Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 46803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
There is a collective gasp as my father and I appear at the end of the aisle. It’s the sound of people who are obligated to be impressed. We’re all pretending they think I am beautiful, but there is no beauty like that of my father. They stare at him as if he is the sun himself.
My husband to be is up at the altar. I should have some kind of opinion on him, but I don’t. I’ve never even bothered to learn his name. It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter. This marriage does not matter. I have no intention of honoring these vows if I am forced to make them. I already know that I will run again, and that I will likely die in the escape attempt. I’ve accepted that there’s no place for me on this world. There was a place for me somewhere once, but Rex ensured that no longer exists. As soon as I am married, my worth as a pawn will be expended and I will be free to return to the dirt from which I came.
My solemn expression only seems to please the onlookers. I hear whispered comments as to how composed and exquisite I am. I know that all brides for the foreseeable future will be walking down the aisle looking utterly miserable. Pale pallor and downcast eyes are going to be so very fashionable.
I take step after step. Each and every one of them seems more wrong than the one before. How am I able to do this? Why are my feet prepared to move? It feels as though my body should refuse to take any action that brings me closer to this forced marriage.
The closer I get to the altar, the more I take in unwanted details, like the groom’s guard. They would usually be his best men, but my father is leaving nothing to chance, and I see that Commander Rex is actually up at the altar, grinning broadly as if this triumph is his triumph. ‘
The sick thing is, both my father by my side and Commander Rex up at the altar, firmly believe that this is the best thing for me. They are giving me to a man, so that I might live my life as a woman. There is nothing in this banal yet overdone horror that strikes them as wrong. Of all the attendees, I am the only one struck with a sickness deep in my belly. I am surrounded by many hundreds, and watched by thousands more, and yet I am alone in my despair.
We are almost at the altar. I am on the precipice of being legally and spiritually bound to another man…
BA-BOOM!
The sound of the cathedral doors exploding is immense. It is like the hand of God herself made a fist and punched through, splintering ancient, carved wood as if it were made of nothing but cheap matchsticks.
It is followed by frankly refined tones.
“My apologies.”
I turn around and, scales gleaming in the light of a post-apocalyptic day, is Kahn.
Everybody should be screaming, but they’re not. They’re just stunned, wondering if this is part of the plan. My father does like to put on a show. Perhaps they think this is just a little dramatic twist.
“I’m here for my mate,” Kahn says, striding down the aisle as if he has every right to be here. “I would have come earlier, but I was… tied up.”
Seeing Kahn standing in the middle of all my father’s guests is an incredible sight. He is dressed for the occasion, or at least, he is dressed for battle in the shiniest of armor. It gives him a slightly formal but very regal appearance. Kahn has always been gorgeous, but he has never looked as handsome as he does in this moment.
There is a scar on his face, a nasty gash that runs from his hairline to his left brow in a rough slice which has mangled several of his scales and even those that remain somewhat intact have not knit back with their neighbors as they once were. His hair is braided in a thick plait back from the center of his head, the back left loose and falling to his shoulders.
He looks so fucking hot, and more importantly, so very fucking alive.
I thought I would never see him again. I thought I’d never again feel the way I currently feel, filled with hope and joy. The collar is pulsing rapidly, but my own physical reaction to seeing Kahn in the flesh, now striding down the aisle after me, for me, to claim me is so strong I can barely tell what is the collar and what is me. I let out little gasps of excitement and glee while my very soul is suffused in a kind of relief so potent I am sure I will never feel pain again.