1 The Murder Before the Coronation.

"Aurelia Kelian, daughter of the King of Emiria, you are charged with the murder of your fiancé, Crown Prince of the Tarian Empire, Saliar Kirt. Do you admit your guilt?"

"W-what?" the girl looked at the supreme counselor in confusion. What murder? Me? "I... I don't understand..."

The man gave the princess a scornful look. It wasn't the first time the Counselor had looked at her with open dislike, but now there was almost hatred in his eyes.

"Oh, Lady Kelian doesn't understand?" he hissed sarcastically. The man grabbed Aurelia by the elbow and pulled her out of the chair. "And how about this?!" He turned the girl to face the bed. The white sheets were soaked in scarlet blood. The face of the man lying on the bed was disfigured with a grimace of horror and pain.

The princess screamed and backed away. A chill burned her back as she buried herself in the chest of the advisor behind her.

"Is... is this Saliar?! W-what happened?!" lips did not obey, a shiver seized her body. She had never seen such a horror. Her fiance's body was covered in bloody stains, as if someone had used the man's skin instead of canvas and painted on it with a sharp knife, like a brush.

"What happened? This is what we want to know, Princess Kelian. In this room, of all those present, only your hands are covered in blood," the icy words of the Counselor shocked Aurelia. She looked at her palms. Dried blood stained her snow-white skin down to her elbows in muddy spots, and her silk nightgown was strewn with crimson sprays like burning coals.

The floor began to move under her feet, the princess's stomach spasmed, bitterness appeared in her mouth. She breathed frequently, trying to maintain consciousness.

"Xander, stop it! You are scaring her!" another man gently hugged the girl by the shoulders and sat her back in the chair. He squatted down opposite, "Aurelia, look at me. You know who I am?" His voice was calm and soft, relaxing like warm water.

Aurelia nodded, tears in the princess's eyes, "Your Highness, it is not me. I really didn't do anything. I don't understand what's going on," the girl sobbed, holding back with all her might not to burst into tears.

"Your Highness, Mr. Counselor, we have not found any traces of strangers. Only Prince Saliar and Lady Kelian were in the chambers. The protective dome did not detect any interference," one of the guards reported.

Aurelia raised her head and looked around the room. Besides her, the second prince and the counselor, there were several other men in the bedroom. All of them were looking at the girl with dislike, ready to execute her on the spot.

She lowered her eyes and looked pleadingly at the second prince. He was the younger brother of her fiancé and the only one who showed any concern for her since her arrival in the Empire.

The man squeezed her hand, showing his support, but even in his eyes, she saw doubt.

"Prince Damir, you know that the imperial chambers are under a protective dome. Without the consent of Prince Saliar, an outsider could not get here," Counselor Xander had little concern about the consolation of some princess.

Now the problem was more serious. The Crown Prince of the Tarian Empire was assassinated the night before his coronation.

"Still, I doubt Aurelia could have done such a thing. Is that so, princess?" Damir said to the girl, "Tell us everything that happened. Then we can help you."

They found her sitting in a chair next to the bed. The girl was looking with empty eyes at her palms which were covered with blood and did not respond to questions for several minutes. It was only when Counselor Xander finally lost his patience and shouted at her that Aurelia's gaze showed some consciousness.

"We… after the ceremony we came to the bedroom. Prince Saliar went to the bathroom, and he told me to undress and wait for him in bed," the girl swallowed a lump in her throat. It was humiliating to talk about such things.

She was alone in a room with several men and the dead body of her fiancé. In a thin shirt that barely hid her body. And she had to tell them about her wedding night in all details?

"Prince Damir, can we discuss this in private?" Aurelia asked hopefully, but the words of the other man ripped out the hope and trampled it down.

"Your Highness, with all due respect, such questions in the Empire are not within your competence," the Counselor interrupted the girl.

"I know, Xander," Damir sighed and stepped aside, "Sorry, Aurelia. But in the Tarian Empire, the counselor deals with crimes of this level. Gentlemen, could you leave us for a while?" the prince addressed the other witnesses present. This was the only way he could help the girl at the moment.

"Go on, princess," Xander ordered.

His gray eyes, like molten silver, made Aurelia tremble inexplicably every time they met.

"I took off my wedding dress and put it there," the princess pointed to one of the couches, where her ceremonial attire was. "Then Prince Saliar came, pushed me onto the bed and… that's it. I don't remember anything else. I woke up already in a chair."

"I would like to know in more detail what was between 'pushed me onto the bed' and 'that's it'. Your story somehow does not match the reputation of the first prince. It was over too quickly," Xander commented with undisguised sarcasm. However, in dealing with her, sarcasm was his usual manner.

"Is your personal life so poor that you need someone else's details, Counselor?" the princess could not resist. Even if she hadn't killed Saliar, she would have killed this gray-eyed demon with great pleasure. And more than once.

