The King Hid His Bride Beneath a Wooden Mask—Until the Man He Banished Returned

Chapter 14 - The Bride's Second Yes

Varrick took Elara to the cathedral.

The same red carpet remained from the unfinished wedding. The wooden mask sat beside the altar as though waiting for her.

Lucian’s family was released, just as Varrick promised. Elara had expected betrayal and was unsettled by his honesty.

“Cruel men keep promises when the promise serves them,” she said.

Varrick poured wine into two silver cups. “You are learning.”

He had gathered loyal councilors, foreign ambassadors, and officers who needed a legal story to excuse their treason. He planned to crown himself Protector and marry Elara as the lost princess.

With her blood claim beside him, he could call the coup a rescue.

“You tried to make me marry my father,” she said.

“I needed Aldren disgraced beyond repair.”

“You poisoned my mother.”

“I offered Celeste a place beside me. She chose conscience. Conscience is expensive.”

Elara forced herself not to react.

Varrick stepped close. “You and I are alike. We both survived because other people underestimated us.”

“We are nothing alike.”

“You walked into my carriage to save a child who is not yours. That is why you will lose.”

He pointed toward the wooden mask.

“At midnight, you will stand before the council and say you accept me as Protector and husband.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Rowan Ashford dies at dawn.”

Elara’s heart stopped.

Varrick smiled. “My soldiers captured him near the mint. He followed you, exactly as you knew he would.”

She had asked Rowan to follow.

She had delivered him into the trap.

Varrick offered her a parchment.

It contained a public statement accusing Aldren of attempted incest, Rowan of treason, and Lord Vale of fabricating evidence. At the bottom was a blank line for Elara’s signature.

“You have always needed women to sign your lies,” she said.

“Men believe lies more easily when a woman appears to agree.”

Elara took the pen.

Varrick watched her sign.

Then he ordered the cathedral doors opened.

Before the assembled council, Elara walked down the aisle a second time. She wore the same ivory gown. Her face remained uncovered.

Rowan stood in chains near the altar, bruised but upright. When he saw the signed statement in Varrick’s hand, pain crossed his face.

Varrick asked, “Do you accept my protection freely?”

Elara looked at Rowan.

“Yes,” she said.

The word struck him harder than any guard had.

Varrick lifted his cup in triumph.