"I am her Champion. She is bonded to me."

All heads swiveled in Zoran's direction as the furious Draconian tore his glove off and slammed it on the table. He clenched his hand by his side, a blue glow emanating from his fist as he took a few steps forward.

"Stand down, Zoran Masters. Your bonding assignment to Aeryn has been discharged."

"Bonds are for life," Zoran spat, roiling with rage, "The expansive distance keeping our essences apart in separate nations will weaken both of us until we die."

It was the truth; if we were split up for too long, we would eventually die once the bond between our essences weakened enough to sever, bringing an inevitable end to our lives. The conditions of being a Champion were so steep and extreme for the purpose of ensuring Draconians understood the gravity of their bonds and treated the precious commitment with absolute seriousness.

It didn't surprise me that my father didn't care for what it meant for my life when I was sent off to the Ravos Kingdom as the prince's wife. I still couldn't comprehend the reason he'd allowed me to go through with the Champion bonding ritual when he'd planned to marry me to Shade in the first place. He had to be aware of what that would mean for me and my Champion.

Then again, he was handing me over to the prince who wanted to assassinate me. He'd already been aware of the risk my life would be in and didn't care, so another factor further jeopardizing the likelihood of my survival wouldn't faze the glacial emperor.

Emperor Nepheus stabbed his staff onto the marble floor, voice chilling the room several degrees as he demanded, "Once Aeryn upholds our end of the treaty by marrying the prince, Armaeda will be back in our empire, and she can grant the abolishment of your bond without consequence. Then Aeryn will be free to bond with Shade as they fulfill the summoner and shifter requirements for their essences to mesh."

I hung my head in defeat and gave it a slight shake at Zoran from across the room to make him quit defying my father's rule.

Disregarding my silent implore, he took another step in our direction. He lifted his other foot to advance when I clasped my hands at my back to keep the red vibrancy from view, commanding, Leave.

Zoran's eyes landed on mine and the muscle in his jaw ticked, the telltale sign he was beyond frustrated. His leg froze mid-step and refused to budge against an invisible wall that my mind created as I tried to make him move in the opposite route. It was then that he recognized he was powerless to do anything in this situation without endangering both our lives, and he dropped his foot on the ground.

You will not say another word, Masters, I ordered, shoving away my fear and longing as I added, You will walk out those doors and go to your home up in Garrenth where you will stay until this ceremony is over.

His eyebrows narrowed and his posture went rigid with fury.

You are not going to come after me either, I included with finality.

Zoran's shoulders slumped and his feet moved on their own accord, bringing him to the doors against his will as his eyes remained locked on mine.

At the entrance, he pleaded, Aeryn.

My stomach churned at the hurt in his voice as it broke on the single word, and I felt immediate regret for taking advantage of his mind and compelling him to exit after everything we'd been through together. Hearing him say my name for the first time with such raw emotion tore at my heart and made me feel profound guilt.

I needed to say something that would make him hate me; something that would guarantee he wouldn't try to follow me to Ravos or pursue his objection to the marriage.

It was never going to work between us. I used you to get into the Force. I would never die for you knowing I'd be killed right along with you, I lied as his legs hauled him out of the room. Goodbye, Zoran.

My mind fled with my Champion as the doors whooshed closed in his wake. I spaced throughout the rest of the wedding, thoughts whirring in my head faster than I could process them. At one point, the gemstone of the Ice Force was removed from my obsidian crown and replaced by a silver one the same material as Shade's crown. Then, the pin was taken off my dress and a ring was slipped over my finger by King Kristos. A chorus of cheers erupted when the rites were over, signaling the end of the war and a new beginning for me as the Ravos Princess.

The festivities ensued with heightened zeal as I was ushered out of the castle and lifted onto the ivory back of a menacing demonic dragon by a cloaked demon summoner. The dragon's spine protruded through the black skin along its back in sharp spikes and I scrambled to latch onto one as I slid down the smooth surface. The dragon's leathery wings were marred with rips and tears as if they were being eaten away by decay.

I stood, venturing down the dragon's back as I searched for my father over the mass of Ravos shifters and summoners gathered on the front porch of the castle. Emperor Nepheus appeared at the doors with King Kristos, and they clasped forearms with reciprocated nods. I wanted to shout curses at my father and demand he explain the reason he'd allowed me to join the Ice Force just to give up his only daughter to our enemies that wanted me dead. He didn't even look my way as he concluded the conversation with the demon king and turned around, pulling the doors closed as he went back into his castle.

