The Rogue’s Stolen Bride

Chapter One: The Arrangement

Kaida

“What are you going to do?” Maggie asked in a hushed whisper, as she clutched at my arm fearfully.

Maggie wasn’t just my maid, she was my best friend, my only friend really. She was the daughter of one of the cooks, but when her mother died, my father took her in and gave her a position as my servant and my companion. She was supposed to keep me out of trouble, but in that task, she failed miserably and constantly.

“I’m going to sneak in there,” I said.

“Kaida! You’ll get caught!” Her fingers tightened around my arm, but I shook her off impatiently.

“I won’t get caught,” I smoothed down my skirt. If there was one thing I was an expert at, it was being invisible. Especially when it came to my father and my eldest brother. I touched my finger to my lips and started creeping along the wall. I could just hear the drone of male voices coming from the great hall.

It was odd that my father had taken his guest into the hall, instead of into his study, or one of the smaller receiving rooms. Whomever he was, he must be someone very important. I pressed my back against the wall just outside the door and took a deep breath.

This was the most dangerous point, moving from the door to the heavy draperies that hung across the windows on the back wall. If anyone was watching the door, then they would certainly notice the movement.

I eased my head around the door frame.

Father sat at the head of the table, one arm leaning on the surface. My brother sat to his right, facing the doorway, but both of their gazes were fixed on the visitor, who had his back to the door. The only thing I could ascertain about his appearance was that he was tall and broad shouldered, and that he wore his ash-blond hair in a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

I made a quick dash from the door to the curtains. There was just enough room for me to slide my slender body behind the drapes without disturbing the fabric. I slid along the wall, no doubt coating the back of my dress with dust, spiderwebs and the crusted remains of insects. The maids were really neglecting their duties lately.

I moved from one curtain to another until I was close enough to hear the conversation clearly. And to see the mysterious guest.

He had a handsome face that was neither young, nor very old. His nose was long and straight, his mouth firm and unsmiling. His skin was preternaturally pale, which made his golden eyes all the more striking. He wore a long black coat, and an old fashioned shirt with a high, laced collar, riding breeches and high leather boots, polished to a black shine.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

I was certain I’d never seen the man before, but at the same time, he seemed eerily familiar.

Like I’d seen him in my nightmares.

My brother was tapping his fingers on the table, a clear sign that he was anxious. “But Kaida is so young!” he protested. “She’s only twenty this year.”

My heart jumped into my chest. They were discussing me? Why on earth would my father and my eldest brother be discussing me with the strange, pale man?

“Twenty is old enough for marriage,” the blond man said calmly.

“Yes, yes,” My father shot my brother a warning glance. “She has reached a marriageable age. And I believe you are right, Lord Vance. A union between werewolves and vampires would certainly strengthen the bonds between our kingdoms.”

A what?! Marriage? Between werewolves and vampires? I felt a wave of dizziness sweep over me. Surely, I had misunderstood. My father and my brother couldn’t be doing what I thought they were doing…

“I’m glad we could come to…an arrangement,” Lord Vance said. He had a smooth voice that was pleasant to listen to. Almost mesmerizing. Too bad his words were making me sick to my stomach.

My father slapped the table, and I jumped at the sound. “It’s settled then. We will deliver Kaida to your keep on the new moon. Sasha! The wine!”

Sasha, my father’s favorite servant, hurried in with a clay jar of wine and filled three pewter goblets with the blood-red juice. She then quickly backed away, like she was afraid to turn her back to the men. She didn’t normally behave that way with my father, so I could only assume that she knew what Vance was, and she was terrified of him.

She passed just a few feet from my hiding spot. I held my breath, but Sasha never glanced my way. When she was a safe distance from the table she turned and hurried back to her station by the small entry that connected the great hall to a passageway that led directly to the kitchens.

“It’s done then,” the man, Lord Vance, lifted his cup, but I noticed he never brought it to his lips. “I’ll have my men deliver the dowry gifts as soon as I return. I look forward to a long and happy future as your ally, Alpha Hawkins.”

“Let’s drink,” My father lifted the cup, and then drank, gulping down the strong wine until the goblet was up-ended and no alcohol remained. He set it back down on the table with a bang. “We’ve always had peaceful relations, Lord Vance.”

“We have,” the tall man agreed amiably, setting down the untouched cup of wine. “But now we will be more than peaceful neighbors. We will be family.” A cold smile curved his handsome lips. “I am now your son-in-law.”

My brother choked on his wine, and dribbled some down his chin.

I reached behind me and clawed at the wall, desperate to hold onto something, anything, as the room started to spin. My fingernails were shredded by the rough stone, but I couldn’t get a grip.

I knew my father didn’t like me, but I had no idea he would do something so egregious as to marry me off, no, sell me off, to… a vampire lord.

Just how much had Vance promised him as a dowry?

The peace between the werewolves and the vampires was always tenuous, as the hatred between them and us ran deep and long. I’d grown up hearing the horror stories from the servants and my brothers. They loved to frighten me with tales of how the humans offered up young women as sacrifices every year to keep the vampires from attacking their villages. And how the vampires fed on those girls, slowly draining them over weeks, even months, until finally their bodies ran dry. If they were lucky, they died and were buried in cursed graves.

But if they were unlucky, they never got to die at all. Instead they were turned into undead monsters themselves.

Why did Lord Vance want to marry a werewolf? Did he have a special taste for werewolf blood? Was he going to feed on me like some enormous mosquito? I felt panic tightening my ribs, and I fought to draw even a shallow breath.

“I’ll take my leave now,” Lord Vance bowed slightly to my father, and then to my brother. “It’s been a pleasure, gentlemen.”

My father stood as well. “I’ll escort you to your carriage, Lord Vance.” He fell in step beside the vampire and the two of them headed to the door. I hoped that Maggie heard the clomping of their boots on the stone in time to clear out of the hallway.

The vampire stood almost a full head above my father. There was something almost attractive about Lord Vance, something about his long, lean body that appealed to the senses.

But it’s a dead body, I reminded myself with a shudder. There was nothing appealing about that.