The Echopraxic Crown Princess

I was the famously sickly daughter of a great general. A cold breeze could make me cough blood. Unfortunately, I also had echopraxia, which made me compulsively imitative. Whatever I saw, I copied, and nobody could stop me. When I was three, one of my father's mistresses staged a hanging to win his attention. I thought it looked interesting, looped a sash around my own neck, and copied her. By the time a maid found me, my eyes had already rolled back. The physician forced three bowls of restorative down me through the night before he got me back. When I was five, my half sister threw herself on the floor screaming for candy. I copied her and stayed unconscious for seven whole days. My father even issued one iron rule throughout the Ashford estate: No crying. No tantrums. No dying in front of me. Then, at sixteen, an imperial decree married me to Crown Prince Adrian. Chapter 1 My mother held my hand, her eyes rimmed with red. "The Crown Prince has a childhood sweetheart who's been raised beside him since they were little," my mother had warned me. "Apparently she has some kind of panic disorder. She cries, faints, and collapses over the slightest thing. "Elara, whatever you do, don't copy her. Your body won't survive even one round of that nonsense." On my very first night in the Crown Palace, Adrian never came to my chambers. His delicate childhood sweetheart did. Lillian Vale stood outside my door with tears shimmering in her eyes. "Your Highness, please don't be angry. Adrian only stayed with me because my condition flared up. He didn't mean to neglect you on your wedding night..." Her lips trembled. "Maybe I should just die. Then I wouldn't come between you anymore." She pulled a silver hairpin from her hair and raised it toward her wrist. My eyes lit up before common sense could catch up. My hand shot toward the scissors on the table. I copied her motion and slashed across my own wrist. The entire Crown Palace erupted. "My Lady!" Nora, the maid who had come with me from home, threw herself at the bed. "Someone get the royal physician! Now!" She wrapped a handkerchief around my wrist. Blood soaked through immediately. She added a second layer. Then a third. It kept coming. I had been born weak, but the worst problem was my blood. It barely clotted. When I was eight, I copied my half sister climbing the ornamental stonework in the garden, slipped, and scraped a patch of skin no bigger than my thumbnail from my knee. I had been afraid Father would scold me, so I covered it with a bandage and said nothing. That night, Nora came in with a late supper, lifted my blanket, and found the entire bed red. The tiny scrape had bled for four hours without stopping. The family physician had rushed over before dawn and used every treatment he knew before the bleeding finally slowed. Father smashed a teacup when he saw me. The very next morning, he announced the rule that became famous throughout our estate: No crying. No tantrums. No dying in front of Elara. After that, the kitchen staff wouldn't even chop vegetables where I could see them. And now I had just opened the artery in my wrist. Nora's hands shook as she wrapped another cloth around it. The blood soaked through again. "Why is everyone standing there?" she screamed toward the doorway. "Get the physician! Her bleeding doesn't stop once it starts!" Lillian swayed. She staggered back against the doorframe and clutched her chest. "I'm... I'm scared..." Tears rolled down her face. "Why would Her Highness copy me? Does she hate me? Is she trying to make everyone think I forced her to do it?" She crouched down, hugging herself and gasping between sobs. "My panic disorder is starting again... My chest hurts... It hurts so much..." Bess, her maid, immediately rushed to her side. "Miss Lillian! Please don't frighten me!" The two of them blocked the doorway with their crying and shouting. Nora nearly lost her mind. "Move! I need to get the physician!" Bess glared at her. "Don't shove her! If Miss Lillian faints because of you, will you take responsibility?" Then she pointed at me. "Your mistress could bleed for ten days and still be fine. Miss Lillian actually faints!" Nora shook with rage. "She can bleed to death!" Bess gave a cold laugh. "She cut herself. Whose fault is that?" They began arguing in the doorway. Lillian's sobs grew louder. I leaned against the headboard and watched red spill steadily from my wrist. My head was getting heavy. So sleepy. Cold crept from my fingertips upward. People were talking somewhere nearby, but their voices seemed to come through deep water. My vision blurred red. I wanted to tell them to stop arguing. My lips wouldn't move. Just before consciousness disappeared completely, a sharp announcement rang from outside. "His Highness the Crown Prince!" Chapter 2 The doors flew open. Crown Prince Adrian strode in, undoing the clasp of his outer coat as he spoke. "The council ran late today. I know it's our wedding night, but I truly couldn't get away—" The sentence died in his throat. He stopped. The room reeked of blood. Nora knelt beside the bed with both hands stained red. Three soaked layers of cloth were pressed around my wrist. I was half-conscious against the pillows, my face nearly colorless. "What happened?" Adrian crossed the room in three strides and grabbed my wrist. "Why is there so much blood?" "Your Highness, call the royal physician!" Nora cried. "Her bleeding won't