The Empress' Descent

Chapter 3 - Her Return

Three days passed by in a nerve-wrecking blur. I gripped the edges of the vanity as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The maids that had been helping me dress hovered behind me.

I clenched my jaw. "You are done, are you not? Leave!"

They squeaked and scurried away, quick on their feet as if I were a bomb that might explode any moment. And perhaps I would explode. The frustration I'd been bottling up was close to overflowing.

Today was the day they would send me to the palace. To the place where my past life had ended.

I gaped at the girl in front of me. With deep ocean eyes, long flowing dark-blue hair and light skin. If this face had been more sharp and edged, she could pass off as the previous Empress' twin. Clary and I had the exact same features.

Almost. Because her cheeks were rounder and her eyes were softer. Clary was like my entire innocence and goodness poured into one person.

We had a resemblance, I thought, due to the Lorraines being a branch family of my mother's side. The blue of our hair and eyes were a dominant trait in the genes of our ancestry. Even that arrogant Kazriel wasn't safe from it.

The gods had a knack for humor, allowing my soul to find the body of a girl who deeply resembled me.

The maids had woven intricate braids into my hair and studded the strands with tiny mother of pearls. Moonstones dripped from my ears like droplets of water. The same gems wrapped my delicate neck.

I trailed down my gaze. The dress was even more horrid. It was too flashy. It fell from my chest, leaving my collarbones bare and very much exposed. Gold laces peeked out from the cuffs and beneath the layers of the skirt.

"Already looking like a doting bride, aren't we?" I spat.

They hadn't even decided on a wedding date yet. And now they were ordering me to live in the palace? The palace, where my enemies swarmed. One slip of a mistake, one moment this mask dropped and I would lose my head. That place was a death trap!

I had sworn to live peacefully, cherish Clarisse's body and keep it safe. And maybe build some semblance of a life that was far from malicious courtiers and politicians. A life that she had probably wanted but did not get. Whatever it was, I would have made the effort to find out. Going back would mean going against my promises to Clarisse.

At this point, it seemed like fate itself was challenging me.

I could run away, as it was not too late. Yet where would I go? I had nowhere to run. I could not fend for myself. I had been taught to hunt prey but I never knew how to cook.

Besides, running was for cowards.

I pinched my eyes shut and took in a shuddering breath.

Fine then. Indeed, the gods had a sick sense of humor. Killing me in one life and sending me back to my death in the next. To the same place at that. Perhaps they were not so creative to think of other ways to kill me. I would not make it so easy. I will live as a different person with a different name. Not as Empress Athelina. She had died two years ago.

I will be stepping foot into that palace as Clarisse Lorraine, daughter of the Viscount.

"If it's a challenge you want, then it is a challenge you'll get," I said, cursing some higher being for putting me in this situation.

I headed down the stairs and stopped in front of the doors that led outside, where a four-horse carriage was waiting. My so-called parents were already there to see me off.