A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows

“I believe that this union is going to save our kingdom. You and I are going to be the very thing our people have begged and prayed for. It doesn’t matter where you got that new mark as long as it fuels us to be the strongest king and queen that this court has ever seen.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him if he cared about what his brother had been doing to me. Did he care that I was betrothed to him but desperate for someone who should have been the most loyal in his court?

“What are we doing here, Gavril?”

The door pushed open behind me, and I quickly moved out of the way so it could open fully. I wanted to run before any of them could stop me, but I wasn’t able to do a thing as the queen walked into the room and the door closed silently behind her.

“Good. You haven’t begun yet.”

“Begun what?” I took another step backward toward the fire I felt desperate to get away from and looked between them. But I already knew the answer. I knew the moment I walked into this palace what they wanted from me, but I wasn’t ready for them to take it.

They couldn’t just take from me.

“Gavril, take her to the bed.” The queen nodded toward his massive bed that was centered in the room, and I jumped when Gavril reached out for me.

“Please don’t do this. I’m not ready for you to do this.”

There was no sympathy on his face as he grabbed my wrist in his hand and tugged me toward him. I tried to pull away, to fight against his hold, but it was no use.

He pulled me into his chest and wrapped an arm around my back. He lifted me against him as if I weighed nothing, my feet dangling above the floor, and a tear slid down my cheek as he moved us toward the bed.

“Please, Gavril.”

“Hush, Adara,” he commanded me. “This will be pleasurable for the both of us.”

I pushed against his chest as he led me to the bed, and when my gaze connected with the queen’s over his shoulder, I began kicking in an attempt to get away. Someone grabbed my arm, and I cried out as I looked behind me and found one of the guards now trying to hold me still.

“Put her in the chair,” Gavril commanded him, and he pushed me into the arms of the guard as he moved toward his bed.

I slammed my head back, connecting with the guard’s face, and he let out a curse before the other guard joined him in his hold on me. Their hands dug into my skin, the bite of pain fueling my fear, and even though I barely budged an inch, I didn’t stop fighting them as they forced me down into the chair and held me against it.

I watched as Gavril lifted a dagger into his hand and unsheathed it before him. He was going to use that dagger on me. He was going to pierce my skin against my will and take from me.

And I couldn’t just sit here and allow it to happen.

“You said that this wouldn’t happen until we were married.” I looked up at the queen as I kicked and tried my hardest to pull out of the guard’s hold. “You promised me.”

“I underestimated you, Starblessed.” The queen stepped closer to me, and I stilled with every inch she closed in on me. “That mark on your leg didn’t just appear. That is the result of magic. I’m not a fool.”

I clamped my mouth closed as I stared at her. There was no way that I would tell her the truth of what happened. I would never tell her that Evren was the cause of that beautiful scar on my skin.

“If you won’t tell us where that mark came from, then Gavril will taste it within your blood. We shall see how powerful you make my son before he is forever attached to a girl with nothing but lies on her tongue.”

Gavril came back into my view with the dagger held in front of him and determination in his gaze. Nothing I said was going to stop him.

“Gavril, please,” I begged a man who I knew didn’t really care about me, but he refused to meet my eyes.

“This will only hurt for a moment, Adara.” He dropped to his knees in front of me, and when I kicked out toward him, he pinned my knees in front of him, pressing his torso against my legs. “Hold her still.”

Both guards had a hold of my arms, pinning them down to the chair, and I didn’t stand a chance of getting away from them. I whimpered when I tried to struggle free again and didn’t budge an inch. I hated that I was showing so much weakness in front of Gavril and the queen, but I couldn’t stop the panic that was crawling over my skin. Even my mark burned against me as if in warning of what was to come. It knew this wasn’t right. This wasn’t what we wanted, but I had no choice. My blood was going to be drained from me despite my desires.

Gavril lifted his dagger, never once meeting my gaze, but I didn’t look away from him as he pressed the metal into my inner wrist, and pain sliced through my skin.

My blood pulled there, seeping through the cut on my arm and dripping down the side of my wrist and onto my pristine dress.

“I’m sorry, Starblessed.” Gavril dropped the dagger at his side before leaning forward and hovering his mouth over my wrist. I didn’t know what to expect, but I felt so violated as he stared down my blood with more admiration than he had ever given me.

“Please, Gavril,” I begged him again with fear coating my words. “Please don’t do this. Not tonight.”