The Tenth Bride's Vigil

Synopsis

When the wedding carriage came to a stop, I could hear someone weeping outside. It wasn't the sound of joyful tears but the kind of weeping that said, "There goes another girl to her grave." The hand of my maid, Rose Smith, trembled as she helped me. The moment the carriage door opened, I heard her gasp. I understood her. The man waiting for me at the end of the aisle was Kaelen Blackwood, the Warlord of the northern territories. Who in the entire Kingdom of Everdale didn't know his name? He had tasted blood on the battlefield at nine, led legions at thirteen, and was crowned warlord at eighteen. But that wasn't the main point. The main point was that he had had nine wives, and all nine of them were dead. Some said they were frightened to death. Others said he had toyed with them until they broke. And some whispered he was a demon who fed on the life force of women. I was to be the tenth bride. My name is Jane Shepherd, an unwanted daughter of my family. My stepmother couldn't bear to marry her own daughter to Kaelen, so she pushed me forward instead. It was a royal decree. Refusing meant death, and marrying Kaelen also meant death. I was damned either way. The original Jane had chosen her own end, biting her tongue in the carriage. And then, I arrived. I was a zookeeper from the 21st century, a graduate in wildlife conservation with a specialty in mammalian behavior. I had spent the last eight years of my life petting every kind of fur I could get my hands on, only to be taken out by a very angry Siberian tiger. My last words were, "Don't bother with the tranquilizer. Just let me touch its paw pads one more time." And then I woke up trapped in the body of this ill-fated noblewoman. "My lady, we're here," Rose sobbed. "May you be safe." I lifted the curtain myself and stepped out of the carriage.