All Chapters of The Bride Wore Blood: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Lana Air won't reach my lungs. My heart hammers an erratic rhythm against my ribs, aching. On the other side of the doors, the Nobility of Illure wait to watch me marry a monster. ‘You should be excited, Lana!’ My mother squeezes my fingers as I bend double, gasping. ‘I'm not going to do it.’ I fight to keep my voice even, but the world is tilting. ‘I can't marry Thade.’ ‘Lana!’ My father's voice is a whiplash. He doesn't shout, but the threat is clear. Beyond the carved entrance, the quartet plays on, oblivious to the rebellion brewing in the shadows. It's just us: my parents, my ally Rune, and my impending doom. ‘He's not the man you think he is!’ I protest, straightening as panic threatens to drown me. I thought I'd have time to run, but my parents have kept me under guard since we left home to travel here. I look at Rune, but her eyes are full of apology. There is no escape. ‘He is the King,’ my father stares at me, his gaze cold. I clench my hands, the distance between u

Coy? I don’t think I’ve ever played coy, I wouldn’t even know what it is. I feel all the air trapped in my lungs, like there isn’t enough space for it. They’re burning but I can’t think beyond the sense of his face so close to mine. The overwhelming awareness of the heat from his bare body and his closeness as he nudges my cheek with his nose and exhales. There’s something strange happening with the light behind me and the way it’s making his skin look magical. As though he’s painted in silver with flashes of blue swirls. I step back, panic warring against endless desire. I struggle to speak, to tell him to stop. I shuffle back, and feel the door pressing against the soaked fabric of my dress. I’ve never felt this way before, I don’t get close to people. I don’t let them get close to me. As the daughter of a duke, the consequences of being found with a man would be dire. But all the ways that this is wrong and needs to stop, slip away when finally, achingly his lips brush my cheek.

Neither of us can look away as the cord begins to slip. She’s holding her breath and I pause, bending to steal it from her with another kiss. I bend to meet her mouth with my own, only to pause. There’s shouting outside the door. I draw back, glancing down at Lana. She’s frowning, confused as she watches me. Wondering why I’ve pulled back. There’s another muffled from outside in the courtyard, over the torrential rain it’s hard to make out the exact words, but the name Lana is undeniable. I watch her face, and the moment that recognition overtakes her desire. Her eyes widen and she flushes, spinning suddenly into the door. So close to the panels that she seems to bounce off it. She’s scrambling for the look like a captive promise freedom and all my unspent passion fades as quickly as it came. I put a hand on her shoulder and she jumps, startled as she looks back at me, unable to meet my eyes. Whatever magic spell was holding us, it’s broken now. ‘Take a moment,’ I warn her, my

Two Years Ago - Lana’s POV It takes all of my will to move forward, stepping away from the man. My cheeks are flushed and I lift my hands, wrapping my arms across my chest. ‘Sir,’ I force a smile, but my heart feels as though it’s in my soggy boots. ‘Miss Lana,’ he pauses where he is before dropping his hands to his sides, ‘my apologies, I hadn’t meant to intrude so easily on your personal space,’ he flexes his fingers, as though resisting the urge to reach out towards me again. But thankfully he keeps his distance. He looks around before taking action. He crosses the room, opening a pair of low cupboard doors under the bed. ‘It’s uh…’ I swallow and glance at the door. The door he so ominously locked. ‘I wanted that chance to speak with you,’ he admits as he peers into the darkness, standing up a few minutes later with a pile of blankets balanced on his arm, a candle held in his other hand. He approaches, cautious. As though afraid I’m going to run. I might. Aside from t

Thade’s POV She left with all the warmth in the room. Taking all my sense with her. I don’t often stay at the barracks, but after a miserable journey back from the border of Boren I gave in to my companions request to stay somewhere with a roof. Somewhere we could shut out the world for a few hours, and ignore the signs of sickness spreading through the countryside. I had been sitting in the light of a candle, trying to piece together what I knew about the country and the King that I served. Trying to find an answer I could present to him when the seasons changed, and finding no easy answer. Lana…she burst through my door like a shower of light, all wide eyed and innocent and I could kick myself for imagining she was anything other than who she appeared to be. But she’s not a soldier for the Crown, so there are questions left unanswered. I stood, rooted to the spot where she left me with her friend and vanished into the damp darkness beyond. I want some answers, I want to know mo