Chapter 1 The Bargain
“You will marry him, Elara. The pact leaves no room for choice.”
King Alden’s voice filled the throne room like thunder, his voice echoing against marble and gold. The palace courtiers and priests bowed their heads, pretending deafness as the princess’s fate was sealed in front of them.
Elara stood motionless at the center of the hall, her jaw clenched. “You’re asking me to wed a demon.”
“I’m not asking,” her father said. “I’m commanding.”
The crimson banners above them fluttered in a wind that did not affect the outside world. It had begun days ago. It was an unnatural storm that hung over the palace like a warning. Every priest knew what it meant: the Pact Moon was rising, and the Devil’s son was coming to collect his bride.
“I am the last royal daughter of Vareth,” Elara said quietly. “You have so many daughters, Father, why not send another? Or send a servant or a criminal. Someone whose absence would not loom emptiness in this kingdom.”
Her father’s knuckles whitened against the armrest of his throne. “Because the Devil will accept no one but royal blood and I choose you. The pact demands purity, the bloodline that began this curse must sustain it.”
“Then you go,” Elara snapped. “It was your blood that started it.”
Fearful gasps rippled through the court as King Alden rose, his crown glinting like fire. “You forget yourself.”
“No,” she said, meeting his gaze. “I remember too well. I remember when you promised I’d never be used as a pawn. When you told me our family would break the curse and not bow to it.”
The king’s voice softened, but the steel beneath it remained. “The pact was made to protect this realm and this kingdom. If I defy it, our people will burn.”
“Then let them burn!” The words tore from her before she could stop them. Silence fell, sharp as glass.
Her father stared at her… not as his daughter, but as a burden he could not carry. “You will do your duty,” he said at last. “For Vareth and for your family.”
“You're dismissed.” He said coldly, in finality.
Elara’s pulse thundered in her ears. She wanted to fight, to curse him, to demand her freedom but one look at the faces around her told her how useless it would be. They were afraid. Not of her, but of what would come.
The night the Devil came for his bride, the moon bled red across the sky.
It hung heavy over the kingdom of Vareth, vast and red as a wound in the sky, its light spilling down the marble towers and whispering through the forests. The old priests called it the Pact Moon, the celestial reminder of the bargain forged in blood centuries ago, a promise that one daughter of royal blood would belong to the Devil’s heir when the thousandth year came.
That year was tonight.
Princess Elara watched from the balcony of her tower, her gown a spill of silver silk that caught the night wind. Below, the city murmured with fear. The streets had emptied, doors barred, candles snuffed out. Even the palace guards whispered prayers beneath their breath.
It was said the Devil’s son would arrive when the moon reached its apex…. neither by horse nor wing, but by shadow.
Elara had never believed in such stories. Until now.
A tremor rippled through the air, faint but real. The torches along the castle walls flickered, and somewhere in the distance, thunder cracked against a sky with no clouds.
She pressed a trembling hand to the cold stone railing.
“Are you afraid?” came a voice behind her.
Elara turned to find her sister, Marin, standing in the doorway. The older princess wore her crown loosely, as though she could barely stand the weight.
Elara forced a smile. “Shouldn’t I be?”
Marin stepped closer, her eyes softening. “Father says it’s an honor. A sacrifice that will save us all.”
“Sacrifice,” Elara repeated bitterly. “It sounds much nobler when you’re not the one being given away.”
Outside, thunder rolled again, louder this time and closer.
The court magistrates had already sealed the temple and prepared the altar. They said the pact could not be broken and that the Devil would come whether Elara consented or not. A marriage bound in the oldest magic of all: fear.
“Maybe he’ll be kind,” Marin whispered, though her voice faltered. “Maybe the stories are wrong.”
Elara looked at the bleeding moon and sighed deeply. “Stories like those don’t come from kindness.”
The moment stretched between them, heavy and unending. Then, from somewhere deep within the palace, the bells began to toll signaling it was midnight.
It was time and she walked down the marble steps to meet the demon who she would call husband.
The shadows along the walls lengthened, curling like smoke, and the torches dimmed to embers. Elara’s breath hitched as the air grew cold enough to frost her lashes.
And then she saw a shape forming within the darkness. Not quite man, not quite mist. It was tall. Still and watching.
A voice like silk and smoke slid through the silence to her.
“Princess Elara of Vareth,” it murmured. “The pact is due.”
Her blood ran cold.
The shadow stepped forward, and the faintest glint of gold shone beneath its hood, with eyes burning like twin suns beneath the dark.
Elara’s heart thundered in her chest. She wanted to scream, to run, to curse her father and the gods who’d sold her. But her voice failed her.
The creature’s hand extended…. With long fingers, pale as moonlight.
“Come willingly,” he said softly, “and I will not take your soul.”
Elara hesitated for only a moment. Then she lifted her chin, forcing her shaking hands to still.
“If the Devil wants a bride,” she said, her voice low, “then let him see what kind of bride Vareth sends.”
And she took his hand.
