Reincarnated As The Duke`s Fiancée

r closed with a

lvet. It sealed me into a future that no longer belonged to me, into a moving cage scented

ndow first, then the rose hedges Elowen had once trimmed with shaking hands, then the stone façade that had watched her

not lo

been loved. For those who had survived ins

d on my

o be rationed. Each breath was shallow, controlled, polite, nothing like the deep, grounding pulls of oxygen I had once taken with

ke Alaric Ravensho

ed boots planted firmly as though the moving carriage were solid ground beneath him. He had removed his traveling cloak, folding it with m

ked at me sinc

read, the flickering carriage lantern casting sharp shadows across his face. His brow was furrowed in concentration;

not ign

mply prio

ettled uneasi

ainst velvet. As I moved my foot slightly, testing the limit

in

but unmistakable,

y went

sed mid-scratch. Not for long. Bar

d hea

. Slowly, deliberately, I leaned forward as though adjusting the heavy hem of my

la

nly someone searching, or

allo

ent slid open with a muted click, the sound swallowed by t

bo

e leather binding was dark and worn, cracked at the edges, stained in places with s

lled m

l

skirt as I straightened. My hands felt unsteady as I

was no

Thick in places, thin

mind that had learned the ma

not a

s a l

ceful script I had seen in Ashford correspondence. Names,

yment missed. Interest compounded. T

eath

dent" in the stables. The Ashford li

e page, the silk of my ski

s mind, but rang with the weight of a man accu

in and again, always followed by numbers, by phrases that spoke of desperation and deca

ched the f

ted only

he name; he wants her for the key. If she dies before the wedding, the key is lo

d seemed

e

or, then. Or

aluable enough to justify murder, marriage, and the care

pounding loud enough that I wa

ry quiet, L

h the carriage like

oked

yes sharp, unreadable. He leaned back slightly, one arm braced along the sea

ture, Your Grace," I said evenly. "It is quite a

you were doi

ned fo

th him, of the way the lantern light caught the scar along his jaw. There was something al

with much more conviction. You were not reflecting. You look like so

etreating into the shadows of my sea

ourless laug

ee Ravenshollow. My home is built on the bones of men who thought t

t was not

ade it

uer. He was not even my captor in the traditional sense. He was a collecto

not a

a mech

our Grace," I said quietly. "I have sp

dropped,

stained leather peeking

rt stu

ached

r the

my h

nt a sharp, unwelcome jolt through me, not fear alone, but awareness. His

ey sold you to save themselves. But

k, reclaiming distance as eas

to decide whose side you are on. Because by the time we reach

ned to h

isse

rolled onward, the ledger press

dows across the road ahead. We were leaving the southern lands

rtress buil

ore about my value than

fingers curling ar

s... I will f

no one will eve

ric's Pe

n, or rather, on the girl who had been sold to me as collateral. Her hands rested demurely in her lap, but I had long since learned to re

belonged to someone either utterly defeated, or

bt, every betrayal that had led to her sale. And I had carefully ensured that the ledger remained out of their sight, hidden beneath the carr

e

amily's history of coin and influence to give her value. The ledger confirmed she was more than property. It confirmed a line o

document, a weapon? The ledger hinted, but left enough mystery to keep me cautious. Whatever it was, it had been carefully

way she shifted to accommodate the carriage's movement. She had not recoiled when I reached for her ha

ill. But not her. She was alive in ways most Ashfords were not, observant, calculating,

at me. A flicker of something human behind the carefully controlled ma

, private smile t

derestim

pose and nothing more. But this girl, this Ashford girl, had already begun to measu

n wind pressed against the carriage, biting at the leather and the he

ion. Not even for

possibility, remote but not dismissible, that she m

that. But sh

the consequences would

. The stronghold built on secrets and silence. And soon, the Ashford girl would learn what it truly meant to be