Father slams the doors closed behind us, and spins back to face me. “What are you doing?” he demands.
I lift my chin. “Speaking my mind.”
“You are sabotaging this,” he warns. “Every single one of them.”
“Good.” The word comes out harsher than I intend, but I don’t take it back. It’s easier to be the stubborn princess who mocks her suitors than to admit I’m afraid of what happens if I don’t… of losing my freedom.
His jaw tightens. “Vivienne, youknowyou must marry.”
“You say that as if it’s fact.”
“Because it is,” he replies exasperatedly. “Because of the Goblin bargain.”
I flinch, despite myself, even as I scramble for an excuse. “Father, you don’t know for certain the terms of the bargain still hold. What if it’s wrong?”
“It isn’t,” he says sharply. “And you know it isn’t.”
Silence stretches between us.
He exhales, dragging a hand through his hair. “Do you think I enjoy this? Do you think I enjoy parading you before men who see only your dowry and the protection it offers them?” He shakes his head. “I am trying to give youchoices, and you are burning them to the ground.”
“Because none of them wantme,” I counter. “They want what I come with.”
“You don't know that. Many of them are decent men. The Stag Shifter, Prince Theron, was a good one, but you refused to even consider him.” He sighs heavily. “Sometimes I wonder if the Goblins used their magic to give you that stubborn streak… if they thought it would benefit them should you turn away every suitor, so you’d still be unmarried when the bargain comes due.”
He scrubs a hand roughly across his face. “But in truth, I have only myself to blame. After your mother died, I indulged your every whim because I wanted you happy, even though I was warned it would only spoil you.” He gives me a pointed look. “Which it did. And rather thoroughly, I might add.”
“I’m not spoiled,” I counter, and one of Father’s guards snorts, but quickly covers it with a cough. I narrow my eyes at him before turning my attention back to my father. “Is it wrong to want a marriage on my own terms?”
“It is if you’re being unreasonable,” Father counters. “When you know the alternative is marriage to the Goblin King himself.”
My jaw tightens. Even though my mind insists he’s right, my heart stubbornly refuses to listen.
CHAPTER 2
AUREN
Iwasn’t supposed to be here for this.
The perfumed air of the ballroom clings to my throat, heavy with the scent of flowers, spiced wine, and expectation. Candlelight flickers from the great chandelier overhead, casting long shadows across marble columns and richly woven banners.
I came to speak with the king about trade agreements, not to stand among a crowd of overdressed peacocks preening for a princess’s hand.
As King of the Dark Elves, I could have sent one of my advisors to handle this, but I prefer to oversee such important matters myself.
And now that I’m here, I can’t seem to look away from Princess Vivienne.
She’s draped in silk the same shade as her luminous green eyes. Her red hair is braided and swept over one shoulder, threaded with pearls and emeralds that catch the light each time she moves.
I’ve heard of her before. Rumors, mostly. That she was spoiled, impossible to please. That her beauty was outmatched only by her arrogance. That no man would ever be enough.
Instead, I find razor-edged wit, wielded like a weapon. She is utterly ruining every man who dares approach her.
My lips twitch.Gods, she’s relentless.
Across the ballroom, a High Elf prince stiffens, his golden brows twitching as the princess dismisses him with a wave of her delicate hand.
A muffled laugh catches in my throat.
