Tethered

Tethered THE BINDING CHRONICLES BOOK ONE ELAYNA R. GALLEA This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2023 by Elayna Doucet All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected] Map designed by Daniela A. Mera Ebook ISBN: 978-1-7388342-3-5 Paperback ISBN: 978-1-7781920-9-8 Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-7388342-2-8 Created with Vellum To Team Edward: This one’s for you. Map of Eleyta, as drawn by Luna FOR A LARGER VERSION, PLEASE GO TO: HTTPS://WWW.ELAYNARGALLEA.COM/MAPS Pronunciation Guide Hello dear readers, Eleyta is part of a fantasy world. I have included this pronunciation guide in case you find it useful. (But as always, please feel free to ignore me and pronounce the words as you see fit.) After all, the beauty of reading is that we all create worlds in our minds. Names: Kinthani: Kin-tha-nee Marguerite: Mar-grr-ee-te Estrella: es-trey-uh Ciro: See-row Montquartier: Mon-kar-tee-yay Triboulet: Tree-boo-leh Rhain: rain Phyrra: Fie-rah Brollet: Bro-leh Mikael: Mee-kale Gods: Kydona: Key-doh-na Ithiar: Ih-thigh-ar Isvana: Iss-vah-nah Places: Ithenmyr: Ih-thin-meer Ipotha: Ih-poh-tha Eleyta: Ill-ee-tah Contents Author’s note 1. The Worst Kind of Birthday 2. Maybe She’ll Survive 3. Not What I Signed Up For 4. A Sacred Union 5. You May Kiss the Bride 6. Bound by Blood 7. Predator and Prey 8. Tethered 9. Failures and Forgiveness 10. An Unpleasant Meeting 11. Explanations and Unlikely Alliances 12. Breakfast with a Side of Denial 13. Tetchiness and Faerie Wine 14. She’s Quite Interesting 15. Suffering and Other Things 16. Let Me See 17. Death Comes in Many Forms 18. You’re Scaring Me 19. Allies, Clues, and Bones 20. Memories and Mortal Injuries 21. Bite Me 22. Sweet Dreams and Research 23. Motherly Compassion and Death Threats 24. Do You Trust Me? 25. Secret Meetings and Spies 26. Dawn is Coming 27. Bad Decisions and Consequences 28. Spymasters and Ice Queens 29. Don’t Let Go 30. Dungeons and Darkness 31. Remember Your Promise 32. Darkness and Other Horrible Things 33. Pay Attention 34. Two Piercing Points of Pain 35. She is Mine Tormented Of Earth and Flame Acknowledgments About the Author Also by Elayna R. Gallea Author’s note Welcome to Eleyta! Tethered takes place in a high fantasy setting that contains violence in several different forms. It also contains language, death, assault, sexism, and mature situations. The Worst Kind of Birthday LUNA “Happy twenty-first birthday to me,” I muttered under my breath as I stared at the ornate double doors hiding the Great Hall from view. I shifted from one foot to the other, the carpeted floor absorbing the sound of my footsteps as I waited in the empty hallway. Even the guards had made themselves scarce, giving me a moment of privacy before my life would forever change. As if that would help calm the nerves in my stomach. For all my preparation, all my research, nothing could have actually readied me for this moment. I was really being sold into marriage. Somehow, it hadn’t seemed real until now. I wasn’t sure why, because I could vividly remember standing shell-shocked, my hands running down the front of my favorite sky-blue gown, in front of the Council of Lords two weeks ago when they informed me I would marry the Prince of Darkness on the night of my twenty-first birthday. Apparently, the “auspicious circumstances” of my birth were a sign. According to them, since I had been born beneath an eclipse that only took place once every eight hundred and forty-six years, I was the perfect candidate for being sold into this marriage. Auspicious. As if the scientific movements of the sun and the moon were enough reason to send me to my probable death. Everyone knew that along with not being able to go into the sun, the vampires were especially cruel towards humans. It was fairly probable that I wouldn’t survive the week. Since receiving the news of my engagement, I read as many reports about the vampires as I could get my hands on. Not only that, but over the past two weeks, everyone I knew—and some people who were little more than acquaintances—had delighted in sharing every last terrible detail they ever heard about the people of the Northern Kingdom. I could sum up everything I had been told in two words: blood and death. Unfortunately for me, the word of the Council of Lords was law. Unlike the other three kingdoms on this continent, Ipotha had no ruler. The council was, for all intents and purposes, the ruling body. One did not argue with them, especially with something like this. Still, my marriage hadn’t felt real. Not when the Council of Lords had informed me of the union, and not a week later when I visited my younger brother Marius and promised to write to him as soon as I arrived in Eleyta. Not yesterday, when I supervised the packing of my trunks. Not even this morning, when I woke up and watched the sun crest the horizon for the last time. But it was real. All of it was real. The sun was setting, and tonight, I was marrying the vampire prince of Eleyta. This would be the last time in the foreseeable future I would see these stone walls, the worn carpets, the paintings of my family. The last time I would be with my family. Footsteps came from behind me, and I turned as Papa approached. Dressed in a white ruffled linen shirt and velvet breeches, he extended his arm. I slid my hand into the crook of his elbow. My lips brushed the stubble on his cheek and I whispered, “Hello, Papa.” “Lulu,” he said warmly, somehow managing to make me feel like a child