Chapter 2
I knew Seraphina would try to drug me-so before I walked into her room, I downed the antidote.
Last time, she knocked me out cold and stuffed me in the wedding carriage… then ran off with that so-called scholar, Luke.
She met him at some countryside harvest fair-he was playing poet with a secondhand lute and a lot of borrowed charm.
One look, and she was head over heels.
Problem was, Luke was broke. Dirt poor.
So he promised her he’d pass the King’s civil exams, earn a title, and come back to marry her proper.
2
Then the royal decree came-Seraphina was to be posthumously wed to General Benedict, the war hero everyone thought had died on the frontlines.
Their dream crumbled. Luke’s solution?
Have me take Seraphina’s place and let the two of them elope to some “peaceful little village” far from the capital.
Seraphina thought Luke was her forever.
She had no idea he was a conman.
Not long after they slipped out of the city, Luke sold her off to a butcher in the countryside-as a concubine.
She thought her life was over.
Until word reached her that General Benedict was alive.
She escaped and dragged herself to his estate, sobbing and bruised. The General saw a fragile, innocent woman and believed every damn word she said.
And me?
They beat me to death.
I still remember the pain.
Not this time.
This time, I was getting the hell away from them.
Seraphina looked nervous. Her eyes flicked toward the incense burner.
The scent still hung in the air, but I wasn’t collapsing.
She fidgeted.
“Where do you think you’re going, Seraphina?”
“Today’s your big day, isn’t it? Your glorious wedding to the General?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot!”
I smiled sweetly, watching the panic rise in her face. Felt damn good.
But she wasn’t out of tricks.
“Luke!” she called.
Oh hell.
They were almost out of time-their little escape rendezvous was about to start.
Seraphina, I could handle.
She hadn’t eaten in three days and looked like she could barely stand.
But Luke-he was still a man.
He looked delicate enough, but I knew better.
So I ran.
Didn’t even make it to the gate before something cracked against the back of my skull.
A rock.
The world went black.
I’d underestimated them-again.
And just like that…. I was the bride.
