A Dawn So Dark (Blood Bound #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Aurora Artorias

P eeing in a chamberpot that is three times your age and six sizes too small was not an easy feat. If only my kingdom could see me now, hunched over a cracked ceramic jar with an opening the size of a grape. As I held my skirts around my waist, attempting to not soil my only clothing, echoing from the hall signaled I would soon have unwelcome company. Hurrying to make myself decent, my rather large chain struck the pot, shattering the only barrier between my slippers and piss. “Why today?” I hissed whilst hurrying away from the liquid, not wanting to smell like piss for what was to come. Rushing to the door, I grab the wooden broom I had been so graciously gifted and press my back to the wall. The stone digs into my flesh through my dress, the bare thread fabric in shambles after months of nonstop wear.

“Wakey, wakey, pretty girl!” Davin, one of the most vulgar men to walk the planet, chuckled as his keys scraped the door latch. My fingers gripped the wood, bits splintering my fingers from overuse of the item. The iron door swung open, hiding me between the wall and the door. Davin’s chuckle echoed in the circular chamber just as I felt a pull on my ankles and wrists. I cried out as I was dragged to the ground, my body crashing against the hard stone. I bit back tears of pain as I was pulled right through my own piss. The others laughed along with him. Tai and Farven. Brothers, I think at least. Those two had a sick bond. There had been rumors that they gutted hunting dogs for fun. Davin was never without them. Whatever they had planned for me would be cruel and humiliating. I swung at Davin’s ankles, the wood making firm and sickeningly loud contact, knocking him to the floor with a harsh thud and the smallest splash. He had landed in my pee . My amused chuckle was forced from my chest as Tai kicked me in the side, earning a groan of pain in its place. Davin rose and towered over me, foot placed on the chains that held my wrists to ensure I would not strike again. I bit back a wince at the pressure and glared up at him. “Unbind me, Davin.” He nodded a matted head of hair at Tai who quickly unchained me. “It's a godsdamned shame we can't just have a taste of ye.” Tai and Farven grabbed me by my biceps and yanked me to my feet, dragging me from the drafty, swill infested tower and down the stairs. My heels banged on each step as I writhed in their arms, attempting to elbow Tai as his hand shifted and roughly grabbed my breast for a moment. Bile filled my mouth at the unwelcome contact.

Davin found this to be amusing as he trailed behind, watching me get manhandled. “The King demands your presence, Princess. You can make up for being so harsh to us before we get to him. If you are a good girl then we won't tell him of your… outburst.” He wanted me to defile myself for him. A pissant and scum of this earth. I would sooner drown in my own piss than ever engage with him in such a way. It was clear I intimidated him. He was the only guard to visit with more than one person for backup. He knew I could best him and he did not want to be left alone with me so it could be proved. I had trained my whole life to be a Knight of the Round Table. I had shed blood, I had worked myself to a breaking point. I was a Knight in ev ery sense of the word. Except for the fact that the King had denied me, telling me a disgrace could never bear such greatness. That was when I realized what the K nights truly represented. Women and children would look down in their presence and men would bow. They were once revered, respected, and loved. Now they merely drank and feasted as if they had never eaten in their life. Women cowered in their presence for fear of being coerced into performing lewd acts. After they returned from war, having either slain or banished all of the monsters from the realm, they were different. They were no longer noble men with a cause. They were simply drunks with unsavory appetites. Arthur, the King, the worst of them all. I had longed to be a Knight so greatly that it consumed my every thought. I wanted to restore the great name of the R ound Table and bring new meaning to my kingdom. The Knights of the court overlooked my ability. Though I was my father’s daughter, I would never earn the respect that is given to him. His conquest of the kingdoms and the banishment of the creatures that had once haunted us made him King over all of the nation of Avalon. The Holy Grail saw to that, as had Excalibur. I had watched my father, who had once been fierce on the battlefield, a terror to the monsters of the night, sit at a hallowed table, Knights awaiting his commands. I wanted the title to mean something again. It now represented fear and filth.

