Princess Nymeria's Arc

Chapter 1 of 32

Princess Nymeria could bend any man to his knees with a look, yet she had never once walked past her own front gate. She stood at her chamber window and pressed her palm to the cold glass. Below, twisted roots gripped the dark stone spires of her father's castle like living veins. Beyond them lay the marshes, the wide world, everything she had never touched. She was the demon king's favorite daughter. She could summon fire, twist minds, weave dreams. None of it had ever bought her a single day outside these walls. A servant knocked. "The king has summoned his children to the throne room." Nymeria's stomach tightened. Her father summoned them rarely, and never for kindness. She smoothed her long black dress and went down. The throne room glowed red. Her father, King Malachar, sat beneath his pointed crown, pale hair falling over his broad horns. His red eyes found her first, and softened. That soft look had shielded her all her life. It had also kept her caged. Her half-sister Lusine stood near the throne. Lusine had dark curls and no magic of her own, only a hunger for the place Nymeria filled without trying. She smiled at Nymeria the way a cat smiles at a bird. "Sister," Lusine said sweetly. "Father has news. You'll want to sit down." Their brother Baelor stood apart, arms folded. Baelor never took a side before he understood it. He gave Nymeria a small nod, steady and kind. "I have chosen a match for you," Malachar said. "A lord of the eastern marches. The betrothal seals our borders. You will marry before the next moon." The words dropped like stones. Nymeria had spent her life obeying. She had used her powers only for good, afraid of what she might become if she used them for herself. Now her father meant to trade her for a border she would never be allowed to cross. "I don't love him," Nymeria said. "I've never met him." "Love," Malachar said, "is not for daughters of this house." Lusine's smile widened. Baelor stepped forward. "Father, let her speak—" "No." Nymeria's voice cut through the hall. Her own boldness startled her. "I won't marry a man I've never chosen. I want to know if love can find me for myself, not for my charm, not for my crown." Malachar rose. The soft look was gone. "Then you are no daughter of mine. No title. No coin. No name." He pointed at the great doors. "Go and find your love in the marshes." Guards seized her arms. Lusine's laugh followed her out. Baelor's face twisted, but he did not stop them. The doors slammed. Cold marsh wind hit Nymeria's face for the first time in her life. She was free. She was cast out. And somewhere past these walls, her new life called for her.