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Todos os capítulos de What the Bride Became: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 9

9 Capítulos

Chapter 1

From the time I was six until I was sixteen, I thought about escaping my bond of servitude every single day.So when Celeste told me to marry in her place, it didn't sink in at first.Crash.The teacup shattered beside my knees, and scalding tea splashed over my leg.I didn't dodge.If I dodged, the next slap would land across my face."You wretched girl, are you deaf?"Celeste sat up from her couch, her nails painted a bright red, and pointed at my face as she cursed."The royal physicians all say Lord Blackwell won't live past seven days! And you want me to marry over there and be buried at his side?"I lowered my head and stared at the broken shards on the floor.Lord Blackwell.Rowan Blackwell, the regent.He'd gone to war at fifteen and been made regent at twenty.This time he'd been ambushed and struck by a poisoned arrow.By the time he was carried home, there was only one breath left in him. Even the physicians shook their heads after examining him.I reminded he

Chapter 2

Including this time.They said Rowan wouldn't die.They said I'd be freed from my bond.The next day, House Langley sent me out through the back gate in a small covered carriage.The regent's manor had hung only a few strips of red silk, sparse and forlorn, fluttering whenever the wind blew.The groom was too near death to stand at his own wedding, so I spoke my vows alone, a sword laid across the bed in his place. Then I was led to the bridal chamber.My husband in name, Rowan Blackwell, lay on the wedding bed not far away.His face was white as paper, his lips tinged blue.The old housekeeper beside me hesitated. "Your Grace, you..."I said, "I'll keep watch. The rest of you may go."The old housekeeper sighed and led the others out.The moment the door closed, only he and I were left in the room.I lifted my veil, walked to the bed, and crouched down to look at him.He was very handsome.I'd always assumed men who went to war were rough, square-jawed brutes.He was no

Chapter 3

Lady Blackwell looked at me, surprise flashing through her eyes, then nodded."You understand what matters," she said. "Mrs. Wells."A kind-faced older woman stepped forward. "My lady.""From today, you'll serve Her Grace. Whatever she needs, see that it's arranged."Lady Blackwell looked back at me."As for those bond papers, I'll see them returned to you myself."I knelt on the floor, my forehead pressed to the cold tiles."Thank you, my lady."After Lady Blackwell left, Mrs. Wells helped me up and poured me a cup of hot tea."Your Grace, what would you like to do next? I'll arrange it."I thought for a moment. "I want to learn to read."Mrs. Wells paused. "To read?"I nodded.Years ago, my mother had sold me so she could pay for my elder brother's schooling.I often wondered, if I'd been given the chance to study too, would she still have sold me?Over time, the thought had grown into an obsession.Mrs. Wells quickly brought in the estate's bookkeeper to teach me, an

Chapter 4

"After all these years, you're still the easiest one to order about."She smiled."Avery, tell me. Haven't I always treated you well?"I lowered my head and looked at the shadow I cast on the floor.Either I'd be buried at Rowan's side, or I'd live and go on being a servant.She had treated me so "very well."I said nothing.Celeste didn't seem to need an answer anyway. She stood."All right, I'm leaving. This place is unlucky. Linger too long and you might catch his dying air."She shoved the bond papers into my arms and gave a meaningful little smile."Do your best as the regent's wife."After all, it's only for a few more days."I walked her to the door and dipped into a curtsy. "Safe travels, my lady."Celeste swept out with her chin in the air.Mrs. Wells hurried over from the corridor, saw the swelling on my face, and sighed."Your Grace, you didn't have to endure that."I said nothing.I only gripped the bond papers tightly.I had waited ten years.This scrap

