Chapter 1
To put an end to the war, I petitioned to marry Alaric Thornchart–the King of the Wulfric tribes, once my childhood companion.
On the vast western plains, the wild–blooded Wolf King lost control and pinned me beneath him. For three days and nights, he ravaged me until I passed out from exhaustion.
I thought he loved me.
But it was he who later led a hundred thousand beast warriors and trampled Valebridge under iron hooves.
He seized my chin and forced me to watch–my father, the former king, torn apart by wolves, his head rolling across the bloodstained marble. My brother, the crown prince, was hacked from his horse, crushed into pulp beneath galloping steeds
Those savages stripped my mother bare, defiling her until blood soaked her legs and pooled beneath her….
Alaric laughed as he spoke, yet his eyes were cold and hollow.
“Seraphina Ravenshire, did you truly think your beauty alone could win
over?”
“Your royal family butchered my people–and you think sending yourself to me is enough to wipe that clean?”
Alaric unified the realms in the end and took a beloved queen.
As for me I was cast into the forsaken wing of the palace, nameless and titleless.
Every time I attempted to end my life, he unearthed a corpse from the royal tombs, burned it to ash before me- forcing me to live on
with the burden of my bloodline’s damnation.
“You are not allowed to die without my command
So I stopped resisting.
After all, the thing I let them put inside me–that cursed parasite born of blood spells–is set to kill me in three days.
On Queen Evelyne’s birthday, Alaric made an exception and allowed me to leave the forsaken wing.
Eyes rimmed red, I stared at the woman seated atop the high dais, her head adorned with the Silverwing Tiara
mother once wore.
“How dare this traitorous wench refuse to kneel before His Majesty and Her Grace!”
A harsh kick sent me crashing to my knees, my forehead striking stone. Numb, I bowed my head lower.
the very one my
Alaric didn’t permit me to rise. His expression remained unreadable. “Seraphina, you’ve arrived half an hour late. Are you deliberately showing disrespect to Queen Evelyne?”
“I deserve to die,” I replied, and bowed again.
I didn’t explain. From the forsaken wing, it took at least two hours on foot.
A glimmer of mockery danced across Alaric’s face. “You’ve learned to behave, I see.”
The last time I hadn’t, he’d locked me in a beast cage, drained me of nearly half my blood to feed the creatures.
When I neared death, he’d summoned every rare elixir across the realm just to keep me alive.
Come now, Seraphina. You were once a princess of noble birth. Even If your kingdom has fallen, must you truly carry yourself like a groveling slave?”
Evelyne helped me up, her tone syrupy–sweet, yet sharp enough to draw blood.
Her gaze fell upon the charm clasped around my wrist–her eyes gleamed with fascination.
Chapter 1
“How exquisite,” she purred, asking if she might have it as a birthday gift.
I glanced at Alaric. He stood silent, his face a mask of stone
That charm was his gift to me, years ago–a tribal heirloom crafted from carved fangstones, rare medicinal relics imbued with a subtle, eternal fragrance.
With prolonged wear, it was said to case pain, calm the spirit, and prolong life..
Frail since childhood, I’d cherished his words when he gave it to me, “May it keep you safe and well, always.“”
“Since Her Grace likes it, how could I possibly refuse?”
I unclasped the bracelet and placed it in her hand.
Turning away, I heard the faint clatter of a wine goblet toppling to the floor atop the dais.
Evelyne toyed with the talisman, a pleased smile on her lips.
“Oh, and didn’t you once claim to be the jewel of Valebridge’s court–and your dancing, they said, could bring kings to their knees. So why not dance for us now?”
Numbly, I endured the gleeful sneers cast my way by the revelers at the feast.
Among them were Wulfric warlords..
And traitors who’d thrown open our kingdom’s gates.
But I had no right to refuse.
A bowl of scalding broth was hurled at me, splashing across my skin. Flesh blistered and peeled.
What are you staring at, mongrel? A remnant of a fallen house still putting on airs? You should be grateful we let you live”
in didn’t register, I rose to my toes and began to dance–like a puppet on strings, a court jester for their amusement.
As if pain
The
e Wulfric tribesmen, brash and unrestrained, began cheering for more. They wanted me to strip.
Alaric’s eyes met mine across the hall–dark, indifferent, granting silent permission.
I bit my lip and loosened my sash
My gown clung to open wounds, tearing skin and flesh as I peeled it away
Piece by piece, I undressed in the very Grand Throne Hall that once held so many themories.
And the tears came.
Only when the feast finally ended was I allowed to stop.
Alaric, recking of wine, approached and brushed a cold fingertip against my tear–streaked cheek
His voice was colder still. “Seraphina, are you trying to win my pity with this pathetic display?” “I dare not.
But just then, the old illness stirred again.
I doubled over, coughing up blood before his eyes. My chest felt like it was being shredded from the inside.
Alaric recoiled with a grimace, the sneer deepening
“You’ve looked sickly for a decade. Still playing the same trick?”
I once believed he hated women from the South–detested my frailty, my softness.
Chapter 1
Yet these years, he’d shown Evelyne nothing but tender care.
When her brow creased the slightest, the royal physicians fell to their knees outside her door.
The cursed parasite inside me gnawed mercilessly. I trembled as cold sweat ran down my back.
Just before 1 passed out, I thought I saw a flash of panic in Alaric’s eyes.
He clenched his jaw and hissed, “You’re not dying that easily, Seraphina. You’ll live–and suffer as penance.”
But there’s not enough time… I’ll never be able to atone for it all.
in two days, I will be dead.
