EN/ LANA

nd that means, to hell with them both. We had to wait for a full moon before we could bind ourselves together. My parents, I wish they actually acted like one, arrived a day before. Jade prepped me to

like a bride,

ric sculpted to my frame. The bodice hugged my waist in grand, fashionable stiffness, pearl-laced and bone-tight, with long sleeves that tapered into dagged cuffs lined with silver thread. The skirt poured down in thick waves, sweeping be

my train like a warning, like a leash. My hair was braided back in tight coils, a few dark curls left loose by my cheeks, pinned with whit

n here, and tonigh

lves on gray silk, silent and watching. Nobles filled the long wooden benches in rows, whispering behind gloved hands, murmuring beneath lace fans. They all ca

obsidian fur, a circlet of blackened gold resting on his head, sharp and unshared. His eyes didn't find mine until he stood directly before me, and even then, they held nothing. It was so hard to tell what

Why can't I

is own wedding? I sighed and heard all the hushed whispers spat to kill my

any of us. Words from the old tongue fell like a curse, followed by the blade, the blood, the binding.

ed my finger. He didn't flinch w

his mark

one could tell if she couldn't wait to congratulate or murder me, but I already knew she was planning how nice I'd look in a coffin. I didn't have

a wife, not a queen, not a mate. Just a woman sewn into his dynas

ed to share something intimate only we could understand. I should've hated the proximity, but the old me was such a fool that I closed my eyes and relished it. All I ever wanted was

eneath my gown. Speaking would be a difficult exam to pass as a lump

actions affected me, but he masked it as fast as it appeared. Th

ould never see a woman cry

e

pocket. It was red, and the recognition of it did more

idery on it. 'Lana' is written

he still

thi

d." He coldly said as he dabbed my tears with it on his own. "You're

g, and you say I'm going to let people think I'm treating you badly?" I bitterly added. "Your actions

or now you two; you can save i

o break the awkward si

old while we walked out together, not into a happy en