I Married the Wolf King to Save My Kingdom; He Burned It.

To end a war, I offered myself in marriage to Joric, the Wolven King I d known since childhood.

He took my offer, pinning me to the unforgiving earth of the steppes for three days and three nights, a brutal act of possession.

I thought it was a savage kind of love.

Then he led his hordes to my home, Aethelgard, and showed me what it truly was: vengeance.

He forced my head back, making me watch as wolves, his kin, tore my father, the Emperor, apart until his head was gone.

He made me watch as my brother, the Crown Prince, was cut down from his horse and trampled into a mess of flesh and mud.

Those savages stripped my mother, the Empress, bare and shamed her until her legs ran slick with blood.

Joric smiled then, that cold, empty smile.
Did you really think, Carys, that a face like yours could capture my heart? he asked, his voice devoid of any emotion I recognized.

Your royal family slaughtered my people. Did you truly believe that sending one princess could erase a debt of blood?

In the end, he conquered all, with a new, beloved queen at his side.

I was confined to the Frostspire Hall, a ghost with no name, no title.

Every time I attempted to end my own life, he would dig up a body from the imperial mausoleum and grind their bones to dust before my eyes.

You are not permitted to die without my command.

I stopped struggling.

It didn't matter.

The poison I d swallowed to save him all those years ago was finally reaching its peak.

The curse was coming due.

I only had three days left.

---

The Queen s birthday feast. For the first time, Joric allowed me out of my confinement.

My eyes, red-rimmed, fixed on the woman on the high throne. She wore a phoenix crown of iridescent feathers. It had been my mother's.

Insolent slave! Do you not kneel before His Majesty and the Queen?

A sharp kick to the back of my knees sent me crashing to the floor. My forehead hit the cold stone as I performed a numb, mechanical bow.

Joric didn t tell me to rise.
Carys, he said, his face a mask of indifference. You are late by half an incense stick. Is this a deliberate show of disrespect to Morwenna?

This slave deserves death.
I knocked my head against the floor again.

I didn't explain that my legs were crippled, that walking from the Frostspire Hall had taken me two full hours.

A flicker of mockery crossed his face.
You ve learned to be obedient, I see.

The last time I was disobedient, he d locked me in a cage with beasts and drained half my blood to quench their thirst.

As I neared death, he would command his healers to find some priceless herb to barely keep me alive.

Sister, please rise, Morwenna said, her voice dripping with false sweetness as she personally helped me up, twisting the knife right where it hurt most. You were once a princess, after all. Even with the Kingdom of Serris fallen, you shouldn't act like such a lowly servant.

Her eyes caught the string of wolf teeth on my wrist, a flicker of admiration in their depths.

She said she liked it. She wanted it for her birthday.

I glanced at Joric. He showed no reaction.

He had given it to me, a treasured heirloom of his clan. Each tooth was a potent medicinal herb, imbued with a timeless, ethereal scent.

He d said it would soothe pain and prolong life.

He d said he hoped I would live a long, healthy life.

Since Her Majesty desires it, this slave has no reason to refuse.
I slipped it from my wrist and placed it in her hand.

I looked away, but I thought I heard the sound of a wine goblet overturning on the high platform.

Morwenna toyed with the bracelet, a satisfied smile on her face.
Oh, and I recall, sister, you were once hailed for your dancing. The Dance that Captivated Aethelgard. Why not perform for us now?

I stood numbly, enduring the malicious, watchful eyes from the banquet.

There were chieftains from the Wolven Clans.

And there were the traitors who had opened the gates of my city.

I had no right to refuse.

A bowl of hot soup, fresh from a bronze cauldron, was thrown at me. It seared my skin, peeling a layer away instantly.

What are you standing there for? A remnant of a fallen dynasty still dares to put on airs? You should be grateful we let you live. Don t be ungrateful!

As if I couldn't feel the pain, I rose onto my toes.

I became a dancer, a plaything for their amusement.

The customs of the steppes were wild. They roared for more, demanding I take off my clothes.

