Mag-log inRavena's POV
For a moment Vivienne could only stare at her.
He
Ravena's POV "There is one more thing, Your Grace," I said pleasantly.Marianne's smile held, but I saw it cost her something now. "Oh?""The wager." I tilted my head, all innocence. "Lady Vivienne tells me the two of you made a proper bet on it. Ten thousand gold, was it not, on whether the new bride would give up her dowry. Well, I gave it up without a grumble, so by the terms Lady Vivienne set, she has w
Ravena's POV For a moment Vivienne could only stare at her.Her mouth opened and closed. And the colour came and went in her face."This," she said at last, and her voice cracked. "This was your idea. You arranged it with me. We sat in this very room and you proposed the wager, you said the words, you set the terms. How can you sit there now and twist it around like this? How can you lie to my face?"
Ravena's POV The Grand Princess's pack was behind a tall pale wall with iron gates, and the two guards at those gates didn't move to open them when our carriage stopped.One of them came to the window instead, polite and stone-faced."Forgive me, my lady. The Grand Princess is not at home. She has gone out on business."
Ravena's POV The King's banquet went on for hours, the way royal meals do, course after course, and it was past midday before Evander and I were free to call for our carriage and go home.We were on the steps when Orren found us again.I was beginning to dread the sight of that man. He had the same paper roll in his hand and the same look on his face. He drew Evander aside by the elbow and spoke low, and I
Ravena's POV His eyes had closed on the words, and for a moment I thought he had gone to sleep right there on the long seat with his head tipped against the post of the bed."They were yours," he had said. "I wanted them to like me." And then nothing, just the slow heavy breathing of a man the drink had finally caught up with.I knelt in front of him a while longer with the cloth gone cold in my hand, looki
Ravena's POV By the time the moon was high, I had a cup in my hand that someone kept filling when I wasn't looking.I don't drink much as a rule. But this was my wedding, and my own people were here, and every time I set the cup down some laughing cousin of Evander's or some old Alpha with a red face would lift his own and call out a blessing on the new Luna, and there was no setting it down after that. You drink to a blessing.
Ravena's POVThe moment I stepped through the doors of my home, I felt the weight of the day crash down on me. My shoulders sagged, my head throbbed, and every muscle in my body screamed for rest.I climbed the stairs slowly, each step feeling like an effort. All I wan
Ravena's POVQueen Seraphine leaned forward slightly, her expression gentle but serious. "Marriage, Ravena. It is time to think about marriage."My heart immediately sank and everything inside me went cold."Marriage?""Yes, you are at the perfect age. Yo
Evander's POVAlaric stared at me, his jaw clenched so tightly I thought it might crack.I approached him slowly, reached out and took the broken glass from his bleeding hand. He let me, though his body remained tense.After setting the shattered pieces aside, I
"Because... because what you are suggesting is wrong," I said, my voice shaking. "She deserves... you are going too far."Alaric leaned back in his chair, a mocking smile playing at his lips. "Am I? Or am I just speaking a truth you did not want to hear?""This isn't a







