Chapter 14
“Is she ready?” Alaric’s voice echoed outside.
“Nearly, Commander!”
The women painted my lips crimson, piled my hair high. The reflection staring back-a stranger in red bridal silks-felt like a cruel jest.
“The hour is upon us! Bring forth the bride!”
Supported by attendants, I was paraded forward, my body slack as a marionette’s.
Alaric swept me into his arms, cradling me against his chest as he carried me toward the hall.
Candles gilded the room, their light dancing over the glaring all the red roses adorning the walls.
Once, this scene had haunted my dreams-Alaric descending like a god to claim me, to end two lifetimes of longing.
Yet now that it was here, it felt grotesque.
The decorations were haphazard, the hall eerily empty.
“What… are you doing?” I whispered.
“Marrying you.”
No hesitation.
“And the High Princess Seraphina?”
Not a flicker of remorse crossed his face at her mention.
Since when did he stop caring for her?
He set me before the church, have the maids and fathers guiding us through the ceremony-husband and wife, rich or
poor, till death tell us apart.
The silence was suffocating.
When he moved to embrace me, I found just enough strength to snarl:
“Alaric Thorne, is this your idea of a jest? I told you-we’re finished!”
His lips pressed into a bloodless line.
“I know I’ve hurt you,” he said hoarsely. “But on the battlefield, it was your face that kept me alive. When I crawled through corpses back to camp, it was the thought of seeing you again that dragged me home.”
I exhaled slowly. “I gave you every chance. You threw them away.”
His composure shattered.
Chapter 14
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“Is it because of him?”
At his signal, guards dragged in a bloodied figure, dumping it at my feet.
“HENRY!”
Alaric sneered at the broken youth. “Did he truly think he could steal you from me? That my guards wouldn’t gut him for
trying?”
Tears streaked my face as I took in Henry’s wounds-the gashes, the bruises. Still, he managed a weak smile.
“My lady… don’t… be afraid…”
Every drop of blood was a knife in my heart.
I turned to Alaric, my voice glacial:
“If he dies, I will follow him. Try me.”