Joric s gaze was cold and distant, a silent permission.

I bit my lip and began to untie my sash.

The fabric was stuck to my raw skin. Tearing it away was a fresh agony of blood and flesh.

Piece by piece, I stripped myself bare in the very hall that held so many of my beautiful memories.

A tear finally fell.

I was only allowed to stop when the feast ended.

Joric, reeking of wine, walked towards me. His cold fingertips brushed a wet track on my cheek, wiping away a single tear.

His voice was merciless.
Carys, are you putting on a miserable show for me?

This slave& would not dare.

But as the words left my lips, the old sickness flared.

I coughed up blood in front of him, a heaving, body-wracking cough that felt like it would tear my organs out.

Joric stepped aside in disgust, the sneer on his face deepening.
I ve seen this sickly act of yours for ten years. Aren t you tired of faking it?

I once thought he hated me for my fragility, for the delicacy he saw as weakness.

But for all these years, he had doted on Morwenna.

A slight frown from her, and the imperial physicians would be kneeling at her door.

The curse worms gnawed at me. My body trembled, cold sweat beading on my forehead.

Just before I lost consciousness, I thought I saw a flicker of panic in his eyes.

He gritted his teeth.
Carys, I won t let you die so easily. You must live and atone for your sins!

But I couldn't.

My atonement was almost over.

In two days, I would be dead.

I awoke the next day to find my burns treated.

Dimly, I realized I wasn t in the Frostspire Hall. This was the emperor's bedchamber.

I remembered my father, when he was still alive, holding me and my brother here, teaching us to read and write.

My mother would bring in honey-cakes, still warm from the palace kitchens.

I couldn t remember their taste anymore.

You re awake.

Joric approached, his face a stony mask. He gripped my jaw and poured a bitter, pungent blood-tonic down my throat.

His grip was iron. I choked, my eyes watering.

Don t look at me with those pathetic eyes, Carys.
He let out a cold laugh.
Even if your hands are clean of my people s blood, you are not innocent. You were born royal.

On the day the kingdom fell, he had slaughtered every last member of the Serris bloodline.

Even the unborn child in my womb his own child he had not spared.

He had left only me.

I didn t understand& Was this love, or was it hate?

It had to be hate.

That s why he later forced me to soak for entire nights in a cold pool steeped with musk-herbs.

He wanted to destroy my ability to ever bear children.

He didn't want a child from me.

He found my bloodline filthy.

I wiped the medicinal dregs from my lips. Before I could speak, a servant burst in with joyful news.

Your Majesty! The Queen has been found with child by the imperial physicians!

Joric froze, his voice trembling with excitement.
Are you certain? Morwenna is pregnant?

I stared, watching the joy of a first-time father bloom on his face.

Perhaps the worms were stirring again. I instinctively clutched my chest. It ached.

I had thought I would die alone in the Frostspire Hall, and that would be fine.

But Joric chose this moment to send me to attend to Morwenna.

He knew exactly how to torture me.

Death is a clean stroke, but he wanted me to watch, to see another woman bear his child.

While our child, ripped from my womb by his own decree, lay in a lonely grave on the back hill, unworthy of even a headstone.

Morwenna smiled at me, a gentle, serene smile.
Sister, you are of noble birth. His Majesty has sent you to serve me, but I couldn t possibly ask you to do any rough work. Just& sweep the fallen blossoms in the courtyard.

I picked up the broom and looked at the courtyard, awash with peach blossoms.

The other maids shot me disdainful looks.

A princess of a fallen dynasty. Leaving her to rot in the Frostspire Hall would have been a mercy. Our Queen is too kind, calling her sister .

Noble birth? She s lower than the most common concubine. The King cast her aside long ago. If I were her, I d be too ashamed to keep breathing.

A red rash began to prickle my skin.

I took a ragged breath. A warm trickle ran from my nose.

I touched it. My fingers came away red. I froze.

Ah!

Morwenna saw my blood-streaked face and feigned a terrified gasp.

