Chapter Thirteen: The Almost Confession, the War Bride, and the Most Expensive Peace in History
Mira almost confessed on a staircase.
This was unfortunate for everyone involved.
They were halfway between the library and the east wing—an awkward landing with a window, a decorative plant, and exactly enough privacy for emotional damage. Aerin had stopped to catch his breath (stairs were his mortal enemy), and Mira stood one step below him, hands folded, clearly rehearsing something internally.
The Harem Alarm hovered nearby.
Quiet.
Suspiciously quiet.
"Aerin," Mira said.
"Yes?" he replied, turning.
She opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"I just wanted to say—"
The palace bells rang.
Not the romantic bells.
The very bad bells.
Aerin screamed.
Mira flinched.
The Harem Alarm immediately screamed too, as if offended it hadn't been first.
"WHAT NOW?" Aerin shouted.
A guard sprinted toward them. "Your Majesty! Emergency council! Foreign envoys! Immediate threat of war!"
Mira stepped back.
The moment vanished like mist.
"…Later," she said softly.
Aerin nodded, already panicking. "Yes. Definitely later. I love—uh—I mean—I'll see you."
He ran.
Tripped.
Recovered.
Ran again.
Mira watched him disappear, heart pounding.
"…Coward," she murmured fondly.
The council chamber was chaos.
Maps were spread everywhere. Messengers argued. Lord Halbrecht looked like he had aged ten years in ten minutes.
Lady Merrowin stood calmly at the centre, which was alarming.
"We have received a formal ultimatum," she announced. "From the Kingdom of Dravakar."
Aerin swallowed. "I don't like the sound of that."
"They want a political marriage," Halbrecht said grimly.
Aerin blinked. "…Oh."
Silence.
The Harem Alarm glowed ominously.
"Marriage," Aerin repeated faintly. "As in… me?"
"Yes," Merrowin said. "To avoid war."
Aerin nodded slowly. "I see."
He paused.
"…Do I get a choice?"
"No," Halbrecht said immediately.
"Yes," Merrowin said at the same time.
They glared at each other.
Merrowin sighed. "You technically have a choice."
Aerin brightened.
"But if you refuse," she continued, "Dravakar will invade within the month."
Aerin deflated.
"…That feels like a fake choice."
"It is," Halbrecht agreed.
The Harem Alarm screamed.
Dravakar's envoy arrived that afternoon.
So did the bride.
Princess Vorgatha Ironblood entered the palace like a natural disaster given human form.
She was enormous.
Not just tall—imposingly tall. Broad shoulders. Arms like siege weapons. A scar across her cheek that looked like it had personally survived three wars. Her armour was ceremonial only in the sense that it was cleaner than usual.
She cracked her knuckles as she walked.
Several guards stepped back instinctively.
Aerin stared.
"…She could snap me in half," he whispered.
Elira appeared beside him instantly. "I will fight her."
"No fighting potential wives!"
"Temporary rule," Elira muttered.
Vorgatha stopped in front of Aerin and looked down at him.
Down.
"So," she rumbled. "You are the soft king."
Aerin squeaked. "I—I prefer 'approachable.'"
She laughed—a booming sound that rattled windows.
"Good," she said. "I like smaller men. Easier to carry."
The Harem Alarm exploded.
WEEEOOOO WEEEOOOO
Cassian choked.
Mira stared in horror.
Vorgatha squinted at the alarm. "Is it dying?"
"No," Aerin said weakly. "It just hates this."
They attempted a formal meeting.
Attempted.
Vorgatha sat with legs spread, elbows on the table. Aerin sat straight-backed, clutching his chair like it might save him.
"I will be a strong queen," Vorgatha said proudly. "I will crush your enemies."
"I don't have many," Aerin said.
"I will create some," she replied cheerfully.
The Harem Alarm buzzed angrily.
Mira stood near the wall, very quiet.
Elira glared at Vorgatha like a predator sizing up competition.
Cassian looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.
"So," Merrowin said diplomatically, "perhaps you'd like to spend time together?"
"Yes," Vorgatha said. "Training."
Aerin went pale. "Training?"
"Yes," she nodded. "Marriage requires compatibility."
"Of… muscles?" Aerin asked.
"Of survival," she replied.
The alarm screamed again.
The "date" took place in the training yard.
This was unfair.
Vorgatha lifted a boulder.
Aerin lifted… a towel.
"Your turn," she said, dropping the boulder with a thud.
"I—uh—I cheer?" Aerin offered.
She frowned. "Weakness."
"No," he corrected gently, "specialisation."
Elira watched, fists clenched. "I could kill her."
Mira whispered, "Please don't."
Vorgatha tried to spar with Aerin.
He tripped over his own feet and fell flat.
She stared.
"…I would crush you," she said.
"Yes," Aerin agreed.
She frowned harder.
"That is not a challenge."
"I don't challenge people who could use me as a weapon."
The Harem Alarm chimed weakly, like it was exhausted.
The breaking point came at dinner.
Vorgatha tore meat from the bone.
Aerin politely cut his.
"You would bear strong children," she said.
Aerin choked.
Mira stood abruptly. "Enough."
Everyone froze.
"You can't force this," Mira said, voice shaking. "He's not a prize."
Vorgatha looked at her. "…You are small."
"Yes," Mira said. "But I know him."
Vorgatha studied Aerin again.
Really looked.
His nervous smile. His gentle hands. His visible terror.
She sighed.
"This would not work," she said.
Aerin gasped in relief.
"But war will," Halbrecht snapped.
Vorgatha waved a hand. "No war."
Everyone stared.
"You will pay," she said calmly.
"How much?" Halbrecht asked.
Vorgatha named a number.
Silence.
Cassian sat down.
Merrowin closed her eyes.
Aerin whispered, "…That's most of our money."
"Yes," Vorgatha nodded. "But you keep your king."
She stood.
"I respect him," she said. "He is weak—but kind."
Aerin blinked. "Thank you?"
She left.
The Harem Alarm chimed softly.
The treasury was devastated.
Markets panicked.
The people groaned.
But there was no war.
That night, Aerin stood alone on the balcony again.
Mira joined him quietly.
"I almost said something earlier," she said.
He swallowed. "I know."
"I was scared," she admitted.
"So was I."
She smiled softly.
"Next time," she said.
The Harem Alarm hummed.
No urgency.
Just… hope.