Chapter 1: A Pawn No More
"Princess Irene! Please—don't go!"
Hera's desperate voice chased after me, but I didn't stop.
I didn't even slow down.
The rage inside me burned hotter than wildfire, drowning out everything — her voice, the sound of my slippers striking the marble floor, even the pounding of my own heart.
I wasn't thinking anymore. I was done thinking.
There was only one thing on my mind: the throne room.
The place where my life was being stolen from me without my consent.
Two guards stationed at the massive golden doors stepped forward in alarm. I didn't care. Without breaking stride, I shoved them aside and slammed the doors open with a deafening crack.
The court was in session.
Silks rustled. Gasps filled the air. A dozen nobles turned to gape at me, horror and disgust etched onto their powdered faces. The advisors exchanged scandalized glances.
But at the center of it all, sitting atop the grand throne as if the world owed him something, was my so-called father—the king.
His expression twisted in disbelief, then fury.
"Show some respect, you bastard!" he roared, rising to his feet, veins bulging from his neck.
A guard lunged to intercept me, but I batted him away like an annoying fly.
I could feel the advisors' eyes boring into me, whispering their usual curses: Disgraceful. Stubborn. Defiant.
I didn't care.
"Respect?" I spat the word like poison. "You don't deserve it."
The king's face went red. For a moment, he looked as though he might order them to drag me out by force.
But he held himself back, barely, settling into a calmer, deadlier tone.
"What do you want?" he sneered, voice dripping with false patience.
"What do I want?!" I laughed bitterly, shaking my head. "You offered me—your daughter—as a war prize. Like cattle at a market!"
He didn't even blink.
"Yes, I did. So what?"
The king descended the steps of the throne, closing the space between us.
"You think that your little accomplishments change your worth? You are a woman, Irene," he said, loud enough for the entire court to hear. "No matter what titles you gather, no matter what victories you achieve—you are and will always be second to men. That is your fate."
I stood frozen for a heartbeat, the words slicing deeper than I cared to admit.
Maybe I should've expected it. Maybe a small part of me had even hoped he would see me differently after all I'd done — the alliances I forged, the battles I helped win, the treaties I wrote with my own blood and sweat.
But no.
To him, I was nothing but a pawn on a gameboard he would gladly sacrifice.
"Prepare to leave tomorrow," he said coldly, waving me away like an insect.
This time, I didn't argue.
No, that would be too merciful.
I simply smiled—a slow, dangerous smile that made several of the nobles flinch.
One day, old man.
I will tear your kingdom out from under you.
Brick by brick. Stone by stone.
And you won't even see it coming.
---
The heavy doors swung shut behind me.
The sound echoed down the long, lonely corridors.
I walked blindly, fury blurring the path ahead, until I found myself at the battered wooden shed near the palace stables — the hidden place where they kept Snowball.
The only being in this cursed world who loved me without an agenda.
The white tiger lifted his massive head the moment he heard me.
A low rumble of welcome vibrated from his throat, and he padded toward me on silent paws, gleaming eyes locked onto mine.
"Hey, Snowball," I whispered, my voice breaking for the first time since I left the throne room.
I sank to my knees as he pressed his massive head into my chest, purring in that deep, thunderous way that always soothed the ache in my bones.
Even through my numbness, I smiled.
No matter how I pretended with everyone else, Snowball always saw the truth.
He knew when I was angry. When I was terrified.
When I was broken.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," I murmured into his soft fur, stroking behind his ears the way he liked. "And I can't take you with me."
The words hung between us, thick and heavy.
Snowball growled lowly, almost as if protesting. I laughed a little, the sound cracked and hollow.
"I should set you free," I said. "I should be noble about it. Let you go roam the forests like you were meant to."
I cupped his enormous head in my hands and pressed my forehead against his.
"But I'm selfish. And I don't want to lose the only family I have left."
We stayed like that for a long time.
Me and my tiger.
Two creatures too wild, too stubborn, too broken to belong anywhere else.
If tomorrow ended badly, I thought with a wicked grin,
Well...
I still had a tiger trained to kill on command.
(Yes, I know what you're thinking. And yes — I'm crazy enough to think that's a comfort.)
---
The Next Day
The carriage wheels rattled over uneven stones as we sped toward the northern borders.
My wrists ached from how tightly I gripped the window frame.
I had heard the rumors about the Northern Grand Duke — a beast, they called him. A monster in human skin.
Part of me prayed he would be old. Easy to manipulate. Easy to kill if necessary.
But another part of me...
A darker, hungrier part...
hoped the rumors were true.
If he was a monster, then maybe — just maybe — he would be the weapon I needed to finally break my chains.
I turned to Hera, who sat beside me, pale as a ghost.
"Have you heard anything about the Grand Duke of the North?" I asked, keeping my voice light.
She swallowed hard. "Only that... they say he's as cold as the snows of his homeland. That he feels nothing. Shows no mercy."
I smiled faintly, resting my head against the glass.
Cold, ruthless, untouchable.
Sounded just like me.
Maybe this wouldn't be the execution my father intended.
Maybe it would be the beginning of something far more dangerous.
The winds howled outside the carriage, carrying with them the scent of frost and war.
And somewhere far beyond the horizon, my fate — and perhaps my doom — waited.
But I wasn't afraid.
Not anymore.
Let the games begin.
[End of Chapter 1]
---