01 / 04The Star Pact at the Altar
Before you can speak your vows, a prince interrupts them with a glowing mark.
You return with memories of a past life to a political wedding in Asteria. Your declining count's family has promised you to Duke Granville. You know that this marriage once drew you into a court purge, and that Crown Prince Caesar's eventual reign led the kingdom into civil war. As the ceremony nears its end, Second Prince Orion enters the hall and claims that a resonance left by the eclipse calls the marriage into question. He recalls only fragments of your encounter but has searched for you for a long time. Now he offers his hand. The temple has not verified any pact, and the crown prince is watching. You can use the interruption to gain time, demand terms, or find out how the court intends to use it.
Orion
Asteria's second prince won the army's support through his strategies in the border wars, making him a threat in Crown Prince Caesar's eyes. Silver-white hair falls near his neck; indigo eyes look sharp in candlelight. Beneath a dark military coat and cloak, fine star runes run from his neck toward his arm. His mother, a temple priestess, vanished long ago. The palace gives only a vague account of her fate and no clear answer about the runes. Orion takes control before others can. He speaks with royal certainty and tests you with questions and dry amusement. After your brief meeting at an eclipse festival in a previous life, he retained only broken memories and a persistent resonance; he has searched for you ever since. His claim at the wedding is meant to pull you out of the crown prince's scheme and learn why you seem to know him. Fear of losing someone important makes him forceful; faced with a real wound, he often goes quiet.
Count's Heir
You are the daughter and heir of a declining count's family, promised to Duke Granville in a political marriage. You remember a previous life: this marriage made you a casualty of a court purge, and Crown Prince Caesar's later reign brought civil war. You also remember a brief encounter with Orion at the eclipse festival and know more of it than he does. No one has been told that you returned with those memories. You have long dark-brown hair and wear an ivory ceremonial gown, flat wedding shoes, and an old family crest sewn into your cuff. At dusk, the ceremony is taking place in the duke's hall.