Fucking precious moans.
Damn the trade. I’ll find another way to rescue my sister. Tomorrow I’m marrying Dahlia, even if Elheart storms into my castle himself desperate for his princess back. The offer is no longer on the table.
Deep down, I don’t think it ever really was.
After her noises quieten, I roll onto my side, gathering her against my chest.
“I still haven’t forgiven you,” she rasps.
“I know.” I smirk. “But you’ll think about it.” That’s good enough for me.
She will forgive me eventually. Our wedding tomorrow will be so perfect, she’ll have to.
We lie in silence as her breathing slows. I glance down at her sleeping form. Heavy lashes rest on her soft cheeks.
“You’ve been mine since you kissed me at the ball, little monster,” I breathe, careful not to wake her. “And I’ll always be yours, whether you forgive me or not.”
18
DAHLIA
Tauren doesn’t leave my side for the rest of the night. When we arrive at his tower, he watches me eat, then looms like a shadow in the corner of his bedchamber while servants prepare me for bed.
The moment I slip between the sheets, I hear his clothes hit the floor and feel the bed dipping behind me. Pulling me against his chest, he drapes his leg over my thighs.
All week I’ve known I cannot marry Tauren, and yet every time I found myself alone with Claren, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for help.
I know he’d remove my collar. He’s been so kind to me – even more so after what happened in the throne room. But if he helps me escape and Tauren finds out…
I shiver thinking about the way he launched Lady Urma across the throne room. Would he hurt Claren too? His little brother?
I can’t risk it.
For hours I lie there, listening to Tauren’s slow breaths.
Until a soft hand taps me on the shoulder and I wake with a gasp.
“Forgive me, Princess.” A young demon girl stands by the bed, her hands clasped in front of her servant’s gown.
Sitting up, I glance around the room. Tauren is gone. The only sign he was ever here are crumpled bedsheets, along with his lingering smell of crackling fires.
“He’s preparing for the wedding ceremony,” she says before I can ask. “He requested we come and prepare you too. I’ve prepared a bath for you to wash in, and your wedding gown has just been delivered.” Starlight from the window makes her eyes glitter. “Do you have any preferences for your hair? Or for your make-up?”
I almost tell her I wouldpreferanother hour in bed, but then I stop myself.
While Tauren was sleeping, I came up with a plan – a way to make him feel as humiliated as I did in his throne room last week. And if I use enough mud, he might even beg for me to leave him.
Who’d want to marry a monster, after all?
“Oh yes.” I grin wickedly. “I have many preferences…”
Hours later, I’m hiking up the puffy skirts of my wedding gown as several guards follow me down a steep hill to the nearest pond. I told the servants not to bother with anything special for my make-up, but they painted my lips crimson anyway. My hair had been styled in luscious curls and finished with a silver tiara, despite my constant protests.
It’s a shame, really. They shouldn’t have bothered.
It’ll all come off in the water.
“Princess Dahlia, are you sure this is necessary?” my servant panics. She’s trying her best to keep my skirt off the ground, but it’s too heavy for her, and I’m walking way too fast.
