I Was the Stepping Stone novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I spent five years chasing a man who never looked back.

Five years offering warmth to a heart carved from stone.

Five years as the dutiful daughter of a fallen duke, clinging to a promised betrothal like it might one day mean something

more.

But Alaric Thorne-the Empire’s youngest Lord Commander-never returned my affections.

He offered his heart elsewhere: to High Princess Seraphina, the realm’s most exalted daughter.

In the end, he stood in the Hall of Blades and pledged his life to win her hand.

Even begged the Emperor himself for a royal decree.

That was the day I finally let go.

I relinquished the title of “future Lady Thorne.”

I left the capital, severed ties, and walked away from two lifetimes’ worth of longing.

But peace was not mine to claim.

Days later, I was dragged back in the dead of night, wrapped in ceremonial crimson, and shoved into a wedding chamber

lit with blood-red candles.

He stood waiting, tall and unsmiling beneath the vaulted stone arch.

The flicker of firelight danced across his face-half shadow, half steel.

Then he stepped forward, gripped my chin with battle-hardened fingers, and said with ice in his voice:

“You. Are. Mine.”

The snows had sealed the mountain pass.

We were stranded, cut off from the imperial roads, surrounded by nothing but frost and silence.

Alaric stood at the edge of camp, his cloak dusted white, eyes fixed on the temple across the chasm. The sacred Shrine of

Aeloria-where nobles climbed to seek favor from the gods.

A maid burst into the clearing, her cheeks raw and red from wind.

“Please-Your Grace! Her Highness is burning with fever!”

She collapsed to her knees. “Only you can reach her!”

Alaric didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his cloak, ready to vanish into the snow.

“No!”

I stepped between him and the trail, grasping his arm with frozen fingers.

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“We’ve been trapped up here for ten days. Rations are dwindling. The supply convoy is two days away. If you leave now-”

I swallowed hard. “What happens to me?”

He had his guards. His men. His oaths.

I had only him.

“Let go,” he said, voice low and hard.

Alaric Thorne never repeated himself. His word was command, his gaze like a blade.

But I didn’t move.

I held my ground.

And this time-I would not be swept aside like a broken promise.

“You forget,” I said, voice shaking. “It was false intelligence that brought us here. The roads were never meant to be safe. And now, suddenly, she’s fallen ill in the snow?”

He narrowed his eyes.

“You think Seraphina’s illness is a trap?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. My doubt was written plainly on my face.

He gave a sharp, bitter laugh.

“She’s the Emperor’s daughter. What could she possibly gain from luring me out?”

Then, without warning, he reached forward.

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