elara’s probably just in a bad mood.” He patted her hand, then softened his voice toward me. “Elara, I’ve already decided. It’ll be good for Rosalind to stay with us. The two of you can keep living close to each other.” I nodded. Agreed. It was their home, after all. I would never live there. Caelan relaxed. Rosalind dabbed at the corners of her dry eyes and smiled again. I turned back to my packing. Behind me, Rosalind asked, “So I really can change the drapes to pale pink?” Caelan laughed softly. “Whatever you like.”
That afternoon, I went to the Temple of Solyne, the seat Caelan ruled. On the surface, the great spire housed the outer ministry, the relic vaults, and the council chambers. Everyone on the continent knew what it really was. I packed the access rune to the inner sanctum, the key-sigil to Caelan’s private chamber, and several scrolls concerning the temple’s outer affairs that he had asked me to organize. At the reception desk, the attendant straightened the moment she saw me. “Princess Elaria. Shall I notify the High Priest?” “No.” I set the bag on the desk. “Just give him this.” Then I turned to leave. As I reached the dark-runed staircase, Caelan’s voice drifted through a half-open door. Two Silver Vow guards stood outside, and I slowed without meaning to. “You want me to take you to your bridal manicure on the seventh day?” My fingers stiffened. A moment later, his amused voice carried through the doorway. “All right. I’ll take you. I’ll explain it to Elara.” I gave a bitter smile. I had already decided to let go. What was I still hoping for? Before the bonding, Caelan and I had planned one thing we never managed during our years together — to watch the sunrise above the cliffs. He had been postponing it since winter, always saying he was busy and we’d go next time. We had finally chosen this seventh day. Now he had postponed it again. But this time, I didn’t care. I pushed through the great temple doors and traveled straight back to Hartwell, the small coastal town in Marenthia where I had grown up. The next morning, I was cleaning the old house my parents had left me there. Lady Mirelle and Lord Theron lived nearby, and Mirelle came over early. “Elara, take a break.” I shook my head and told her I was almost done. Mirelle took my hand and patted it gently. “All these years, you’ve always been the one expected to be the older one. Expected to give in. You’ve suffered far too much.” She sighed, like she was turning over years of memories in her mind. “Rosalind may have been adopted by your parents, but you always treated her like your own sister. You gave her everything. That child never learned when to stop taking.” She wiped the corner of her eye. “The ministers and other dukes all knew. But they were afraid you’d feel uncomfortable, so no one dared say anything.” “Now you’re both grown. You’re about to start a family of your own. I thought you’d finally be free of looking after everyone else.” I smiled but said nothing. After a while, I said, “Aunt Mirelle, you and Uncle Theron should move in. An empty house doesn’t stay in good shape for long.” Mirelle looked startled. “What do you mean, empty? You’ll still come back after the bonding.” She smiled. “I know you and Caelan will live at the inner sanctum, but you’ll need somewhere to stay when you visit.” I agreed. But I kept insisting they move in. Mirelle thought I was only being polite and refused several times. I didn’t explain. I only thought that once I left, I might not come back for many years. That evening, Caelan arrived for the pre-bonding family dinner as arranged. Three Silver Vow carriages stopped outside. His guards stayed at the entrance. Rosalind stayed at his side like the hostess. They both looked surprised when they saw me. “Elara, what are you doing here?” Caelan asked, as if I had no reason to be there.
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