Joric rushed in at the sound. Without a word, he struck me across the face.

The force of the blow sent me sprawling to the ground, scattering a flurry of pink petals. I started coughing again.

Morwenna cannot be near the sight of blood! Are you trying to harm her and my heir?!
His eyes were like daggers of ice.
Just because your child is dead, you seek revenge on others? Have you forgotten the price of disobedience, Carys?

How could I forget?

I choked back the itching on my skin and the tearing pain in my lungs, kneeling on the ground to beg for forgiveness.
It is this slave s fault. Please, Your Majesty, have mercy&

My mother s bones have been scourged by your order until they are no longer human. My father s and brother s graves have been burned to ash. Your Majesty, I have nothing left.

Joric crouched down, tilting my chin up.
He smiled, a cruel, mocking curve of his lips.
Who said you have nothing left?

There s still one buried on the back hill, isn t there?

I grabbed his hand, my eyes blazing with a desperate, crimson light.
I m begging you. Please, Joric&

Don t do that. You can t.

I don t remember the last time I had called him by his name.

His gaze faltered, his eyes a storm of conflicting emotions.

I couldn t read them, but I sensed a flicker of hesitation. I continued to kowtow, pleading.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Until the ground was stained a vivid red, brighter than the blossoms.

Blood from my nose, blood from my mouth, even my tears seemed to be tinged with blood.

Joric seemed to finally realize it. The amount of blood I had lost these past two days& it was too much.

He frowned, turning to a nearby guard.
Was she forced into any hard labor in this courtyard?

Your Majesty, the Queen was compassionate. She only asked the former princess to do the light task of sweeping blossoms. All the palace staff can attest to this.

Joric immediately let me go, a string of cold laughs escaping him.
Carys, you re having one of your fits again, aren t you?

You ve had this damnable sickness for years. Since it won t kill you, you can just suffer through it!

I watched him step over my body and enter the hall without a backward glance.

I let out a breath, a barely audible sigh.

I curled myself into a ball, motionless, until the evening chill set in and the blossoms covered me like a shroud.

Candlelight flickered inside the hall. I could faintly hear Morwenna's coquettish voice.

Your Majesty, you mustn t. I am with child.

You are terrible& If Your Majesty insists, then you must promise to be gentle.

Shadows danced on the paper screen. I watched them, silent, as they tangled together through the night.

I remembered my own wedding night with Joric. No ceremony, no vows. He had simply taken me on the open steppe, under the stars, fierce and raw.

I thought it was just the custom of his people. I swallowed my humiliation.

It wasn't until his grand coronation as Emperor, when he crowned Morwenna his queen, that I finally understood. He reserved his tenderness, his reverence, for her.

The wind felt like it was blowing straight through my hollow chest.

Dawn was breaking.

This was the last day.

Joric, I am dying. The royal bloodline of Serris that you despise will soon be extinct.

Congratulations.

&

The hall door creaked open.

The man stepped out, looking down at me from his great height.
I told you to serve Morwenna. Is this how you laze about?

A guard had come to inform him of state matters. Joric was leaving. He ordered me to get up and attend to the Queen s morning bath.

When I carried the water in, Morwenna s cheeks were flushed.

When we were alone, her eyes met mine, all pretense stripped away, leaving only open provocation.

I mouthed two words at her, silent.

Traitor.

She wasn't angry. She smiled, looking me up and down.
Carys, you truly haven't changed. Still breaking out in a rash at the touch of peach blossoms.

She had been my closest friend, the daughter of a general my father had trusted implicitly. I never imagined the first to betray us would be her family.

I remember when I was first thrown into the Frostspire Hall. Morwenna came to visit me in secret.
The seers told me, she had said, that a daughter of my house was born to be a queen.

It s a shame your father and brother were so& unaccommodating.

So that was their reason for treason.

Morwenna took out the wolf-tooth bracelet, dangling it in front of me.
The agony of the Blood-Curse Worms is terrible, isn t it?

