This Wicked Fate

THIS WICKED FATE. Copyright © 2023 by Amanda Aggie. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For more information, please visit www.AmandaAggie.com. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, logos, and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the text have endorsed this book. This book is a work of fiction. All names, places, characters, and events are products of the author’s imagination or are fictitious. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Aggie, Amanda, author. Title: This Wicked Fate / Amanda Aggie Description: First Edition. | Book Dragon Publishing, 2023. Audiobook Published by Podium Audio (https://podiumaudio.com/) Printed by Kindle Direct Publishing 2023 Cover Design Copyright © November 2022 by JV Arts ASIN: B0BND4VFVL (ebook) ISBN:9798395317605 (paperback) Contents Dedication Trigger Warning Map of the Seven Reams 1. 1 1. Eva 2. 2 2. Eva 3. 3 3. Eva 4. 4 4. Eva 5. 5 5. Eva 6. 6 6. Eva 7. 7 7. Finn 8. 8 8. Finn 9. 9 9. Finn 10. 10 10. Eva 11. 11 11. Finn 12. 12 12. Eva 13. 13 13. Eva 14. 14 14. Finn 15. 15 15. Eva 16. 16 16. Finn 17. 17 17. Eva 18. 18 18. Eva 19. 19 19. Eva 20. 20 20. Finn 21. 21 21. Eva 22. 22 22. Finn 23. 23 23. Finn 24. 24 24. Eva 25. 25 25. Finn 26. 26 26. Eva 27. 27 27. Finn 28. 28 28. Eva 29. 29 29. Finn 30. 30 30. Eva 31. 31 31. Finn 32. 32 32. Eva 33. 33 33. Eva 34. 34 34. Eva 35. 35 35. Finn 36. 36 36. Finn 37. Epilogue 37. Eva Acknowledgments Also By Amanda Aggie About Author For all the girls who feel like they haven't quite found their place yet. This one is for you! Trigger Warning This book contains triggers! You will find some adult situations and language intended for individuals 18+ years of age. If you believe magic and sorcery is the Devil's work, please close the book now. This book is for those who like a bit of spice with their fantasy plot, but the plot comes first. As for major content warnings, please see the list below: Gore, murder, blood, skeletons, dead bodies, other disturbing images that might not be suitable for all audiences. There are prisoners of war, cages, captivity, dismemberment, amputations via animal, animal attacks, graphic sex scenes, choking, monsters, and violence. With that said, if you’re family—talking to you, Mom—and you have to sit around the dinner table with me at Thanksgiving, you’ve been warned. If you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen because what you’re about to read might make you look at me awkwardly from here on out. Also, please be sure to review! Honest reviews help so much with getting my books out there in front of new readers, so if you can, please leave one. Even if it's a only a star value. <3 Thank you for picking up the book and I hope you enjoy the story! Now… Be a good little reader and turn the page/scroll on. ;) 1 Eva I used to be a sweet, obedient princess. One who knew her place among the wolves. I did as I was told, crossed every ‘T’, and blindly dotted every ‘I’. How naive of me to believe if I played my part, I’d turn twenty-three and not be forced to marry a monster. The red ribbon tied around my neck threatens to close my airway like a noose, placed there by my father, the King of Solaria. It’s a symbol, displaying my current status. A gift to my future master—I mean, dearly beloved husband, whom I pray won’t end my life upon the completion of our nuptials. If only I could be so lucky… Tonight is the gauntlet, and by the time the hell flame shines tomorrow, I’ll be some stranger’s bride. The mere thought twists my gut, wringing it mercilessly until acid scorches its way up the length of my throat. Even as my stomach pinwheels, I can’t discern if the bitter taste in my mouth stems from the anxious flutter of nerves or the betrayal that weighs heavily upon my heart. My father made me a promise. He swore I’d never face the same unfortunate end that befell my sisters before me, and like a fool, I believed him. The echoes of his lies reverberate in my mind, proclaiming me as his favorite, his precious jewel, that he could never subject me to such a fate. Now, the truth has never been more clear. It was nothing more than a well-rehearsed script. A twisted narrative spun for the ears of his children. A tale of hope to make us behave. He commanded me to conceal his affections, only to cast me away once the gauntlet was announced, like a discarded doll. I was isolated from my sisters, trapped inside this stuffy room. There was no time to warn them of our father’s false tongue. They too will one day fall victim to his ruse. The king stands before me, his animalistic eyes fixated upon my vulnerable throat. My lips curl into a snarl as his fingers delve between the ribbon and my flesh, ensuring it’s snug for the thousandth time. He’s had his mages alter it, infusing the satin strip with magic to detain my beastly alter ego. Trembling, his hands drop aimlessly to his sides. Fear seems to seep into his very being, just as magic courses through mine, smothering out every hint of my other half. A flicker of delight ignites within me. Even in my current predicament, I possess the power to make the King of