Chapter 10 – A Grand Wedding
MARCIA’S PERSPECTIVE
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I hired a few servants to manage the estate while I focused on resuming my magical training. With Dravic’s quiet approval and Wizard Maxin’s cooperation, my lessons had resumed in secret. I was no longer the girl who bowed to rules written by men who feared what women like me could become.
The estate, once hollow and grieving, had begun to breathe again. So had I.
But not everything outside these walls was silent.
Whispers followed me wherever I went. In the markets, on letters, between guests. Some claimed I was bitter about Kael’s marriage. Others said I was plotting revenge. One rumour even accused me of dark magic and theft.
I knew exactly where these tales came from.
Eunice Hale hated the idea of me, and now that she had what she wanted, she still wasn’t satisfied.
But I didn’t rise to defend myself.
My energy was needed elsewhere—in the training grounds, in the infirmary, in the library where I searched through dusty records for anything that might explain why my entire family
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Chapter 10 – A Grand Wedding
had been wiped out like they never existed.
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I had sent a letter to Master Maxin the week prior, asking for help. Not just with my training—but with the truth. The real truth. The one no one dared to write down.
Clara found me one morning standing at the top of the stairs, staring out across the hills. She was carrying fresh sheets and looked hesitant to interrupt.
“My lady,” she said, voice gentler than usual. “You’ve been quiet lately. If it’s about Alpha Kael… I just want you to know we’re all on your side.”
I blinked, confused. “What?”
“The wedding,” she continued. “You’ve heard the rumours. That he insulted you. That General Hale’s been spreading lies about you. Some say she’s telling people you begged him to take you back.”
I stared at her, unblinking.
“I don’t care,” I said simply. “Let them talk.”
Clara’s
eyes widened, then she nodded and slipped away without
another word.
Later that day, a knock sounded on the study door.
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Chapter 10 – A Grand Wedding
“Come in.”
A messenger entered, head bowed. “A letter, milady. From Wizard Maxin. He said it was urgent.”
“Thank you,” I said, as he handed it to me and left.
I broke the seal and read the neat, slanted script:
Lady Marcia Xendale,
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While tracing the truth behind your family’s massacre, I found something far worse.
General Eunice Hale slaughtered villages in the border war—civilians, prisoners, all of them. No orders. No mercy.
I’ll keep digging.
–Maxin
As soon as I read the last word, the ink flew away, vanishing from the paper like it never existed.
The empty page crumpled in my hand, a tear sliding down my cheek.
It was all her. Everything that had happened was because of her,
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Chapter 10 – A Grand Wedding
KAEL’S PERSPECTIVE
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The drums beat low and steady, a soft melody playing in the background. Gold ribbons hung from the oak beams overhead, glinting in the lights. Banners from our allied packs hung in proud rows, each one a desperate reminder that I’d made this happen. That I still had power.
Through sheer stubbornness and pride, I’d borrowed every coin I could, traded favors I didn’t have, promised things I knew I couldn’t deliver. But I’d done it. I’d arranged a grand wedding for Eunice Hale—a wedding the kingdom would remember.
The crowd was full. Dignitaries from across the realm filled the seats. Even the King of Prim had made an appearance. And for one brief, shining moment, Silverlake gleamed with the illusion of success.
When the heavy doors opened and Eunice stepped in, victory tasted sweet. Her gown shimmered with gold thread, her crown catching the light like fire. Every noble’s head turned. Every soldier stood taller. My mother, seated near the front, even smiled faintly from behind her veil.
But then, behind her, the rest came.
Her entire warrior clan.
They didn’t dress for a wedding. They dressed for war. Armour,
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Chapter 10 – A Grand Wedding
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boots, blades and all. They shoved their way through the crowd, taking seats meant for royalty, laughing when others moved aside. One of them knocked over Alpha Dante and didn’t even apologise.
My eyes widened.
Tension filled the room, whispers starting once again. The same whispers I’d given everything to silence.
I looked at Eunice, shooting her a look.
She gave them a nod. Just a small tilt of her chin like she was doing me the biggest favour.
I clenched my jaw and forced the words of the ceremony past my lips. She smiled through it, but her gaze never locked with mine. Her eyes travelled everywhere around the hall, taking in the decoration, the heaps of people, the grandeur of it all.
I felt like a mere medal she’d won, like the spoils of war. Nothing else. Nothing more significant.
Before the vows even ended, half the nobles had left. Then the King of Prim rose from his seat, walking out of the event, without even caring to bless us like he’d done at my wedding with Marcia.
My face turned red with embarrassment, and yet, Eunice did not even notice.
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Chapter 10 – A Grand Wedding
Finally, I broke.
“I can’t,” I snapped, not caring who watched.
Everyone who mattered had already gone.
I stepped away from her, descending the altar.
“You promised me they’d behave,” I said, glaring up at her.
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Eunice’s face hardened, and she slowly stepped down, holding my gaze. “They’re warriors, Kael. They fight. They drink. What do you expect me to do? Yell at them like they’re children?”
“I expected basic respect, Eunice. For our house. For our guests. For me!”
She was unfazed, raising a brow. “And I expect gratitude. You are marrying a victor of war, not a blushing noble girl like your last mate. You wanted power? This is what it looks like.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, stepping closer to her. “You made a mockery of my name today.”
“No,” she said, raising her chin higher. “You mocked your name yourself when you let a weak girl like Marcia run your pack into
ruin.”
I clenched my jaw. “That weak girl handled everything all by
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herself, for a year. Unlike you, a supposed General, who couldn’t even control her dogs for a moment.”
Eunice’s eyes turned black, and before I could blink, her hand whipped across my face.
Gasps erupted around us. The hall fell deathly quiet. She yanked off her tiara and threw it at my feet before storming out, her warriors following close behind.
My mother, pale and shaking, tried to rise—but collapsed into her chair. I rushed to her side, shouting for help.
The physicians said her blood pressure had spiked from the stress. She slipped into a coma that night.
The guests had all gone. The decorations hung like ghosts above the now–empty hall.
Everyone had seen it. The nobles. The Alphas. The king.
I stared at the broken tiara on the ground and clenched my fists.
What would Marcia say?
Would she laugh?
Would she raise a glass to my downfall and say the universe had finally given me what I deserved?
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Chapter 10 – A Grand Wedding
Because maybe she’d be right.
Maybe I did deserve this.
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