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I wanted to burn the thing, but that wouldn’t solve any of my problems, no matter how much I wanted it to.
I knew what I was: fey.
I knew what my station was: the youngest princess in the Lunar Court.
And I knew what my fate would be: someone who would never find love in marriage.
But I had to stop thinking that this marriage was the end of everything, because it wouldn’t last forever. This was for right now. And when my future husband inevitably tried to kill me, I would kill him. And maybe after that I’d have enough power to free myself from the traditions of court and marry for love.
That was my new plan.
Ending the pity party, I flipped open the book and started reading. With each letter, I got angrier and angrier. I couldn’t believe the things these men had written to me, and more than that—I couldn’t believe these were the top picks. There had to be some sort of mistake.
But my mother couldn’t lie and—
I startled when someone sat next to me. I stood, dropped the binder, and pulled a flaming sword from nowhere.
Van sat back slowly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” One of his hands was out, but the other was on the hilt of his sword. I knew he’d pull his sword and let me go a few rounds with him if that’s what I needed, but it wasn’t.
I vanished the flaming sword
in my hands—thanking it for coming when I needed it—and tried to slow my pounding heart. “I’ve been…” I kicked the binder. “…reading that stupid thing. You just caught me by surprise.”
Van looked like he was ready for a fight in his boots, loose pants, and fitted shirt. His hair was braided along the sides and tied back in a knot, instead of his usual low ponytail. I couldn’t see any weapons, but I knew when he looked like that, he was lethal.
Van picked up the binder from where I’d kicked it, and I was glad I didn’t have to read it anymore. It was Van’s binder now, and I wasn’t taking it back.
“Anyone good in here?” he asked as he sat on the couch and flipped it open.
“No! It’s horrible. Absolutely horrible. Some of them are love letters, but they’re from people who don’t know me. It’s…creepy.” I sat on the couch again, slouching against the back. “The rest read like job applications. Which seems soulless. I’m supposed to marry someone who’s a good fit for the job?”
“And what were you expecting?”
“I don’t know. Chemistry. Attraction. Respect—”
“All of those things could come once you meet the men.”
“Love?”
Van shrugged. “Maybe, given time.”
I gave him a look that I hoped told him that I thought he was full of shit.
Van tapped a hand on the binder. “How about I choose some for you to look at?”
“Please.” I would give anything not to have to make a decision. If there was anyone worthwhile in there, I trusted Van to find them. Maybe that would save me some of the pain.
After a moment, Van looked up. “Now this guy isn’t all bad.”
I leaned over him to read. “Which court?”
I caught Van’s wince from the corner of my eye, and I knew I wasn’t going to like which court this supposed match was from.
“Gales.”
I reclined against the back of the couch and grabbed one of the pillows beside me, hugging it to my stomach. “You can’t be serious. That’s the best you’ve got? The last time I went there, I almost died. They hate me so much that I’m not sure they won’t kill me on sight. And you know that they’ve bred with—”
“I know, but—”
