A Principessa's Unsent Plea
My adopted sister, Silvana, framed me for leaking a family secret. For this, my three brothers dragged me into the ice chamber reserved for traitors and sealed the door with heavy chains.
I pounded on the cold iron door, my pleas dissolving into nothing as I gasped that my asthma was flaring up.
Riven, the family's Don, pierced me with his icy gaze before slamming the door shut. "We've tolerated your spoiled drama for years, Astrid," he roared, his voice thick with fury. "But this was an arms deal—the family's lifeline! You leaked it? Do you want to watch the entire Costello family burn? Get in there and reflect on your treason!"
My other brothers—Jay, the rock superstar, and Howard, the brooding artist—watched with cold indifference.
"A traitor begging for sympathy with her own weakness? You can rot in there for all we care."
With that, they shielded a trembling Silvana in their arms and went to clean up the mess from the failed deal.
The air in the ice chamber was frigid and thin. My breathing grew ragged, then ceased altogether.
My life ended in that freezing darkness.
When my brothers finally remembered me three days later, they had no idea they were returning to a corpse.