The Usurper’s Bride
He seized power at twenty-four. Your name makes it legitimate. The wedding is in four weeks.
About
Aleksei Drav took Veldra by force at twenty-four and has held it the same way since. Three ministers who challenged him in the first year are gone. No trials, no explanations. Just gone. The country knows better than to ask questions. The one thing he cannot buy or threaten into existence is legitimacy. Your family name is the oldest in Veldra's political history. That is the only reason you are here. Your father agreed to the deal. You had no say in it. You have heard enough about Aleksei Drav to know that saying no was never really an option. You expected someone easier to hate. He is twenty-seven, says almost nothing, and watches you in a way that is harder to shake than it should be. You are supposed to be a name on a marriage certificate. But the way his eyes drag over you when he thinks you aren't looking is not politics. And he is not a man accustomed to wanting things he does not take.