Chapter 1

I was chosen to be the river god's bride this month.

The village chief, Harold Whitmore, arrived with a beaming smile, delivering my wedding dress and instructing Clara Jensen, my sister-in-law and former river wife, to prepare me in advance.

"Teach her how to serve the river god. We cannot have her anger him and bring disaster to the whole village."

Clara nodded silently, then carried a large chest into my room, saying she would return tonight to instruct me.

After Chief Whitmore left, my neighbor, Violet Marsh, climbed over the wall and slipped into my bedroom. We stared at the chest Clara had left behind, curiosity getting the better of us.

We opened it. Inside, we found it packed full of rods in various shapes, sizes, and materials. Long ones, short ones, thick ones, thin ones, even some covered in soft ridges. The collection was extensive, at least a dozen or more.

Violet and I had never seen anything like them. What were they for?

After comparing them to various parts of our bodies, Violet's face suddenly flushed crimson.

"You don't think they go... here, do you?"

Her gaze dropped to the area below my navel. Understanding dawned on me instantly.

Though I was already an adult, I remained naive about such matters, still innocent and uninformed. Curious, I picked one up and examined it in my hand. Apart from milky-white stains, it still retained a hint of warmth.

My face burned red too. I quickly returned it to the chest and changed the subject.

"Clara will teach me tonight. We shouldn't touch these."

Violet nodded, her attention shifting to the wedding dress nearby. Her eyes reddened, and tears began streaming down her cheeks.

"Aria, do you really have to marry him? The river wives this year died so horribly. If you go through with this, you'll never come back.

"Last month, when they pulled Luna's body out, they said everything below had been destroyed.

"Aria, I don't want you to die. Please..."

Her crying made my chest ache. My previously resigned acceptance began to waver. But what choice did I have?

"Violet, marrying the river god is the fate of every woman in our village. There's no escaping it."

Our village was called Riverbend, built along the water's edge. Legend said an ancient river god dwelled in its depths.

To ensure good weather and abundant harvests, every 15th of the month, the village selected a young woman, dressed her in red, and sent her into the river to consummate a union with the god. The village called this the offering.

In the past, river wives could return to shore after the wedding night and go on to remarry and bear children. But later, perhaps after the river god had been offended somehow, the women who married him could no longer return alive.

After each wedding ceremony, the river wife's corpse would mysteriously float to the surface the next day, her death particularly gruesome.

When they retrieved the bodies, I had secretly gone to watch a few times. Those women's corpses had been tortured beyond recognition, violated front and back, both passages torn open. Two dark, gaping holes of mangled flesh and blood, each as large as my fist.

I wondered what had been forced inside them.

I was lost in these memories when Violet suddenly pushed my shoulder.

"Aria, tell your mother to find another way. You absolutely cannot marry the river god. I heard that..."

Violet stopped mid-sentence, then suddenly reopened Clara's chest. She pulled out two rods roughly the thickness of a wrist and held them together. Her face turned scarlet as she whispered hesitantly.

"A few days ago, I overheard my mother talking with Morgan. They said the river god has... two of those things. No woman can withstand it. The rive god will go into a frenzy and lose control, and that's why so many women have died."

By the time she finished speaking, Violet's face was completely red.

I glanced at the two massive objects in her hands, my brow twitching violently. I was about to respond when Clara suddenly pushed open the door.

Seeing the open chest, her expression changed drastically. She strode forward and snapped it shut, her tone icy.

"Aria, it's time. I'll teach you the rules for serving the river god."