“Bow your head to the High Lord and speak only if he commands you to. School your face so that it does not show your thoughts.” She leaned closer, voice low as she added, “Your very presence here will be perceived as an affront. There are many who do not believe Caspian Nightfall was adequately punished for slaying the priestess Vanora. And many more who feel the punishment is too far-reaching, introducing a human into the bloodline.”
Beneath my chest, my heart pumped rapidly, like distant thunder rumbling ever closer and louder. The bloodline. Forced to marry the lordling as punishment. Expected to… to perform the duties of a female to her mate.
Mate and murderer. Stupidly, it only just occurred to me to ask, “What’s the stop him from killing me after the mating ceremony?”