They dragged me through the courtyard that connected to the Great Hall where my father was most definitely drunk. It was the first time I had been outside in months. I had missed summer entirely, now it was nearing winter. All for cursing out a Knight after he asked me to… kneel for him. Camelot was the Crown Jewel of Avalon, my father presiding over all of it. A rusted crown with faded jewels.

My father tried to hide that Camelot was not as powerful as we once were. Twenty years ago, the monster campaign had brought the kingdom great riches and respect alongside it. Now, the gold was long gone, Merlin was a charlatan, and Camelot was nothing short of a brothel. Quite a legacy I would inherit.

Locking me in a tower had not stunted my training, if anything, it had given me time to focus. It was no secret that my father had wanted a son. He and my mother had tried for ages before I came along, and tried long after. My father had been furious that I was a girl. He wanted a son to groom into taking over as King of Avalon. I was raised to be a political chess piece to him, nothing more. He had locked me in the tower as a form of punishment for things he considered to be a disgrace, but I knew he did it to be rid of the reminder that he was unable to sire sons.

The doors to the Great Hall were opened and I was dragged in, ceremony damned. I was swiftly dumped to the floor, a sickening smack sounding as my palms connected with the ground.

“Get. Up.” Merlin grits out from somewhere above me. The prick was probably cowering three steps behind my father, shielding himself as always. I sucked in a breath as I pushed myself to my knees, catching a glimpse of my father sitting on his throne, disinterest shrouding his features. I remembered when I was younger that my father looked invincible, like a true King. Now he looked… scornful, filled with nothing but hate and lust for power. He had turned into everything he built his kingdom fighting against. When I sat up right, the hands of Davin and Tai held my shoulders, keeping me in my place on my knees. I gritted my teeth as my father eyed me with a disdain that made my stomach churn. “Are you ready to behave, Aurora?” He asked, his tone filled with annoyance as he sipped from a glass filled with amber liquid. I wanted to bash his head in with the glass and then force him to eat the shards. But I would be struck down in seconds. So I simply did as I always did. I bowed my head down and nodded “Yes, father.” I wanted to rip my fathers tongue out and force it down his throat. “Bring her to her mother.” And that was it. I was dragged from the room and deposited in my chambers where my mother scolded my appearance. I almost preferred the tower.

Chapter 2

Aurora Artorias

L ater that evening, it was as if I was never locked away. My father was dining at the head table with his men in arms while my mother and I dined in our own private alcove so as to be spared of their likely vulgar conversation. Other ladies of the court dined with us in our small corner of the Great Hall, as was customary. If there was one thing that my parents used against me often, it was custom and tradition. “Aurora, you've barely touched any of your food.” my mother chastised me, breaking through my cloud of intrusive thoughts. I ignored her pointed comment about the state of my dinner and asked with pleading eyes “Mother, I would much rather take my meal in my chambers so I may read while I eat.” I had not read in months, as there was no reading allowed to pass the time while I was in the tower. I just wanted to lay in bed, a real bed, with a book.

“Aurora, you mustn't keep locking yourself away with those dust covered books. It is unbecoming. Nothing is so urgent that you cannot take your meal in the great hall with the rest of the court. Lady Marina has even joined us this evening. You shall be polite and courteous.” Mother scolded with poise, soft tones and smiles hiding the venom of her words. The use of the words locked away made me want to be sick. I longed to put my fork in her neck to shut her up. I nodded, looking down at my plate with hopes my father would not notice my mother’s dismay towards me. It often went poorly when he was cross with my actions. He would send me to the tower and force me to spend a week in penance. He claimed it was so I could reflect on my actions of disrespect and learn the true responsibility of being a Princess. It was torture without calling it such.

“Aurora, your father and I grow tired of your antics. We are locking the library in the morning. Merlin will be the only person with a key. Instead you shall spend your spare time with the ladies of the court in the drawing room.” Mother explained, a triumphant smile framing her face. I bit my lip to refrain from erupting into an angry outburst. After such a long stay in the tower, this was an additional slap in the face. My father made these choices for me, though he had not spoken a word to me in months.

