bride of vengeance
I had waited, patient as stone, until the day I was strong enough to walk into the heart of my enemy's kingdom without trembling.
Mom. Dad. I've come to avenge you.
A determined smile crossed my lips, sharp and humorless. Nothing would stop me tonight — not even if it cost me my own life in the process. I had made peace with that a long time ago.
My senses caught movement before I heard it — a shift in the air, the faint scent of leather and steel drifting on the breeze. I slipped behind a marble pillar carved with golden wolves mid-howl, ancient kings kneeling beneath them in tribute, and pressed my back to the cold stone. Footsteps. Voices. Getting closer, unhurried, easy — the walk of men