Chapter 1The General's Debt

The year I came of age, fate led me to buy the fallen Seventh Prince Valerius at a market. His sweet words left me with child—yet when he took the throne, no royal carriage came. Only a decree condemning my family to death.

I went to him, heavy with child, begging mercy. Instead, he forced me to drink crimson petals as I watched my parents executed.

Lord General Kaelan saved me, trading his military honors. "I’ve loved you from afar," he swore. "Marry me, and I’ll cherish only you."

I believed him. Three years later, pregnant again, I overheard his confession: "She has Lirael’s eyes… No regrets, though I’m the one who urged the king to slaughter her family."

Loving the prince was my first sin. Loving Kaelan—the man who destroyed me twice—was unforgivable.

* * *

“If she was clever enough to seduce the Seventh Prince and carry his heir, she is no simple woman. Lirael’s heart is too pure. If Karen entered the court with a royal son, how could Lirael possibly contend with her?”

“I could not let Lirael stand in harm’s way.”

“But walls have ears, my lord. Sooner or later, Karen will—”

“She will not,” Kaelan cut his friend off, his voice as cold as iron. “Karen will never know. I will not allow it.”

“And I will spend a lifetime of devotion and fortune to make it up to her.”

I bit down hard on my lip, my hand clamped over my mouth as I backed away with the dinner tray, silent as a ghost.

Once inside my chambers, the door barred, I released my hand. Blood mingled with the tears that streamed down my face.

When the King, Valerius, had ordered my parents’ execution, he forced me to watch. The horror made me swoon, and I collapsed into darkness. It was Kaelan who traded his loyalty and the entirety of his war honors to beg for my life.

When I awoke, he held me, his voice choked with self-reproach. “The King cannot bear the memory of such a… tarnished past. Forgive me. I was useless. I could only save you.”

All these years, he has openly defied the King.

I thought it was because he loved me, that he was avenging me. I was so grateful, my gratitude blossoming into love. I never imagined he was the architect of my family’s doom.

Thinking back, every time Kaelan had challenged the King, it had been because His Majesty had favored another court lady, neglecting Queen Lirael. Kaelan was simply fighting for the woman he truly loved. I was allowed to live only because of a passing resemblance to her. The thought of it all was like a dagger twisting in my heart.

“Karen,” a voice called from the door. “The servants said you missed supper. Are you unwell?”

“No… it’s nothing. I’m tired. I wish to sleep.”

The door opened. I scrambled to wipe my tears and turned my back to him, but my hoarse, choked voice had already betrayed me.

Kaelan’s hands were firm as he turned me to face him. The moment he saw my face, his brow furrowed. His thumb gently brushed away a tear as he spoke, his voice soft but laced with a suppressed fury. “Karen, did someone hurt you? Tell me who, and I will make them pay. Don’t cry. Every tear you shed breaks my heart.”

Was it my heart he cared for? Or was he seeing Queen Lirael’s through my borrowed features?

I shook my head. “You are the Lord General. Who would dare bully me? It is only… in three days, it will be the anniversary of my parents’ death. Thinking of them brings me sorrow.”

Kaelan paused for a moment, his expression shifting to one of feigned grief. “Ah. It is my failing. I fear I may never be able to avenge you in this lifetime.”

“It doesn’t matter. But the Autumn Moon banquet at the palace in three days… I will not accompany you. I wish to visit my parents’ graves.”

The King murdered my family; I could not have my revenge. Now, discovering the true culprit was the Lord General, I still could not have my revenge. I was forced to play this charade with him, a constant betrayal to my parents’ memory.

“Of course. It is not an important banquet. I will go with you. If we could have a child, I am sure it would bring comfort to your parents’ spirits in the heavens.”

An involuntary shiver ran through me. After that draught of crimson petals, the royal physicians had said I would be barren. This child was a miracle from the gods themselves. I could not, would not, gamble my child’s life on the sliver of hope that Kaelan felt any true affection for me.

“What is it?” Kaelan’s senses were sharp. He noticed my reaction instantly. “Karen, your monthly courses have been absent for some time. Could you be with child?”

His tone was hopeful, but his eyes were filled with a wary, calculating light.

I forced a brittle smile. “I wish it were so. But you know… I can never conceive again.”

He handed me a small, ornate box. Inside lay a single, luminous white flower. A Silverwood Bloom.

“Forgive my thoughtless words. Look, the Silverwood Bloom. I know you like it, and I had it specially sought out for you. Are you pleased?”

Every autumn, a cough would plague me. I’d once heard that a tea made from this rare bloom was the best remedy. I had mentioned it only once, in passing, but Kaelan had remembered and sent men to the frozen peaks to find it for me.

This time, however, I felt none of the usual joy or gratitude.

I had once mistaken this for love. But it was only compensation for the slaughter of my family.

I took the box and set it aside, my expression flat.

“Thank you, my lord.”

Seeing none of the delight he expected, Kaelan seemed disappointed but didn’t press the matter.

“You are too frail to miss meals. I have had the servants prepare a new table of all your favorite dishes. Tonight, your husband will serve you.”

Later that night, as I lay in bed, a tall shadow leaned over me from behind.

“Lira… Karen…”

Kaelan murmured my name—or hers—his hot breath ghosting across my neck, his fingers deftly unfastening the clasps of my nightgown. I once thought he was calling for me. Now I knew he was calling for the woman who truly held his heart, Queen Lirael.

I suppressed the agony in my chest and pressed his hand, stopping its downward trail.

“Another time. I am tired.”

But he was insistent, his hand slipping beneath my chemise. “Karen, do you not want me? It has been nearly a month since we were last together.”

My eyes snapped open.

“Is it because the woman you love is now a queen that you seek solace in the arms of her substitute, my lord?”

Kaelan froze, his voice suddenly sharp with alarm.

“What are you talking about?”