“We shall show you a grand time, Princess. You will forget all about those stuffy books. I will show you my embroidery.” Lady Marina beamed, clearly content with living her life in the complacent position as a woman of the court. Losing my composure, I smiled sweetly at the woman who knew how I was treated yet said nothing. The whole fucking Kingdom knew and no one questioned it. They adored their King. I was merely their Princess. They viewed me as a temporary heir until my father could sire a son. “That sounds fucking reprehensible , Lady Marina.” My mother quickly waved to a guard who then backhanded me across my face, earning snickers of amusement to echo in the dining alcove. My cheek burned in pain from his blow. I blinked twice, trying to regain my composure before clenching my fists in my skirts beneath the table. The guard, Marcum , had just earned a place on the list of those I wished to kill, one place below Lady Marina . “Apologize. A lady never says such foul things.” I smiled with blood covered teeth, my lip dripping from the impact “My apologies, ladies. I forgot my place .” I glared at my mother as she went about her meal as if nothing had happened.

I spent the next two weeks in the center of gossip circles, learning to embroider daylilies, and listening to the women of court swoon over the young Knights my father had enlisted into his latest campaign. I was unsure of why he was rallying a new group of Knights for a campaign, as I was not privy to such topics. Not wishing to hear any more of the men who were rapists carrying swords, I retired early. Nor was it safe to mull about at such an unsavory time. The Knights were often drunk and spent their evenings looking for any maiden, willing or not, to bed.

My ladies in waiting helped disrobe me and I was put into a nightgown. I often spent many hours in my chambers studying so it was no surprise to my maids that I was retiring early. I settled in by the window, embroidery resting in my lap where a book usually sat. I stared off into the deep forest that lined the ends of the limits of the city and imagined all that lay beyond. The treacherous Northern Sea, the Eastern farm towns of Verona, the deadly woods that lay in the west…. And Camelot, the capital of Avalon. Camelot stood home to hundreds of thousands, once a humble kingdom, now the crown jewel of the region since the M onster Campaign . My father guaranteed protection from any creature not of this earth to those who lived within the limits of Camelot, and paid his infernal taxes for poorly crafted temples, hovels for homes, and militarized palaces. Most of the men of Camelot worked for the crown, the war barracks flanking the castle to deter enemies. No enemies had arisen in the past twenty three years since the defeat of monsters– Vampires specifically, but many hated my father for the power he possessed. The city was divided up into seven rings, each dedicated to a different god. The castle stood in the middle, my father’s reasoning being that the gods had chosen him to be the one true king. Along the borders of the seventh circle stood the Forest of the Gods. My father’s sacred land. Merlin had embedded the land with an enchantment after the monster campaign was won. The once barren land was now a thick and dense forest that protected Camelot’s borders .

Far beyond Camelot stood a forest foretold to be similar in nature, one untouched by Merlin. A forest so deprived of light, trees would blot out the sun during the day, and the moon at night. It was known by all that very few monsters still walked the earth. The ones who had survived the war lurked in the dark woods beyond our kingdom. I often wondered what these creatures had done, as my father and the Knights had eradicated their species and pushed out any survivors, though Merlin told me it was not of a Princess' concern. As if he knew the concerns of a Princess. Merlin was a smokeshow of a wizard at best. He dazzled my father with petty magics to keep him in his thrall. My father likely did not care due to the fact that Merlin had aided in the war and possessed magic deadly to monsters. Vampires in particular. Father’s sworn enemy. I pushed the thoughts of monsters and war from my mind and focused on what was expected of me. Embroidery. Not war, or Knighthood, Excalibur or the Holy Grail… such things were deemed to be beyond me.

*

“Wake up my sweet girl!” I sat straight up as my mother shook me from my sleep. She jumped back, just as startled as I was, eyes wide. “Aurora, gods above! Always so dramatic.” A guard entered the room upon hearing my mothers outburst. My mother assured him I had simply forgotten my manners, though he remained in the room… watching me .

