Chapter Six
Melody took a deep breath and slipped on her perfect bride mask: serene, graceful, unreadable. Her father offered his arm, and she took it, the weight of duty settling into her chest like lead.
The grand double doors loomed ahead, then slowly creaked open, revealing the immense hall beyond.
As they stepped inside, Melody's breath caught.
The hall was a cathedral of dark grandeur. Its vaulted ceiling soared into shadow, supported by columns of ancient timber that seemed to whisper. Rich, wood-paneled walls gleamed beneath chandeliers that shimmered like distant stars. The plush carpet beneath her shoes was soft as silk, muffling her footsteps as though swallowing them whole.
Eyes turned to her. Dozens of them.
Nobles in polished finery, councilmen and dignitaries draped in silks and furs, all watched the fae princess as though she were an exotic creature on display. Their gazes held curiosity, skepticism, and veiled judgment.
Melody kept her chin high, her smile perfectly measured. Inside, however, a familiar dread coiled tightly around her heart.
She was walking toward him.
Her gaze flickered to the end of the aisle.
Orionn.
He was more striking than any man she had ever seen. Tall and broad-shouldered, with raven-dark hair artfully tousled and eyes of gold that were piercing and unreadable. When their gazes met, a chill slid down her spine.
It wasn't fear.
It was something deeper. Something different.
When he reached out and took her hand, she almost pulled back.
His touch was ice. Not merely cold, but distant, emotionless, as though warmth had never existed in his world.
The ceremony began in the ancient wolf tongue. The priest's voice echoed through the hall, deep and rhythmic, chanting the Eterdel, the sacred binding rite of the wolves.
Melody repeated her vows, her voice a fragile thread in the heavy silence.
"With my blood, with my bone, with my flesh, with my spirit, and with my body."
The words clung to her lips like iron.
Then came the knife.
Without flinching, Orionn offered his arm. The blade slid beneath his wrist, then hers. Their blood dripped onto a blackened plate that looked as though it had witnessed centuries of vows.
As the blood touched the plate, it shimmered, then glowed.
Melody's breath caught as the glowing liquid lifted from the surface, floating and pulsing like a living thing. It returned to their wounds and vanished into their skin. The cuts sealed instantly.
Magic.
But this was not fae magic. It was wilder. Primal.
She did not ask questions. She knew better than to show fear.
The priest's voice rang out. "I now pronounce you husband and wife."
No kiss followed.
Melody nearly sighed in relief.
Perhaps in this kingdom, affection was a luxury, not a requirement.
She turned to her new husband, and once again his gaze locked onto hers.
His eyes were haunting, dark with streaks of gold, like the final glint of sunlight trapped in a stormy sky.
He saw her fear.
He could feel it.
The bond.
It had begun to stir, his senses attuning to hers, to her emotions. Yet he doubted she felt much from him. Orionn had buried his emotions long ago, sealed deep beneath the weight of his past.
Still, he sensed her fire.
She was trembling, yet her head remained high. There was steel beneath her silks. He had expected meekness. What stared back at him was defiance. Pride. Fire.
It intrigued him.
The priest stepped forward once more and announced, "Your Queen!"
The hall erupted in applause.
Orionn and Melody turned, walking side by side, bound now by blood and oath.
He felt her tremble, though her expression revealed nothing.
She was playing her role.
And that only made him want to unravel the girl behind the mask.
Who was this little fae princess, really?
He intended to find out.