Page 8 of The Prince's Captive

It had never been said to Marcella’s face, but ever since she’d passed her trials as a mage and officially joined the ranks of the other soldiers for Clan Desero, she knew the reason all her assignments kept her close to the estate was because Hypatia didn’t want anything to happen to her lookalike.

At least that was what Marcella told herself when she was in denial over how pitiful of a mage she was.

“I was summoned, my lady,” Marcella said, dropping to one knee and clasping her hand over her heart. Something dark settled into her stomach when she spotted the bags under Hypatia’s eyes and the paleness to her already fair skin. That was not a good sign. “As my clan bids me, I answer. How may I serve?”

Hypatia was going to be heading to the temple on the border of Clan Montis and Clan Desero for her marriage in just over two months, and afterwards travel on to Clan Montis where she would be staying for at least the first six months of her marriage. She was going to need Desero guards to accompany her. And Marcella had suspected she would be selected. Hypatia didn’t like for her lookalike to be far in case she had a use for Marcella.

The one consolation was that Marcella would get to witness a grand wedding. She’d attended plenty of small weddings amongst her clan at their local temple, but Clan Montis had a larger temple with a breathtaking sanctuary where the High Priest resided. Seeing a wedding the High Priest would officiate personally was a rare opportunity. The incense would be stronger, sweeter, even if the ceremonial prayers and hymns would be the same. The time it took would be the same, but since a proper wedding took hours so every procedure was met in order to ensure the couple started their lives together right by Asentai, Marcella was certain it would still have so much more weight.

She kept one eye on Hypatia even as she knelt. It was always a strange thing to be so near someone who was so similar in appearance, but especially when Hypatia was… in a mood. And Marcella could tell on sight when Hypatia was. Dramatic changes in Hypatia’s moods, behavior, and appearance almost always meant one thing.

But what did it have to do with Marcella?

“Rise, Marcella of Desero,” Chief Eustathios’s deep voice carried across the room.

But before Marcella could, a hand was sinking into the fabric of her chiton and pulling her up to her feet. Hypatia was the one lifting her up. While they were nearly identical in every way, there were slight differences if one looked closely, and the biggest tell was in height. Hypatia was a few inches taller.

Yes. Hypatia was in a mood.

Hypatia grabbed Marcella’s face and roughly squeezed her cheeks. “Haven’t I always told you that you were blessed to look like me for a reason, little one? Last night I saw why.”

She only ever acted this way after using her Sight.

But no one had been talking about it. Usually when Hypatia used her gifts as a seer everyone knew the second she started setting up for it. It wasn’t something where she could just snap her fingers and summon a vision. There was incense to burn and a special room that had been built just for her so she could focus undisturbed that was always cleaned before and after Hypatia used it. Cleaning the glass and filling the inset basin with water.

Once she finished, while Hypatia was recovering, everyone whispered about what she’d gleaned, trying to piece together their own interpretations. Sight was a rare gift bestowed only upon the most powerful of mages from Asentai, but it also came with a cost. It was draining and difficult.

Even so, it was generally a looked forward to occasion, but Marcella never did. Hypatia’s behavior after a vision always changed, especially toward Marcella.

She was always colder. Meaner. And… unbalanced. Not that she wasn’t any of those things to begin with, but it was worse after a vision. Marcella always assumed the little patience, restraint, and reason Hypatia had that kept her somewhat in check was always wrecked after using her Sight the same way Hypatia was always physically wrecked afterwards.

But if Hypatia was thrilled and obsessed with the way Marcella resembled her, she was ten times more so with her Sight.

“Hypatia. She is a soldier, not a toy,” Chief Eustathios said with a sigh, but there was no bite to his words. After a lifetime of this, it was a little late for Marcella to be anything but Hypatia’s doll.

Hypatia squeezed her cheeks again before letting go, pushing Marcella’s face to the side slightly as she stepped back and said, “Fine. Go ahead, Father.”

Still, Chief Eustathios was the only one Hypatia listened to, especially when she was in a mood after a vision.

“I’m sure you’ve heard discussion amongst your fellow soldiers about which unit is going to be accompanying Hypatia to the temple for her marriage and onto Clan Montis’ territory,” Chief Eustathios said. At Marcella’s nod, he continued, “Well, Asentai has blessed my daughter with a vision to forewarn us about what will happen. About what the Inimicus are planning now that they’ve heard of our arrangement with Clan Montis.”

If he was assigning her unit to guard Hypatia against the Inimicus, why had she been summoned by name? And what could Hypatia’s vision have to do with her?

The only noteworthy thing about her was the fact she looked like Hypatia. She had no family left, no particular excellence in combat or strategy, or anything that would make her worth summoning.

“The Inimicus are planning an ambush in an attempt to take my daughter hostage and break our alliance,” Chief Eustathios continued.

A dark chill settled on Marcella’s spine.

Because there was only one noteworthy thing about her…

“How may I serve our clan in this matter?” Her mouth formed the words even though she already knew what was coming next, distant and detached from the rest of her. Huh… it was a strange feeling—maybe that was how Hypatia felt with her own foreknowledge.

Like she was living her life in someone else’s body, just going through motions she could not change.

“My vision showed me they are successful,” Hypatia said, crossing her arms as a sly grin spread across her face. “Well, the Inimicus are successful in taking a woman wearing my bridal clothes, engagement lilies, and with hair like mine.”

If Hypatia had seen it in a vision, then it was done. It was the future. There was no changing it.

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