I wiped the sweat that had formed on my brow, looking around in confusion as maids bustled about my room and pulled an evening gown from my wardrobe. I frowned, confused by the fuss so early in the morning. “What is happening, Mother? Has father changed his mind on my Knighthood?” Hope bloomed in my chest at the prospect that I had served out my time in the tower for a reason, that I would finally possess power. Moro, another one of the guards assigned to ensure my good behavior, stood by the door. His dark eyes fixated on my chest in my nightgown. Mother always brought him with her, he would strike me when she demanded, and he hit harder than most of the guards. I tried my best not to piss him off, though I rarely succeeded on that front.

“Do not be silly, dear girl. Your father and I decided last night that the Duke who has come to visit would make a perfect groom for you. So, get up and truss yourself up. He is currently being entertained by the Knights, so let us be swift.” She spoke as if she had been telling me the weather the day would bring, not as if she were selling me off to a Duke. She noted my discomfort and shock and dismissed it. “Do not pout, Aurora. You are more than of age . We have delayed in finding your husband long enough. Your father has found a good man for you. He is quite becoming, wealthy, has a grand estate, and a good title.”

No. No, no, no . No one had even consulted me on the matter of my future husband. “Well, I object. I deny his hand in marriage.” I felt like the walls were closing in on me as I was pulled from bed, if one could even call it a bed. It was a four post bed, a sack filled with very little hay thrown atop it. My father insisted I did not need such luxury, that I was undeserving. The maids promptly laced me up into one of my finest gowns. It was hideous and hard to breathe in, the corset meant for a much smaller bust. I swatted at their hands, attempting to slow them so I could find a way to get out of this. They pulled my nightgown off and I stilled, very aware that a guard was present to ensure I behaved. Moro watched me, his eyes holding a disturbing hunger. I disliked all of the guards assigned to keep me in line but I despised him more than the others. He watched me as if he owned me, as if he had an unspeakable power over me.

They were about to dress me up, paint my face, a sacrificial lamb ready for the slaughter. I did not want a marriage built on politics I was not allowed to be part of. I wanted power, equal partnership. Not a cow to be bred. But I was nothing. My life was not my own.

“That is not your place to decide, Aurora. Your father is King, he knows best for us all.” Mother stated plainly, taking a seat on my reading nook where the maids offered her wine. He always fucking knows best. The very reason I was not granted Knighthood .

“Does he?” I challenged . “Or is this his way of ensuring I am never Knighted or crowned for that matter? Because I wasn't the son he wanted and he could never let a woman take the throne, take Excalibur.” It was true. My father did not want me to take the throne. He had wanted a son in place of me. But my father had been unable to sire a son due to my mothers complications when she birthed me. His goal, that I had overheard, was once I was wed and out of the castle, he would send my mother away and take a mistress to sire him sons. Merlin had said the gods blessed it, though I doubt the gods would want to speak with him of all people. He had not brought Camelot glory in decades. And the gods were fickle beings.

“Aurora, he is your father and your King. You will speak of him with respect, especially in front of your betrothed.” My betrothed?

“You mean the D uke? A low status for a Princess to marry, do you not agree? I was to be wed to someone of greatness, not a stately landowner. I am not marrying this man.” I hissed as the maids tightened my corset so tightly I could feel the air being forced out of my lungs. I was unsure if it was the corset or the weight of the situation. “Mother, this is a joke! I refuse to marry that man!” I felt my legs fall numb as I watched my mother roll her eyes, her next words revealing my fate .

“The Duke does not take kindly to offense, nor do your father and I. This is your responsibility as Princess, to marry well for the sake of the kingdom. Swallow your pride, Aurora. You are marrying this man whether you like it or not.” Mother looked at me with a hollow sternness that made me wonder if she had felt this when she married father. Or perhaps she had truly loved him like the stories said. The lovely Guinevere and Arthur.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded as I thought of how awful this man would be. How could I get out of this? I could not openly defy the king and still expect a place in his court. I was ushered from my chambers to the throne room where servants were putting the finishing touches on what seemed to be a lavish affair in the making. Mother instructed me to sit and not move until my father welcomed the Duke into our home . I was being ushered to my own execution .