About this story
Your veil lies unfinished on her table when a shout in the courtyard stops halfway: an iron helmet taller than an armoured man stands where Conrad was expected, and two grooms cannot shift it a finger's breadth. Six chapters follow it to a prisoner beneath it, a portrait that sighs, a passage under the castle, and a sword that takes a hundred men to carry.
Who you’ll meet
Matilda, the prince's daughter, at the gallery rail above the courtyard where her brother's wedding stopped — with her mother Hippolita reaching for a support below and the one serving man who saw it pointing at the sky; the family the bride is marrying into, on the morning it ends.
How it opens
MatildaThe bells have crossed every roof in Otranto this morning.
From Matilda's window, wedding cloths made the inner court blaze with color.
MatildaMy friend, has my brother finally put on his ceremonial coat?
Your bridal veil waited unfinished beside the ribbons on her table.
Choose
Conrad has not left his chamber.
The household says the hour is unlucky.
Prince Manfred has sent for him twice.