Prologue 2: South-Eastern Warfront

Some of her blood still coated his lips, lingering just at the corner. He was unfazed, meeting her gaze unflinchingly as she clenched her fists by her sides in anger.

This idiot of a man was making an enemy out of her just because she agreed to the wedding. If only he had known that her father would've killed him if anything other than their marriage happened! She would like to see if he could still be so cocky then.

Blood looked so natural streaked across his rugged features. Paired with the hatred in his eyes, Soleia wondered if this was how the dragon felt in its final moments before getting slain by this brutish man.

"Wonderful," King Godwin said with a hearty laugh, his spirits ever lifted now that Orion Elsher was tied down to the royal family in matrimony.

However, by the glint in his eyes, Soleia knew that her father was far from done with his schemes.

Just as she thought, the doors soon burst open and a messenger sprinted down the halls. He carried a scroll in his hands, waving it left and right frantically as everyone turned their attention to him.

"Your Majesty!" the messenger wheezed. "Reports have come from the south-eastern borders! The Levielens are attacking! They've brought fifty mages with them!"

Immediately, gasps rippled through the crowd as the attendees looked at each other in panic. Everyone knew that Vramid was at war with the kingdom of Leviel, but none had thought they would attack the kingdom's borders so soon.

And with fifty mages! Where did they even manage to find so many? Magic practitioners were rare and a few, mostly limited to royalties and the children born to them out of wedlock.

"Send the northern troops to the borders!" King Godwin ordered, slamming his fist against the armrest of his throne. "They must've employed the help of allied kingdoms to garner that number of magic users."

"The northern troops?" Soleia echoed, alarmed. That was her new husband's battalion. "But Father, they will take days to reach the battlefront―"

"Do you have a problem with the arrangement, Duke Elsher?" King Godwin asked, ignoring his daughter's words. "Need I remind you that before you are a duke, you are a general in service to the kingdom of Vramid?"

Orion's tongue darted past his lips, licking off the blood that stained the corner. He met the king's gaze unflinchingly, and without blinking, he said, "Of course, Your Majesty. My duty is to the people and the kingdom's safety."

King Godwin laughed heartily. "Good. Very good." He then waved his hand, gesturing for Duke Elsher to leave.

The latter placed his fist over his heart, bowing before retreating with a flutter of his cape.

"Wait―"

But it was too late. Orion Elsher didn't even turn back to look at Soleia. In fact, he all but rushed down the steps and out of the room, the doors closing behind him. All Soleia was offered was a pitiful look from the man who trailed after him, whom she assumed was Duke Elsher's right-hand man.

But even so, that was short and fleeting.

***

"Father, what is the meaning of this?!" Soleia asked once they were alone, pulling the veil off her head. 

The guests were gone, no doubt eager to gossip to their neighbors and the rest of the capital about the way Princess Soleia was thoroughly embarrassed by her new husband who did not love her, and by her father who was only using her as a pawn.

"I am married off to the Duke in a hurry, and right on my wedding day you send him away to war?" Soleia's face was red as she tried her hardest to suppress the indignation she felt. "And to the south-eastern borders?"

King Godwin leaned back in his seat, lazily resting his chin against the back of his hand.

"Is there a problem, my child?" he dared to ask.

The skin under Soleia's eyes twitched. "You're sending him there to die!"

At her words, the king said nothing. That was when Soleia felt her blood turn cold as she stared at her father in realization. Her shoulders drooped back down and her knees suddenly felt weak.

She repeated, muttering to herself this time, "You're sending him there to die…"

Standing at the bottom of the steps that led to the throne, Aldous sighed.

"Your Highness, Duke Elsher comes from… humble beginnings. His surge to popularity could mean good and bad for the kingdom and the royal family."

Soleia turned her gaze to the middle-aged man, staring in disbelief as the king remained silent. His advisor spoke the words the king thought.

"If he returns, he will bring glory to the royal family as the prince consort," Aldous continued. "If he doesn't…"

Aldous needn't finish his sentence for Soleia to guess her father's intentions. If Orion Elsher died in war, there would be one less thorn in his side.

"If he returns―"

"When," Soleia corrected, meeting her father's gaze. "When he returns."

King Godwin gave a sarcastic smile.

"When he returns," he corrected himself, "you are to be a faithful wife to him. But before that, you must be a faithful daughter. Do not forget your title as a princess of Vramid. Everything and anything Duke Elsher does should be under your control."

"You want me to spy on him?" Soleia asked, horrified.

"Princess," Aldous said, "for a man to rise from a mere soldier to a general, then to a duke all in three years is not a common feat. Whether or not Duke Elsher's intentions are righteous, we must remain wary of a man capable of such accomplishments."

"Did you think I married you off to him from the goodness of my heart?" King Godwin scoffed. "If so, you're more foolish than I remember you being." 

Before Soleia could craft a response to his cutting words, her father delivered another blow.

"Pack your bags. You're leaving for Drakenmire tonight. With your husband gone, there's no point in you staying here any longer. Make sure you entrench yourself in his estate so that he cannot live without your absence."