CHAPTER ONE
The throne room was uncomfortably quiet, except for the faint sound of my own breath on the stone tiles. My father, King Malik, was tall in his golden armor, his broad shoulders squared under the heavy weight of his crown. Time had turned him hard. The once gentle ruler who had taught me to ride horses, who'd helped me decipher star charts, had become a stranger. His dark hair, now laced with gray, his face etched into a mask of chill determination. His eyes, bright and calculating, revealed nothing of the man who used to sing me lullabies at night.
I held myself poised, but felt like I could throw up. I had inherited none of my father's determination or my mother's fiery temper. Instead, I looked softer, more fragile in my appearance. My long chestnut hair framed a face too soft for the crown I'd been born to wear. My round cheeks, full lips, and a sprinkle of freckles across my nose was a souvenir from childhood days in the sun.
But my eyes... they were hers.
My family's portrait loomed above the throne, my mother's emerald gaze--so much like my own--bearing down as if begging me to turn and run. My mother had been the last sorceress of my bloodline. I hadn't known until I heard about what had happened. Her death was steeped in secrets I'd never been permitted to unravel. Secrets my father had buried with her.
At the moment my eyes met my father's, he looked at me with such unyielding disappointment. My father had treated my potential as nothing more than an instrument designed to strengthen his position as king. Today, I stood as nothing more than a political piece to secure an alliance which would protect his power.
"Lilah," my father said, his voice cold and commanding, "you will do your duty for the kingdom."
I flinched as if the words were a knife, penetrating my very skin. For years I'd been groomed to rule. My intellect and ambition all honed to that singular purpose. But now, my life was no longer my own. It was the property of a marriage I had no control over, and to a man I'd never have chosen.
My gaze flicked towards the man who stood next to my father. My stomach twisted violently as our eyes connected.
Lord Kage.
His notorious reputation was enough to frighten even the most courageous individuals. Tales in the taverns and markets had said he sold his soul to demons in exchange for power. Some accused him of carrying out prohibited magical practices that used blood and shadows to alter his surroundings. Servants swore his lands were cursed, that whole villages had disappeared by his order. If you asked me, the most terrifying story was about his first wife--a woman who died screaming, whose body was never found and whose blood was smeared on the stones of his fortress. The only certainty about Kage was that he was a man who could not be easily understood. He was as much a mystery as he was a threat.
The air around Kage seemed calm as he stood with his back straight and his hands behind him, exuding an aura of confidence. His jet-black hair was pulled back, although strands had escaped to frame his face. He had sharp cheekbones, a blade of a jaw, and steely gray eyes. His cape, as dark as the midnight sky, was emblazoned with a silver sigil of a crow, wings outstretched as though to swallow the light.
But it was the scar that drew my attention. It was a jagged line creeping up above his collar, twitching softly with an unnatural darkness to it.
My father's voice was steady as he continued. "This marriage is going to protect our people. Kage's alliances are how we will protect our borders, and his power is what will let us survive through what is coming."
"Survive?" The word tore from me. "You've been spending years trying to silence me. Now you want to sell me to a stranger to clean up your mess?"
King Malik's jaw tightened. For a split second, his stony mask cracked and I saw the ghost of the man who held me whenever I had nightmares as a child. "This isn't only about alliances, Lilah. It is about your survival too."
I recoiled. "What is that supposed to--"
"Enough." His voice snapped like a whip. "You will marry him...without protest."
Kage came forward then, swallowing the few feet that stood between us. His proximity was so immediate that I could see a flicker of shadows in his eyes and smell the bitter scent of smoke and iron clinging to him. His scar pulsed as he spoke. "You misunderstand, my lady. I'm not here to be your enemy."
"Then what are you here for?" I hissed. "To bury me? To contribute my bones or my blood to your collection?"
His eyes dropped to the floor for a heartbeat before meeting my gaze again. "To do what's needed for both of us."
I laughed, the sound brittle. "Trust is a luxury I refuse to squander on a man who participates in black magic."
"And nor should you," he said quietly. "But you will learn the difference between lies and survival."
Before I could snap back, my father's voice pierced the air. "The wedding will be in two days. Until then, you are under the protection of Lord Kage."
"Protection?" I spat. "Or imprisonment?"
Kage's eyes narrowed. "You have my word. No harm will come to you."
"Your word?" I turned, laughing and began marching toward the door, my pulse singing in my ears.
I hadn't even taken three steps before my father's voice echoed against the stone walls. "There is one more thing, Lilah. The Bloodbinding."
I froze. The Bloodbinding--an ancient practice that Kage's people must perform to seal political marriages. I'd read about it first in my mother's journals, which I had found a few years back when snooping in her room. It required a mingling of blood, and in some interpretations, much more.
"No," I said, spinning to look at him. "That practice is--"
"Nonnegotiable," my father cut in. "It guarantees that the alliance can't be broken. Lord Kage's men will prepare the chamber." With a dismissing wave of his hand, two men standing at the back of the room pushed back the bright red and gold tapestry and disappeared behind it.
Kage approached, his voice low, and a hint of a smirk tugging at his lips. "It does not need to be consummated, Princess. But I won't be surprised if you end up begging me for it."
My skin prickled at his words. I turned and marched toward the throne room doors again, but two guards in black armor stepped in my way. Visors marked with Kage's crow sigil obscured their faces, and their silence was more terrifying than any threat I've encountered so far.
"Let me through," I said, my voice icy.
They didn't move.
Kage's voice sliced through the tension behind me. "The Bloodbinding cannot be delayed, Princess. Your father's orders." His eyes darted toward the portrait of my family above the throne. "The king himself signed the decree. The guards are only here to make certain you... comply."
The threat hung in the air, pulling my mind back to my earlier thoughts. This was far more terrifying than the guard's unsettling silence.
Unfortunately, I had no weapons, no allies, only the pendant beneath my gown to keep me company. I sighed in defeat and proceeded to follow Kage to the back of the throne room.
The guards bracketed me as Kage guided us down a narrow staircase behind the tapestry that I saw the others disappear behind. The air grew colder with every step, torches lined the wall as we descended. The further we descended, I observed that parts of the walls that were once smooth, now crumbled and cracked, stained with age.
"Where are you taking me?" I hissed, my voice echoing off the low ceiling.
Kage didn't bother to turn or to answer me.
The steps spiraled further down, the darkness closing in, even the torchlight appeared smothered. I fumbled over the uneven steps, and Kage's hand reached for me to steady myself. His grip was strong and his skin hot against mine. I flinched away, but not before catching the scar on his wrist, the same as the one on his neck. It seemed to glow slightly in the darkness.
"Why does it glow?" I asked, unable to suppress my curiosity.
He flexed his hand, the scar pulsing with a faint light. "A reminder of choices I made."
Before I could press him on it, we reached a heavy iron door at the bottom of the stairs, flanked by the two men I saw earlier in the throne room. Kage pressed his hand to it and murmured phrases in a language that I couldn't understand. The door creaked open to a temple-sized chamber within.
Flame-flickering braziers threw jagged light across rune-etched walls. The runes seemed to writhe like snakes whenever the flames changed position. The center was dominated by a stone altar, draped in black silk and scattered with pillows. The air vibrated with a low magical energy, enough to make my teeth ache.
I froze in the doorway. "What is this place?"