You probably still don t know. Ten years ago, in the Xuan You Forest, you were the one who saved Joric. But why did he turn so cold to you afterward?

Because he thought it was me who saved him.

She finished, expecting to see shock and pain on my face.

But my expression didn t change.

Between me and Joric lay a chasm of national hatred and a sea of blood.

What difference could a single act of salvation make?

I gave a scornful laugh.
If I had known, I would have let him die in that forest.

A cold laugh echoed from behind me.

I spun around. Joric s hand closed around my throat, his eyes frigid.
You hate me that much, Carys?

Do you truly believe I can t bring myself to kill you?

The same hand that had once caressed every inch of my skin was now choking the life from me.

I couldn t speak, could barely breathe.

From my dead, placid eyes, Joric read my answer.

I was daring him. To kill me, if he had the courage.

Joric s brow tightened. He threw me aside with a violent shove.
Death is too easy for you, Carys. I want you to live. To suffer for the rest of your life!

He brought another bowl of the bitter, foul-smelling medicine.

I had lost count of how many I had drunk over the years.

He was afraid I would die from blood loss, but he didn't want me to have a moment of peace.

I took the bowl and drained it in front of him.

Joric s gaze was clouded, unreadable.

I used to hate bitter things. The first time he d brought me this medicine, I had defiantly knocked it over.

After that, he had always forced it down my throat.

Carys, if you remain this obedient, I might consider&
Joric paused, turning his head away.
...grudgingly erecting a headstone for that child.

My eyelashes trembled. It was his child, too.

Yet even a headstone was a grudging concession.

You will kneel in the courtyard today as penance for frightening Morwenna and disturbing her pregnancy.

At midday, a wolf s howl echoed through the palace.

At the feast two days prior, one of the Wolven chieftains had gifted Morwenna a young Western wolf cub.

Wolves are drawn to the scent of blood.

My heart sank. I had just enough time to look up.

The agile shadow was already leaping straight for me.

By the time Morwenna rushed over, feigning a desperate attempt to stop it, the cub had already torn several chunks of flesh from my body.

She called her pet back, her voice laced with false guilt.
His Majesty only just began teaching me the ways of beast-taming. I am not yet skilled. It s my fault you were harmed, sister. I deserve to be punished.

Your Majesty, you are the Queen. Why apologize to a mere slave? Even if this animal had eaten her alive, the King would not blame you, her lady-in-waiting said, indignant.

Their voices sounded distant, warped.

My vision was a sea of red. I couldn't see or hear clearly.

I remembered my father had also died by a wolf s fangs. A full-grown Western wolf, large enough to sever a man s head.

My body was shaking, but I felt no pain.

Carys? Cari& Cari&

A voice, deep and strained, was calling my nickname, over and over.

It had been so long since I had heard it.

Through a blur, I saw the dark silk of imperial robes. I clutched his sleeve, my hands slick with blood.
Father& I cried, tears streaming down my face.

The voice stopped.

When I regained consciousness, my mouth was filled with that familiar, bitter taste.

I opened my eyes and saw Joric s face, impossibly close. He was feeding me the medicine, mouth to mouth.

The realization hit me. I recoiled, turning my face away in disgust.

Joric froze, his hand clutching the medicine bowl tightening.
Carys, since you re awake, drink it yourself!

I pushed myself up and did as he commanded, draining the bowl.

But the next second, I threw it all up, mixed with black blood. And in the vomit, tiny, grotesque larvae writhed.

Joric s expression changed drastically. He stared at me, his eyes a whirlwind of confusion, panic, and finally, rage.
Carys, what trick are you playing now?

The sky outside was dark. I knew my time was up.
Your Majesty, I said. I am dying.

I forbid it!

He was about to threaten me with our child s remains again, but the words died in his throat.

He saw the blood pouring from my eyes, my nose, my mouth, staining the entire bed crimson.

A peach blossom petal drifted in through the open window.

He saw the red blotches beneath my collar, at my cuffs.

His trembling gaze returned to my face and found my eyes, now closed forever.

I hadn't even said goodbye

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