★Nuel's Pov★
I felt hollow as I stepped out of the throne hall, my heart pounding against my ribs, my thoughts scattered like leaves in the wind, the weight of an unknown future pressing heavily on my chest.
From being sent away as a replacement tribute bride and nothing more than a scapegoat offered so the North would feel avenged for the lives my father had stolen, to now standing here, bound in an unpredictable chain I never asked for. Not chains of iron, a mate bond.
My fingers twitched upward, almost brushing against the spot on my neck where his mark burned, but I froze midway, forcing my hand back down. I knew too well what happened whenever I touched it, the dreams that consumed me, the memories that weren't entirely mine unraveling piece by piece.