Wings flapped above me, blowing the dark strands of hair from my face as the demon shifter dropped between a set of spikes in front of me. He folded his wings and leaned against one of the spikes that reached his hip and hooked his thumbs in the loops of his pants. His cynical grin was the only portion of skin not covered by the bone mask on his face and his violet eyes sparkled in the moonlight as he looked down at me.

"Congratulations on your marriage, my princess."

"I'm not in the mood, Edge," I responded, releasing a sigh as I used the dragon's spine to help lower myself onto my knees as the dress restricted my movements.

"You are the martyr of your Draconians and the savior of ours. When entrusted to our Prince Shade, the knowledge you possess will be your greatest attribution to our kingdom even though you will be blind to it until your eyes adjust to the light of your secondary ability."

My mind was hazy from the sudden wedding, so I didn't even attempt to discern what his cryptic words meant. Yes, I was sacrificing my life by living in the demon kingdom to end the war and save my empire, but I couldn't help but feel like I was betraying my mother by marrying the ones that caused her death. I would end up just like her if I didn't kill Shade before he ended my life first.

The training I'd experienced during my time at the academy should have involved acquiring the skills and facilities necessary to make me a lethal assassin – not a headstrong Champion. I should have been taught all there was to know about Shade and the Ravos Kingdom to defend myself against the plan they had for me.

Demons summoned their dragons in plumes of smoke and shifters took to the night sky in a blanket of black wings. The light from the moon shined through the holes in their wings as they careened towards the monstrous, obsidian gates that failed to protect our empire from their presence on numerous occasions. Edge stood up straight and bowed at the waist as the dragon's summoner swung her legs around the dragon's neck and grasped the bone horns on its head.

"Safe travels," Edge parted, launching himself after the other shifters as the summoner pulled back on the horns and directed us off the mountain.

A crushing awareness of my inevitable condemnation threatened to overwhelm me as we flew over the empire's gates with ease. It worsened as we made it across the Forbidden Seas and the deserted island of Azmar where the Wielder had passed away. The rising temperature was gradual as we neared the kingdom with only the clothes on my back and weapons obscured on my body.

The shifters and surrounding dragons swooped in a steep descent and my stomach flipped as we banked sharply toward the ground. Once we landed, Edge scooped me into his arms and leapt off the dragon's back, placing my feet on the dirt. As soon as the soles of my boots met the hard soil, a cool blast of undulated power struck through me. I stumbled back a step as I placed a hand over my racing heart at the icy current flowing in my veins.

Armaeda. I hadn't felt the full power of her essence in half a decade.

It was disconcerting that my father's dragon was not back with him. We'd fulfilled our terms of the treaty, but the Ravos demons still held Armaeda hostage in their kingdom. My father should have fought to include Penn and Bast – in the conditions of the treaty. It was now my duty to fight for her and request she be brought back to the empire.

Grave trepidation consumed me as I examined the barren landscape and an ominous shiver coursed down my spine. The Ravos Kingdom was another level of bleak desolation compared to the inhospitable farm towns on the outskirts of the Nyrial Empire.

This kingdom couldn't supply us with any more resources than the assets, or lack thereof, we'd promised them. Dead, winding trees reached for us with their bare branches as we trudged through the eerie forest. Dark sludge dripped onto the mud at their trunks and rare patches of yellow grass grew twisting flowers that reached my head. They bled black goo from their white petals, landing in puddles of sputtering bubbles. I hefted my dress as high as I could manage as I trekked with caution to the clinking sounds of the copious number of hidden weapons sheathed beneath the billowing cloaks of the demon army.

One of the many hooded figures at the front of the group dropped back until he was walking parallel to me. Smoke billowed around his feet and the flowers perished as he approached them, grass shriveling at the same rate. He pulled back his hood, white hair reflecting in the waning glow of the moon as it cascaded over his shoulders. The ruby ring around my thumb warmed the further we ventured into the kingdom.

Keeping his gaze focused straight ahead, Shade warned, "Don't get too close to me and do not even try to put a hand on me. I will kill you without hesitation."

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