stop!" "Adrian!" Lillian's tearful voice came from behind him. She stumbled forward clutching her chest. "I'm so frightened..." Adrian turned, frowning. "Lillian? Why are you here?" She dropped to his feet and clutched the hem of his coat. "I only came to greet Her Highness. I wanted to explain that you were busy tonight and didn't mean to abandon her..." Her whole body trembled. "But when she saw me, she suddenly picked up the scissors. She said if she died, everyone would think I had driven her to it... She wanted everyone to blame me." Nora shot upright. "That's a lie! Miss Lillian came in here threatening to hurt herself first. My Lady only—" "Be quiet!" Bess snapped at her. "You're a servant. Who gave you the right to interrupt? Miss Lillian's panic disorder is already acting up. If she faints because of you, can you answer for it?" Nora stared at her in disbelief. "My Lady is bleeding! Do none of you have a conscience?" "She did it to herself." Bess sneered. "Do you really think His Highness will fall for such a cheap attention-seeking trick?" Adrian looked from my still-bleeding wrist to Lillian's tear-streaked face. For a moment, he seemed torn. Then Lillian looked up at him with tears caught on her lashes. "Adrian, everyone has always said Her Highness copies people. She's been doing it for years, hasn't she? And she's still alive." She sniffed. "But my panic disorder is real. Last month a stray cat startled me in the street and I fainted on the spot. I couldn't get out of bed for three days." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Her Highness copies things for fun. My condition could actually kill me." Adrian's brows drew tighter. He looked down at me, but there was no concern in his eyes now. Only judgment. "I've heard about this copycat habit of yours. You've been causing trouble with it since you were a child, and somehow you've survived every time." He released my wrist and stood. "Lillian's panic disorder is documented by the royal physicians. When it attacks, she truly loses consciousness." His voice turned cold. "And you cut yourself with scissors on your first night here. Was this supposed to be a warning to me?" Nora shook her head desperately. "Your Highness, no! Her blood really won't stop—" "Enough." He didn't look at me again. "Since today is your first day in the Crown Palace, I'll overlook this once." Then he bent and helped Lillian to her feet, gently wiping the tears from her cheek. "Come. I'll take you back. You've been frightened enough." Lillian leaned obediently into his arms as he led her away. Nora remained beside the bed, pressing both hands over my wrist and crying so hard she could barely breathe. "My Lady, why did you copy her? Your mother begged you not to... What am I supposed to tell your parents if something happens to you?" I wanted to comfort her. My lips moved. No sound came out. Then everything went black. Chapter 3 "She's not breathing!" Nora's scream tore across the courtyard. "Your Highness! My Lady isn't breathing! Please call the physician!" Adrian had just reached the courtyard gate. He stopped dead. "Get the physician. Now!" Within minutes, Royal Physician Alden Mercer, head of the imperial medical staff, came stumbling into my chambers with his robe barely fastened. The moment he saw me, his face changed. "Lady Elara Ashford?" He rushed to the bed, checked my breathing, then seized my wrist. "How long has she been bleeding?" "Almost... almost two hours," Nora sobbed. "Two hours?" Mercer swore under his breath and immediately began treatment. Without even turning around, he shouted at Adrian. "Your Highness, Lady Elara has a severe congenital clotting disorder! Why wasn't I called when she'd been bleeding for two hours? Another few minutes and you'd have had a corpse on this bed!" Adrian stood in the doorway with a deep frown. Lillian leaned against him. "Adrian," she whispered, "Her Highness has lived with this for years, hasn't she? I heard she's been copying people since she was a child. Nothing ever really happened before..." Adrian nodded slowly. "She's had this problem for more than a decade. I didn't realize it was this serious." Mercer's hands stopped. He looked up at the Crown Prince as though he could hardly believe what he'd heard. "Your Highness, have you ever wondered why His Majesty arranged a marriage between the heir to the throne and a famously sickly girl?" Adrian said nothing. Mercer returned to his work. "Because the best physicians in the entire Aurelian Empire serve here at the Crown Palace. "Lady Elara's condition can't be cured. Ordinary physicians can't manage it. There are perhaps three people in the empire capable of keeping her alive, and I'm one of them." He turned sharply. "His Majesty married her to you so this household could protect her, not so you could leave her here to bleed to death. "Before General Ashford left on campaign, His Majesty summoned me personally. His exact order was that if anything happened to Lady Elara under this roof, the entire imperial medical staff would answer for it." The room fell silent. For one brief moment, Lillian's expression slipped. Then her eyes filled again. "I didn't know she was that sick... I thought she was only playing when she copied me..." Adrian was quiet for a long time. "I understand." His tone finally softened when he glanced at me. "Physician Mercer, use whatever you need. From now on, the Crown Princess receives the highest medical allowance in the palace." Then