Cold dread snaked through my veins the moment I saw her.
Veiled in white lace, she trembled like a frightened fawn caught in the hunter's trap. My heart was uneasy, growing louder in the suffocating silence of the chamber.
It was a sickening sight―the person so carefully chosen by the Baron and Baroness was a reflection of the lover I had lost, the same face, same hair. But what they did not care was how small and shrunken she appeared.
She was a child.
And I could not enter the chamber, I could not be with her. How was I supposed to claim a trembling girl as my wife? But she was shivering too much, her breaths hitched, too loud, and all my thoughts were frozen.
A wave of concern overshadowed any flickers of reluctance.
I reached out for her, my hand hovering momentarily before lightly settling on her shoulders.
