Doomed

Winters's Pov

Have you ever been in love?

Do you know the kind of love that drives you insane?

The kind of love that makes you question everything you have done in life until you met that person.

A love that makes you do things you couldn't even imagine yourself doing.

Well, I did fall in love, I did crazy things.

I second guess everything I've done in life, and I did things I never imagined myself doing.

For him.

I never even wavered. All I ever wanted was to be in his heart, his body, and in his soul.

I needed to feel him. All of him.

I was his salvation, yet he was my damnation.

Winter went back and forth inside her chamber, trying to stall time itself while she tried to come up with a plan. A plan to avoid a wedding with that horrible man. Grian Harnett. He was a terrible older man from the Kelton kingdom. He was the King himself and was already married to three other women, and now he wanted her to become his fourth.

Winters father hesitated initially, but an alliance with the Keltons was necessary since the Brigades became increasingly vital for every day.

They were ruthless savages that plunder villages and then claimed their land.

They were increasingly numerous, and they had recently attacked the kingdom of Dragonfly and executed the whole royal family.

Now they have claimed the castle of the Dragonfly, and they pose a threat to her family as their lands are not far from theirs.

They can't stop them themselves if they came for them. But the with Kelton's hand they could: and it was Winters duty as a princess to form this alliance by giving her hand to Grian.

But her whole body and soul cried out against it.

Winter craved pure and adventurous love.

She wanted to be equal to her husband, not in another harem of wives who fought for his attention.

And she would not risk her future children's lives by fighting their other half-brothers for the throne when her husband and their father died or resigned.

Yet, it was the future, she knew would be before her if she walked down the aisle and placed her will and life into Grian's hands.

And here she was debating with herself yet again, Winter AF Gold Coast, daughter to King Barnabas and Queen Honora Af Gold Coast.

They were the royal family of the Gold Coast Kingdom, which her family ruled for generations.

They were solid and undefeated on the battleground. But the last war took many of their best knights and warriors, and her father came close to losing his life.

They were now weak and wounded, and there was no way they could survive an ambush if it comes to it. And Grian Harnett knew of this and sought it for his benefit a while ago.

Winters brother, Oakley, was just a boy of thirteen. And he was next in line for the throne, but with an injured king and an almost vanquished kingdom, he might never get his rightful turn.

So Grian lurked his way into their lives and soon had everyone convinced that Winter should become his wife and in return, he would support their kingdom when it comes to it.

"Your Highness," said Thora, kneeling and coming into the chambers.

"We must prepare you," she continued, but Winter couldn't afford to go through with it.

"I can't," Winter whispered, and Thora's eyes got wider.

"But Your Highness, you should not go against the will of the King. The marriage will take place in the morning." Winters's response was about to leave her lips when she felt the smoke burning her nose.

"Thora. Why do I smell smoke?" She pronounced nervous, and Thora flickered in her eyes.

Winter rushed to the open window to take a look around.

"Oh no," She whispered. The fire ascended and burned our gate into the kingdom.

"Thora!" Winter shouted, "Yes, Your Highness?" Thora stammered.

"They are burning down our gate!" She replied, and she heard Thora gasp.

"It's time. We will all be doomed," pleaded Thora, kneeling.

"Get up!" Winter muttered, and Thora arose.

Suddenly the door into the chamber slammed open, and Winters mother stood in the opening with terror in her eyes.

"Winter. There isn't much time. The Brigades are burning down our gate and will soon be in the kingdom. Your father is too sick for combat and your brother too young. We must leave now!" Winters mother hurried into the room and took her hands.

"We have to save ourselves," she continued, and then they started to hear the cries of their people being slaughtered and burned to death.

"No, we can't flee like cowards," Winter said and shook her head, "We ought to get up and fight!"

"No, Winter. We must save our lineage," Her mother shouted and started pulling her out of the room.

"We have the carriage ready to leave near the secret passage."

"NO!" Winter roared and slapped her hands away from her.

"I will not abandon my people," Winter hissed, defying her mother, which she rarely did.

"You'll die, Winter." Her mother answered with a stern tone.

"Then I shall die beside the people who have fought for our family for generations." Winter whistled, and her mother was gasping in shock.

"But you're a woman? You can't fend for yourself?" Her mother whispered, and Winter nailed her down.

"I am sure as hell not leaving a man to fend for my honor either, or flee like a coward," Winter milled, and her mother slapped her across the face.

"You're a disgrace to our family. Stay here and burn yourselves for all I care." Her mother ground before she hurried away and left her behind.

"Why did you do this, Your Highness?" Thora whispers with a shaky voice.

"I would rather die fighting for myself than be carried away losing my free will to the hands of a man," Winter replied, and Thora took a deep breath.

"I'm scared," she murmurs, and Winter catch her hands.

"Whatever happens, Thora. So that you know, I'm grateful to have you with me all these years. You're the sister I never had.

And please, will you call me Winter now? Let this be the last time I asked that of you," Thora smiled, "Yes, your h...

Winter." She replied, and she squeezed her hands.

"Now, let us arm ourselves," Winter said, and they rushed into the armory chamber.

"But we are women. We can't do that." Thora said hesitantly.

"We either fight for our lives and die in combat, or we risk being raped and tortured to death. What do you choose?" Winter asked, and Thora swallowed nervously.

"Combat..." She murmured upon entering the armor room.

They looked around for a weapon, and they soon realized that all the swords were incredibly heavy and the armor even heavier.

"I didn't know it would be this heavy to hold," Winter muttered and tried to swing the sword she was holding.

"I can barely lift this one," Thora added, and then they heard the castle being stormed. Men's hard voices were bouncing around, and they came closer.

"Come here, Thora," Winter whispered, and she pulled her into a small room that was a little hidden from sight. Thora was shaking in Winters's arms, and she could feel her heartbeat racing through her chest. Winter gobbled, because as calm as she seems, she was in fact terrified.

Sure, she wanted to fight for herself, but she realized that she would not even be given a chance to do so by these men.

They heard the voices get louder and louder, and soon it sounded like they were only a few steps away.

"This will please King Thamus. Go fetch him!" A man's voice demanded, and she heard the rattle from metal when someone hurried away. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity until they listened to the voices speak again.

"King Thamus. This will certainly please you."

"Well done, Cullen. This looks to be of good quality armor. Collect it all and hand it out." Winter heard them roam around the room, and the sound of metal was scraping against the floor followed by heavy thuds.

Moments later, the noise stopped, and they heard voices murmur now.

Perhaps they had gotten away. But just as Winters hope rose, Thora was dragged away from her arms.

"NO!" Winter screamed and threw herself over Thora and fought with the man that held her.

"Let her go." A low voice said, and the man freed Thora. Winter pulled her behind her before she turned around to look over the room. She found three other men standing before them.

Their armor was covered in blood splatter, and their faces were striped with dirty sweat. But one of them stood out. The man's armor looked to be of more solid iron, and he was taller and looked more robust than the other men.

His dark, cold eyes met hers with a stern expression.

"Looks like the princess never made it out of the castle..." He said, and the hair rose on Winters's neck when she heard his foreign accent.

"How did..."

"I know you were the princess? Well, you look a little neater and clean in your gown than the other girl, don't you?

Your hair is washed and braided, and that necklace is worth more than thousands of the peasant's lives." He milled, and Winter inhaled, baffled.

"Kill the other girl," The man said, and the two men walked up to us.

"NO!" Winter shouted and pulled Thora closer to her back. "Kill me instead, but spare her life."