Page 1 of Married By Treachery

PROLOGUE

Deep in the woods, there stood a palace, and at this palace lived a little family: a father, a mother, and their two children. Twins, both sons. Most would call them wealthy, for their palace was second to none in grandeur, and they reigned over a kingdom rife with glittering lakes and magnificent forests, and they counted more gold to their name than they could ever hope to spend. But they did not understand—as very few understand—that it is notthingsthat give one wealth.

It is love and the relationships rooted within it.

But this, they did not own. Rather, they possessed a perversion of it: pride, the love ofself.

Andthatthey had in abundance.

No one loved them better than they loved themselves; no worship was proficient. The more they acquired, the more they wanted—needed—to fill the hole where love was designed to be.

A hole thatthingswould never fill.

The more they thought of themselves, the less they thought of others, until what was previously considered cruel became just and even deserved as long as it preserved self—such was the deluded and dark path of pride.

And so one night, after the older son told the younger about how he’d gone into the mortal realm and stolen the land along the wide banks of the Viara River by slaughtering every one of its citizens—man, woman, and child—an old woman appeared before the palace gates.

A Fate, they would soon realize.

She gazed upon them with a face like wrinkled linen and eyes like small moons, but before either son had the chance to wonder, she spoke their future into existence. “Such is your pride, young princes of Canna, that you have made yourselves gods, and it has eaten away your hearts.”

Before either son had the chance to wonder, she spoke their future into existence:

“Through blood, by blood, may your sins be paid,

Spent from a mortal heart, the heir must claim.

A babe wrought by harvest’s light,

And virgin be, by immortal’s sight,

Who holds the only road to your salvation.”

And that wasthe day the mist came.

1

Forty-two years later, in the mortal world…

Raquel had not expected allthe hair. The elders had mentioned Prince Edom’s unusual hairiness, but this was nigh unsightly, and she would have felt sorry for the prince if he weren’t also about to carry her off to her death.

Her betrothed rode into the village square, brooding mightily upon his enormous steed. He was flanked by a dozen of his kith, all equally brooding and magnificent, with their rich velvety green coats and gold-plated armor, reminding Raquel of brilliant harvest leaves. Of change and impending winter.

The townsfolk watched in silent apprehension as the Prince of the Forest passed into their mortal realm, their fear as palpable as the fog that had settled. Raquel might have been caught up in that fear herself had she not been so distracted by the fact that Prince Edom looked like…well, a bear.

She could hardly see his eyes through his mass of hair, which stuck out of his head like a lion’s bushy mane. His beard had also completely taken over his face, neck, and probably all the other parts Raquel didn’t wish to see.

Which she would, as his bride.

If she even survived that long.

Her older brother, Lee, elbowed her in the ribs and cast her a warning glance. “You’re staring.”

She tipped her head to him. “Honestly, you’d think theprinceof the forest could afford a barber.”

Lee gave her a very emphatic look, to which Raquel smirked. “I’m going to die soon. I might as well enjoy what little time I’m afforded.”

“You’re not going to die, Quel,” he murmured.

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