he added, "And beginning today, Lillian and the Crown Princess are not to meet. Each household will remain in its own wing." Mercer worked until deep into the night, pouring two bowls of restorative into me, before he finally dragged me back from the edge of death. When I woke, morning light was already spilling through the windows. He was packing his medical case. Seeing my eyes open, he checked that no one else was nearby and lowered his voice. "Your Highness, General Ashford left something with me before he went to war. "He said that if your life was ever endangered inside the Crown Palace, I was to give it to you." He pulled a folded note from a hidden compartment and slipped it into my palm. Then he left. There was only one line on the paper. My girl, if anyone wrongs you, say the word. Your father's hundred thousand cavalry can flatten the Crown Palace whenever you want. The next few days were peaceful. I drank my medicine, slept, and watched the wound on my wrist slowly close. One afternoon, Nora entered carrying a bowl of tonic with a rare smile. "The physician says two more days and you'll be allowed out of bed." She tucked the blankets around me and sighed with relief. "At least the palace has finally been quiet. His Highness's order seems to have worked—" Bang. The door flew open before she finished. Lillian stood there smiling. Nora immediately stepped in front of me. "Miss Lillian! His Highness explicitly ordered—" Lillian tilted her head. "Adrian left for the military camp outside the city this morning." Her smile widened. "He won't be back for three days." Chapter 4 Lillian strolled to my bedside with a bright smile. "You've been trapped indoors for days. You must be bored. Why don't I take you for a walk?" Nora blocked her. "No." Lillian spread her hands and slowly turned in a circle. "Look. No hairpins. No knives. No scissors. I haven't brought anything dangerous." She pointed outside. "I only want to walk along the city wall and get some fresh air. There's nothing up there but stone. Nothing for Her Highness to copy." Her expression became sincere. "I really do want us to get along. We're going to be living in the same palace for a long time. We can't stay like this forever." Nora looked at me anxiously. "My Lady..." I studied Lillian. She had a point. No pillars, no blades. "Fine," I said. "We'll go. Nora comes with me." The wind was strong on the city wall. Autumn air snapped at my cloak and made me cough twice. Lillian walked beside me without crying for once, chatting as though we were friends. "Did you know Adrian and I grew up together? "I came to the Crown Palace when I was five. He was seven. He used to take me into the imperial gardens to catch butterflies." She glanced at me with a faintly smug smile. "When he was fourteen, he promised that once he was old enough, he'd ask His Majesty for permission to marry me as his Crown Princess." She sighed innocently. "Then His Majesty chose you. "You really are fortunate. The only daughter of General Ashford, born into one of the highest houses in the empire. I could never compare." I walked slowly with one hand against the stone wall. "His Majesty arranged the marriage. I never asked for it either." "I know." Lillian stepped closer. "So I don't blame you. I just think it's sad." Her voice softened. "Adrian loves me, but he's forced to keep another woman as his wife." Cold wind rushed through a gap in the battlements. I coughed again. Lillian reached over and kindly adjusted my cloak. "You're cold. Let's go that way. There's less wind near the edge." She took my hand and guided me several steps toward the outer wall. The drop was enormous. People below looked like insects. I instinctively stepped back. Lillian released my hand and walked to the parapet. Then she asked softly, "Do you think it would hurt if someone jumped from here?" Every muscle in my body locked. Nora lunged forward and seized my arm. Lillian turned. Tears had appeared on her face. Her lips trembled. "I'm so tired of living like this. Adrian loves me, but every day he has to stay beside someone else... "Maybe I should die. Then he'd be free. You wouldn't have to feel awkward either." She stepped backward until one heel hung over empty air. Her body swayed. "Don't stop me." My breath caught. She leaned back slightly. The wind caught her skirt and pulled it beyond the wall. My leg moved before I could stop it. One step toward the ledge. Half a step more and there would be nothing beneath me. Nora locked both arms around mine. "My Lady! That's a thirty-foot drop! You'll die!" I knew. I knew perfectly well. But my body was no longer listening. Lillian watched me struggle against Nora's grip. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but there was laughter in her voice. "Come closer. We can go together..." My foot moved again. Nora wrapped herself around my waist and screamed. "No! You can't jump!" The echopraxia had swallowed every shred of reason I had left. I was seconds from breaking free when a voice thundered from below. "Jump! Absolutely. Go ahead and jump!" Lillian froze. She turned toward the sound. The entire road below the wall had disappeared beneath a sea of black armor. A hundred thousand Ashford cavalrymen filled the avenue. My father sat at their head in dark battle armor. My mother stood at the base of the stairs in formal court dress, fury blazing in her eyes. She looked straight at Lillian and bit off every word. "You first."