Bride of Ash & Dust (Snake & Crown #1)

Chapter 1

Lilias

CHOSEN

“Excuse me?” I ask.

My father scowls like he doesn’t understand the words coming out of my mouth. Or like he’s thinking of wiping the floor with me.

But that’s ridiculous, of course. Kings don’t wipe the floor.

My hands are shaking. I knit them together in my lap and press hard on the satin covering my thighs. Then, I look up and smile.

“I’m terribly sorry, Father,” I say. “But I’m not sure I heard you correctly.”

“I said I’ve chosen a husband for you,” he grunts.

I blink and smile. My chest feels tight, like someone’s wrapped a rope around my rib cage and then yanked on it.

I am already betrothed. I’ve been betrothed since I was born.

My father chose the prince of Ethiria to be my future husband the day I was born.

Control over his family is one of the few royal powers left to him, as he frequently complains.

So why would he need to announce a decision he made almost three decades ago?

“From the Kingdom of Vsenrog,” he continues.

A sharp little gasp slips through my lips. I bring my hand to my mouth to cover it.

Vsenrog? The kingdom that controlled us for hundreds of years and caused the summer of misery? The kingdom we barely defeated three generations ago?

“It’s a good match,” he declares. “A brilliant match. We need powerful allies. Especially now.”

This must be about the new gold mine. Our kingdom survives by being invisible. We’re not worth invading, as my brother sometimes whispers under his breath. And the new gold mine threatens our invisibility. Of course, the other kingdoms notice us now.

But Vsenrog? Why would a kingdom as powerful as Vsenrog care about that mine?

Yes, we found gold in the western mountains.

If you believe the rumors that swirl around the palace, a dragon appeared at dawn and led the first prospectors to that rugged mountain ridge on our western border, where they found the gold.

But I don’t think the mine is even operational yet. And Vsenrog is rich already.

I clear my throat in as ladylike a way as possible. My father looks annoyed.

“If I may, dear Father?” I ask.

He waves his fingers in the air, like he’s indulging me.

“Won’t this risk offending Ethiria?” I say.

Ethiria, home of my late mother and the prince I’ve been betrothed to since the day I was born. Ethiria, the kingdom of mountains and sea, where I’ve been planning to live for my entire life.

My father snorts, then claps his hands together.

“Your brother will clear that up,” he announces. “And the women will take care of the rest of the details. Your marriage happens in a fortnight. In Vsenrog.”

I gasp again. This time, I don’t even try to hide it. The whispers behind me sound like the ocean crashing against stone.

Two weeks? That’s all the time I have left?

“And Elrick?” I ask, with the breath I manage to catch.

It’s bold of me to mention my brother’s name, but I’m suddenly feeling rather desperate.

A voice inside my skull screams that Elrick won’t be happy about this, that my brother wouldn’t want to hand me over like meat on a platter with just two weeks’ warning.

Not to mention breaking the betrothal agreement with Ethiria.

There’s something cold about the smile my father gives me in return.

“Elrick might make it to Vsenrog in time for the wedding,” he says.

With that, he waves his hand, and my father’s personal guard, a battered mountain of a man, steps forward. He gives me a small bow.

“My lady,” he says, with a glance at the women standing behind me. “You are dismissed.”

I nod in response, then gulp for air. The room seems to be spinning. Elrick left to tour the borders, what, two days ago? Maybe three?

He and our father did not part on good terms. I’m not supposed to know anything about it, of course, but this is a small castle, and it was hard to miss all the screaming.

Elrick accused our father of clinging to what little power the Council of Mayors left him instead of defending his own country, and he said Elrick couldn’t wait to rest his own ass on the throne.

I thought they were arguing about the new mine, of course. The entire kingdom has talked of little else since the first chunks of ore were discovered.

But they weren’t arguing about the mine, were they?

No. I’d bet all the horses in the royal stables on it. They were arguing about this arrangement, this marriage between one of the princes of Vsenrog and me. That’s why Elrick was sent on a diplomatic tour of our borders. So he wouldn’t be here to object when the king pronounced my fate.

My father’s second clears his throat, snapping me out of my thoughts. My lady-in-waiting, Anura, steps forward and then offers me her hand. It’s a sign, I know. My father’s patience wears thin. It’s time for me to leave.

I stand up. The room is still spinning.

As Anura puts her hand on my arm, I try to remember the names of the princes of Vsenrog. There are four of them, I think. One of them is still unmarried, surely. The youngest had a name that started with L. Lucas? No, Lucian.

My hands are still shaking. I twist my fingers together, then take another breath and turn to face my father.

“Thank you, my lord,” I say with a bow, still smiling even as my heart screams inside my chest. “I’m sure Prince L-Lucian will make a wonderful husband.”

The king laughs. Even his guard smiles, although with all his scars, a smile is almost as terrifying as a scowl.

“Prince Lucian?” my father rasps. “That’s funny. You think Vsenrog would match one of their crown princes with you?”

I keep smiling. I feel like something is breaking inside of me.

“Girl,” my father continues, with that terrifying smile spread across his face. “You’re betrothed to Zarek.”

I collapse back in the chair. Anura takes my hand and whispers something, but I can’t make it out over the thunder of my own heartbeat.

Zarek?

He isn’t one of the king’s sons, not even a bastard.

He’s a hostage, isn’t he? Taken from one of the rebel mountain kingdoms as a show of submission, before the armies of Vsenrog wiped that kingdom off the face of this earth.

Zarek stayed in the castle after the war to serve the king who raised him.

I don’t even know what his role is in the royal family.

But I do know they call him the snake.