Chapter 1: The Crystal Chose a Servant
"Let's see whether this crystal recognizes royal blood in a common servant!""
Prince Alexander's voice thundered across the ballroom.
Before anyone could react, he seized Sophie's wrist and dragged her toward the enormous crystal hand standing in the center of the royal palace.
"Your Highness, please!"" Sophie cried, struggling to keep her balance.
"I'm working! I haven't done anything wrong!""
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
Hundreds of nobles watched from beneath golden chandeliers, their diamond necklaces glittering as they whispered behind jeweled fans. The royal orchestra had stopped playing. Even the servants carrying silver trays had frozen in place.
Sophie wanted the marble floor to swallow her whole.
She was twenty-two years old, wore a borrowed black-and-white maid's uniform, and had spent the entire evening trying not to attract attention.
Now the crown prince had made her the evening's entertainment.
"Alexander, that's enough," Princess Charlotte said from beside the throne.
Her brother didn't even look at her.
"Why? It's only a harmless little demonstration.""
He tightened his grip on Sophie's wrist.
"Unless, of course, our little maid is afraid of a piece of crystal.""
The crystal hand stood nearly eight feet tall. Its five fingers were carved from a single transparent emerald-colored stone, though the surface usually appeared almost colorless beneath the ballroom lights.
It rested on a circular pedestal of black marble, surrounded by ancient golden symbols.
Every child in the kingdom knew its name.
The Bloodstone of Eldoria.
For centuries, the crystal had been used to test the bloodline of the royal family. According to legend, it responded only to descendants of the first monarch, illuminating the symbols of the ancient crown.
No commoner had ever awakened it.
And no one had succeeded in making it glow for more than a hundred years.
Alexander released Sophie's wrist and shoved her toward the pedestal.
"Go on," he said.
"Touch it.""
Sophie stumbled.
Her shoulder struck the marble edge, and a sharp pain shot down her arm.
"Your Highness, I beg you. I have tables to serve.""
"Not anymore," Alexander replied.
"For the next few minutes, you're going to help us answer a very important question.""
A tall nobleman near the champagne fountain laughed.
"Perhaps the crystal will turn black. That would suit her dress.""
Another woman covered her mouth.
Sophie lowered her eyes.
She had learned long ago that silence was safer than arguing with powerful people.
Her mother had taught her that lesson.
Never let pride make you forget who can hurt you.
The memory came with the faint scent of lavender and the warmth of a hand brushing her hair.
Sophie swallowed.
"Please," she whispered.
Alexander leaned closer.
"What was that?""
"I said please, Your Highness.""
"How touching.""
He gestured toward the crystal.
"Touch it.""
At the far end of the ballroom, Queen Elizabeth had been watching the spectacle with growing displeasure.
She was sixty years old, elegant and composed, with silver-blond hair arranged beneath a delicate diamond tiara.
She had tolerated her son's arrogance for years.
But humiliating a servant in front of the entire court was something else.
"William," she murmured to her husband, "you should stop him.""
King William glanced at Alexander.
"He's making a fool of himself. Let him finish.""
Elizabeth frowned.
Then her eyes moved to Sophie.
Something caught the light at the maid's throat.
A small green pendant.
The queen stopped breathing.
It was shaped like a teardrop, surrounded by an intricate silver frame. A tiny symbol had been engraved into its center: a crown resting above a crescent moon.
Elizabeth's fingers tightened around her wineglass.
The glass trembled.
"No," she whispered.
King William turned.
"Elizabeth?""
But she wasn't listening.
She had seen that pendant before.
Not in a painting.
Not in a royal treasury.
She had seen it around the neck of a young woman standing in a bloodstained palace corridor twenty-two years earlier.
A woman who had begged Elizabeth to protect her newborn daughter.
A woman who had disappeared before sunrise.
The queen rose so suddenly that her chair scraped against the marble.
"Wait!""
Her voice cut through the ballroom.
Alexander turned impatiently.
"Mother, please. I'm entertaining our guests.""
Elizabeth pointed toward Sophie.
"Where did you get that pendant?""
The entire room fell silent.
Sophie instinctively covered the necklace with her hand.
"This, Your Majesty?""
"Yes. That necklace.""
"It belonged to my mother.""
Elizabeth's face drained of color.
"Your mother?""
Sophie nodded.
"She gave it to me before she died.""
The queen took one unsteady step forward.
"What was her name?""
Alexander rolled his eyes.
"Mother, must we interrogate the kitchen staff now?""
"Be quiet, Alexander!""
The prince blinked.
He had never heard his mother speak to him like that.
Elizabeth descended from the royal platform.
"What was your mother's name, child?""
Sophie looked confused.
"Her name was Eleanor.""
The queen's wineglass slipped from her fingers.
It shattered against the marble.
Several women gasped.
King William stood.
"Elizabeth, what is going on?""
But the queen stared at Sophie as if she were looking at a ghost.
Eleanor.
That name had been erased from every official royal record.
Alexander laughed awkwardly.
"Well, this is becoming ridiculous.""
He grabbed Sophie's arm again.
"Enough. You will touch the crystal, and then we can all return to our evening.""
"Alexander, don't!""
But the prince had already pushed her forward.
Sophie's palm landed against the crystal hand.
For one heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then—
A brilliant emerald light exploded from the stone.
The ballroom vanished beneath a blinding green glow.
Every chandelier flickered.
The orchestra's instruments crashed to the floor as musicians stumbled backward.
Golden symbols appeared beneath Sophie's feet, one after another, illuminating the black marble pedestal.
The crystal began to vibrate.
A deep rumbling rolled through the palace.
Sophie tried to pull her hand away.
She couldn't.
The light grew brighter.
"Help me!"" she screamed.
Alexander stumbled backward, his face suddenly white.
"What is happening?!""
Queen Elizabeth stared at the glowing symbols.
Her lips parted.
"That should have been impossible.""
The pedestal cracked.
A jagged line split the marble from its center, spreading toward the queen's feet.
Nobles screamed and rushed toward the exits.
King William shouted, "Guards! Get everyone away from the crystal!""
But Elizabeth didn't move.
She was staring at the final symbol appearing above Sophie's hand.
A crown.
Not the crown worn by the current royal family.
Something older.
Something that had not appeared in more than two centuries.
The queen whispered a name.
"Elena...""
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Then the crystal released a thunderous pulse.
And every candle in the palace went out.