Xander chuckled as Aurelia's face turned pale in the next second. She dared to be rude to the one in whose hands her life was now? How inconsiderate.

"Xander, Lady Kelian is not one of those prisoners you are used to dealing with. Be respectful. A princess cannot tell such things easily," Prince Damir stood up for the girl.

"Hmm, indeed," Xander drawled, a sneer slid across his lips, "I forgot that Lady Kelian has amazing manners and nobility. I beg your pardon if my question seemed rude," the man bowed feignedly, "But rules are rules. You will have to tell EVERYTHING if you hope to somehow soften your fate, princess," the last word he seemed to spit out.

Aurelia rose from the chair and took a step towards the man. If he thought he could suppress her with veiled insults, then Xander was wrong. The Princess of Emiria was not a porcelain doll that would shatter with a rough touch.

"Okay, here are your details. Prince Saliar pushed me onto the bed and got on top of me. He began to pull off the remaining clothes with force. I resisted and asked him to be more gentle. He laughed and said that since this is our first night, he was ready to make a concession, and kissed me. What happened next, I don't remember. Are these details enough?" She looked the advisor straight in the eyes, but behind their silver coldness, it was difficult to make out at least some emotions.

"Um, Aurelia, are you sure?" Damir asked anxiously in his voice.

"I'm sure."

Counselor Xander's face was like a wax mask - no muscle twitched to show his reaction to her words. The man walked his gaze from the girl's head to her feet and back.

"Wow, what an amazing ability to lie. I almost believed it," Xander said evenly, and the princess's eyes flashed with fire.

"Lie?! I am telling the pure truth!"

"Lady Kelian, you are new here and you may not know. But the whole Empire knows that Prince Saliar does not kiss his women. Never," Xander snapped and headed for the exit, "Prepare everything you need for execution. The Princess of Emiria will be beheaded for killing the first prince, Saliar Kirt."

Beheaded? Are they serious?

"You have no right! Our states have signed a peace treaty! If you kill me, Emiria will declare war on you! The father will not tolerate this!"

Counselor Xander stopped and looked at the indignant girl. Her green eyes burned the man with hatred. He had seen that look before, but last time the circumstances were, hm... more pleasant.

"Our messenger has reported that a spy has left the Emiria palace for the Tarian Empire. You, Lady Kelian, are the only one who was allowed to cross the border of the capital. And how is it that the prince, who was to become the emperor tomorrow and ascend the throne, suddenly perishes on his wedding night under strange circumstances?" savoring every word, said the Counselor,

"The imperial chambers are under the most powerful protection in the palace. And you are the only one who could enter here with the future emperor. These are the rules of the wedding ceremony. But your biggest mistake is to claim that Saliar kissed you. Nobody in our country will believe in this lie. Come up with something more believable, since the Tarian Empire now has the right to declare war on your Emiria, which cannot be said about you."

Xander wanted to sort this out quickly. They could not cancel the coronation, now Prince Damir had to ascend to the throne since his elder brother was dead.

Damir looked at the princess bitterly. He felt sorry for the fragile girl, who over the past month often brightened up his everyday life with interesting conversations. But he could not put his personal interests above the laws of the country. Such weaknesses are impermissible for the future emperor.

"I demand… I demand the court of fire," Aurelia said in a calm voice, and her words plunged the room into deathly silence.

The men looked at each other. Maybe they misunderstood her?

"In the library of the palace, I found a book where it was written about the court of fire," the princess continued, "If I pass it, then all charges will be dropped from me. I, Aurelia Kelian, Princess of Emiria, demand a fair court of fire, and let fire decide my fate."

"I'm against it!" protested Prince Damir.

"I agree," said Counselor Xander.

"Xander, are you crazy?! She will burn alive!" Damir stood between the girl and the Counselor like a protective wall.

"She will burn if she lies. And, according to the law, we have no right to refuse the court of fire to the one who is asking for it." Even Xander was surprised by the impudence of this princess. How dare she demand a sacred ritual?

"Lady Kelian, do you even know how the court of fire goes?" Aurelia heard the sarcasm in the Counselor's voice again.

"No," she replied curtly. There was no point in lying that she knew.

"Hmm, I thought so," the man chuckled under his breath, and this chuckle did not escape the ears of the princess. "Follow me," Xander commanded, "We only have time until dawn. The ritual is performed at night."

Aurelia took a step to follow the man but stopped, "Give me a couple of minutes to get dressed. I cannot walk around the palace like this." A shirt stained with blood, which was only slightly below the knee, and nothing but it - too revealing an outfit even for someone who is waiting for death.

Xander exhaled heavily, his patience was running out. He looked at the girl for a couple of seconds, then poured words like an icy shower, "Don't bother, princess. You won't need any clothes during the ritual."

~~~~~~~~~

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Preliminary release date - Summer 2021.

Anya.