The guards didn’t bother to help them further. They simply turned and disappeared into the night, their orders completed, displaying their utmost loyalty to Rylan.
For a long moment, the warehouse was silent except for the dull thud of Arthur’s heartbeat roaring in his ears and Reina’s quiet, broken sobs.
Arthur gently tilted her chin up, wiping her tears with shaking fingers.
"Listen to me, Reina," he said, his voice raw but firm and reassuring. "This isn’t real. None of this is real. He can’t make you his wife through force."
Her lips quivered. "But the ceremony, the was a priest and we exchanged vows and—"
"I don’t care about his ceremony," Arthur cut in sharply but taking care to still sound tender.
"I don't care about all that. In the eyes of the law, what he did is illegal. A m
