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Power radiated off him like heat off the sun—more confusing for the fact that there wasn’t a single coudarian crystal on him. What did it mean that this man didn’t need to store power, or worry about accessing it quickly.
He towered over me, rising at least a foot taller, and as wide as two of me put together. I could run through him, and break my neck in the attempt.
But you must attempt. You have to do something,my inner voice cried, eyes darting around.Kirwan told the steward that your fictitious debt would pass to Meliora, forcing her to become a war wife in your place. Emiana will not take care of my family. It’ll look like I simply disappeared, and Meliora would be left to the horror I tried to save her from.
The officiant cleared his throat. A short, stooped man with thick, broken veins in his nose, and hands that shook too much. He somehow looked even more uncomfortable than me. “Let us begin,” he said, opening his tome. “One and all, we are gathered here in these hallowed halls to witness the joining of Princess Emiana Graycloud and Lord Alisdair Shadowsoul.”
Hands reached out and took mine, making me jump. I stiffened as Shadowsoul laced our fingers together. It was such a sudden, intimate gesture, I couldn’t hear for a full minute for the sudden roaring in my ears and blood rushing to my face.
“Meya, we ask your blessings for this union.” The officiant brushed an oil-covered thumb across my forehead, then made a gesture in Shadowsoul’s direction. He couldn’t summon the courage to touch him. “Princess Emiana, it is time,” he intoned. “Make your vows before the All Mother.
“Do you, Princess, vow to care, honor, and obey his Lord Shadowsoul?”
“I do not.”
“D-do— Excuse me?” He blinked at me, trembling harder. He wasn’t expecting that. “I said, do you, Princess, vow to care, honor, and obey his Lord Shadowsoul?”
“Not a chance in hell.”
He choked, whipping around to King Salman while cries and gasps filled the room.
I didn’t know Shadowsoul’s reaction. I couldn’t seem to lift my gaze higher than the firm, muscled chest barely concealed by his ceremonial wedding uniform.
“Continue,” Salman barked, striking fear that didn’t belong to me in my chest.
Emiana was afraid of her father. I hated that I would eventually know why.
“Do you, Lord Shadowsoul, vow to care, honor, and obey Her Eminence, Princess Emiana?”
“I do solemnly vow,” he said easily.
“Do you, Princess, vow to give your title, your love, and your life to the king of Wind and Wild and his people, forsaking your claim to successor of Lyrica with hope it will pass to your son and heir?” He leaned in. “Repeat after me. I do solemnly vow to give my title, love, and life to the king of Wind and Wild and his people.”
“I don’t vow any such thing,” I said, lifting my head and looking Shadowsoul straight in the eyes. “I’ll be keeping my title, my life, and my love, thank you very much. You can fuck off back where you came from.”
The officiant swayed on his feet. I thought he might faint.
“What is she doing?” my side of the ballroom cried.
“She’s going to ruin everything.”
“We were finally going to see an end to the war.”
Lamentations sounded behind me, but behind Shadowsoul, was nothing. The faeriken didn’t twitch, speak, or acknowledge in any way that something out of the ordinary was happening.They were as silent as their ruler—staring at me like I was an uninteresting bug that would soon enough be caught in his web.
“And—and do you, Lord Shadowsoul, solemnly vow to give your life and love to the princess of Lyrica?”
“I do solemnly vow.”
“Do you, Princess, vow to take this man as your lawfully wedded husband, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?” The loose-jowled, shaking old man turned on me with a hard set to his weak chin. “Princess, you will repeat after me: I do vow—”
I slapped the book of vows out of his hands, sending him flying after it with a cry. “I’ll take over from here,” I dropped. “I vow to be nothing but a nightmare, a festering sore, a gnawing ache, a splitting headache for the rest of ourshortunion.
“I vow to spend every day and night running from you—fighting to get back to my true home and freedom.” Visions of my family spun in my mind. “I vow that I will never love you, want you, or delight in a single peaceful, pleasant moment with you.
“I vow that I will make this enduring Thousand-Year War seem like child’s play,” I said, loud and clear. “Every day with me will be a battle to the end. I will gray your hairs, wrinkle your eyes, hunch your back, and grind away your will.
“I vow, Lord Shadowsoul, High King of Blood and Evil, to kill you.”