Chapter 5

My mind went blank, as though someone had struck me hard over the head.Every drop of blood in my body rushed to my face.I took a step back. "You... when did you wake up?"Rowan ignored my panic. He slowly pushed himself up on the bed.His movements were still sluggish, but his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's."Billy?"His voice lifted at the end, carrying a strange, unreadable amusement.I was so frightened I dropped to my knees on the footstool."No, no, no. Your Grace, please believe me! Billy was only a boy from my village."We haven't seen each other in ten years. There was absolutely nothing to it! I was only... I was only rambling!"The glowing words tore across my vision like they'd lost their minds.[Ahhh! A love triangle! I live for this! Baby girl, stop explaining—the more you talk, the worse it looks!][Lord Blackwell's jealousy just boiled over! He heard it! He heard every word!][Earlier baby girl said she wanted to shake off her bond and go back to the count

Chapter 6

So that was it.Celeste wasn't stupid.She was cruel.She'd known perfectly well this was a pit of fire, which was why she'd pushed me into it without a second thought.But Rowan didn't tell me any of this, and I pretended not to know.I kept studying my letters with the estate's bookkeeper.Only now the one teaching me to write had changed from the old gentleman to Rowan.In the dead of night he'd sit up in bed and light a single lamp.I'd pull a little stool up to his bedside and lean over a low table to practice my letters."That last stroke should stretch out more, like you."He leaned against the headboard, his voice low and warm.I pursed my lips. "What part of me stretches out? I spend every day hunching down just to get by."He gave a soft laugh, leaned close, and his warm breath brushed my ear.He took my hand and guided the pen with me, stroke by stroke, across the paper."You're my wife. From now on, no one will ever make you hunch down again."His palm was so

Chapter 7

I didn't look at her again. I turned straight to the guards at the door."Someone see our guest out."Celeste was "escorted" out in a fury.When I turned back, I met Rowan's smiling eyes.At some point he'd opened them, and he was watching me with clear approval."Not bad. You've come along."You look more and more like a regent's wife."At his praise, the last of my steel melted away, and my face began to burn again.Over the next few days, Rowan started giving me things to do for him.He'd roll sealed notes into slender little scrolls and tuck them into my hairpin or between the folds of a packet of medicine.Then he'd send me out to pass the messages along under the excuse of "praying for His Grace" or "buying herbs."At the same time, the manor began letting word slip to the outside.The regent's condition was failing by the day, people said; he might not last the week.The mood in the house grew heavier with each passing day.I was nervous, but I carried out every ta

Chapter 8

With a lift of his hand, the manor's shadow guards surged out from every direction like phantoms and hemmed the royal guard in instead.Then Rowan drew a thick stack of papers from his sleeve and hurled them down onto the flagstones before the king."In the third year of your reign, you embezzled the disaster-relief funds to refurbish your pleasure palace, and more than a hundred thousand people in the southern provinces starved to death!"In the fifth year of your reign, fearing the Duke of Westmarch had outgrown you, you forged letters of treason in secret and put all seventy-two souls of his household to death!"In the seventh year of your reign, you handed three border cities to the enemy in exchange for their promise to have me killed!"Rowan's voice rang out, every word wrung from blood."Each and every charge—the proof is ironclad!"A tyrant who slaughters loyal men and grinds down his people—you think you're fit to sit over this realm?"The lords and officers behind the

Chapter 9

"But when the royal physicians said His Grace wouldn't live past seven days, who was it that smashed a teacup in her room and swore, 'Why should I marry him only to be buried at his side'?"I watched the color drain from her face and said, one word at a time,"Now that His Grace stands above the whole court, what makes you think you can sit back and take the rewards?"Celeste was struck speechless. She could only look helplessly toward Rowan."Your Grace... I..."Rowan didn't spare her another glance.He came down the steps, slid an arm around my waist as naturally as breathing, and drew me into the shelter of his side.His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to everyone present."I don't care what Avery once was."I only know that when this house stood in its greatest danger, she was the one who stayed beside me."If I choose to give her the place of Lady Protector, then she'll hold it, and hold it firmly."From first to last, I've had only one wife, and her name is A

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