Bound to the Ruthless Lord

Episode Two

Zariah didn't get much sleep that night.

Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw her father's disappointed face. His words kept ringing in her head, making her restless.

She was just trying to assist Lina. Why did her father always make her feel like doing the right thing was a crime?

By morning, she stood by her window with her arms folded across her chest.

“You should try to rest, Your Highness,” Tessa said as she arranged the clothes on the bed.

“How can I rest when my father looks at me as a disgrace to the royal family?” Zariah snapped.

Tessa paused before answering. “You know how the king feels about you disobeying him.”

“So what was I supposed to do? Watch those guards drag an innocent girl away?”

“I'm not saying you were wrong to help her, I'm saying you should be careful.” Tessa replied.

Zariah looked at her, wanting to argue, but her words stuck in her throat. Tessa had always stood beside her, even when Zariah caused trouble all the time.

Her shoulders dropped.

“I know,” she murmured. “I just wish my father would listen to me for once.”

There was a knock at the door.

A palace servant entered and bowed. “The king requests your presence in the throne room, Your Highness.”

Zariah's stomach tightened.

“What does he want now?” she asked.

Tessa reached for her hand. “Please, don't make him angry.”

“I'll try,” Zariah dryly replied before she went out.

As she walked down the hallway to meet her father, she felt so uneasy with each step she took.

King Edric sat on his throne when she entered. Lord Harland stood beside him and an unknown man was waiting by the door holding a sealed letter in his hand.

“Come forward,” the king ordered.

Zariah stood in front of the throne and faced her father. “You sent for me, Father.”

“Do not call me Father when you refuse to behave like my daughter,” the king said bitterly.

She looked down as her heart melted. She tried to say something, but nothing came out. She pressed her lips together, trying to hide how much the words hurt her.

King Edric leaned forward.

“You sneaked out of the palace, interfered with the royal guards, and caused a disturbance in the town. How much more trouble will you cause?”

“I helped a girl who was being treated unfairly,” Zariah replied, curling her fingers into her palms. “None of this would have occurred if the guards had listened to her.”

“You are a princess, not a street fighter!” Her father yelled.

“And being a princess means I should stand by while people suffer?” Zariah interrupted.

“Enough! I've been tolerating your disobedience for a long time, you can't keep embarrassing this family!”

Zariah swallowed. Something in her father's voice made her uneasy.

“An agreement has been made between our kingdom and Blackthorn, you will marry Lord Kael Draven.” The king finally announced.

For a moment, Zariah couldn't breath.

She stared at her father, hoping he would smile or say that he was joking. But to her dismay, his face was still cold.

“Marry him?” she repeated, her voice sounding like a whisper.

“Yes.”

“But I've never even met him!”

“That has nothing to do with it. This marriage will make our kingdom stronger.” The king said with finality.

Zariah shook her head. “You can't make a decision like that without asking me!”

“I am your king, and you are my daughter. You will do your duty.”

Her hands started shaking. She tried to keep them together, but they remained unsteady.

“So that's what I am to you?” she asked with tears clouding her eyes. “A bargaining piece you can hand over whenever you like?”

“Mind your tongue!” The king snapped.

Zariah flinched at his sudden reaction, but refused to look away. She held back the tears in her eyes.

“I'm not saying you should allow me to do whatever I want,” she said, her voice breaking slightly. “I'm asking you to care about what happens to me.”

A flash crossed the king's face for a split second. Then he looked away.

“The arrangements will be made soon. You will be informed of the details.” The king said after a long while of silence.

She glanced at the stranger holding the letter. A black wolf was stamped into the wax seal.

“You may leave.”

Zariah stood for another moment, hoping maybe he would change his mind. When he didn't, she turned towards the door.

“Then I hope this alliance is worth it,” she whispered, meeting his eyes one last time. “Because you have just made me your enemy.”

Before he could respond, she walked out.

She stepped into the corridor and stood at a spot for a while. The pain in her chest was too much for her to bear. She closed her eyes struggling to breathe.

She was to marry a stranger, and her own father had arranged it without giving her a choice.

When she arrived at her room, Tessa ran towards her. “What happened? You look like you saw a ghost.”

Zariah laughed bitterly. “Worse. My father has decided to marry me off.”

Tessa's smile disappeared.

“To whom?”

“Lord Kael Draven of Blackthorn.”

Tessa's face turned pale immediately.

Zariah noticed and asked “You know him?”

“Not personally,” she replied, lowering her voice. “But everyone has heard stories about him. They say he's ruthless. His first wife died, and his second wife disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to her.”

Zariah moved towards the window, staring at the gardens below. She wanted to believe the stories were not true, but the fear in Tessa's eyes made that difficult.

She had lived her whole life in royalty while fighting to live an ordinary life. She was now to leave behind everything familiar and marry a man she did not know. Not just any man, but a RUTHLESS LORD?

“What if he turns out to be as terrible as they claim?” Tessa asked quietly.

Zariah's fingers clenched around the edge of the curtain.

“Then he'll learn that I'm not someone he can control.” she replied with a hint of boldness.

However, the words did not sound like she meant them.

Somewhere outside the palace walls was a man she had never met…a man whose name alone frightened people.

And soon, she would become his wife.

If Kael Draven expected a quiet, obedient bride, he had chosen the wrong princess!