Age: 32
Height: 5' 7"
Weight 130

Tae Mar steped out of the carriage, her fingers brushing against the fold of her dress, steadying herself. The air at Snowraven was colder than she remembered, but maybe that was her own distance settling in.

The Fisher guards lingered by the entrance, watching, but with reason to suspect anything. They thought she was here as part of Lord Fisher's generous well-measuered allowance-letting his bethrothed visit her family, a display of control.

They had no idea this was goodbye

Inside, her father was already waiting. Lord Elias Snowraven stood by the hearth, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. His steel-gray eyes flickered with something imperceptible when he her-relief. He would never say it, but she knew

"You came.." His voice was steady, but she could here the restraint in it.

"For the last time."

Those words hung between them like a blade waiting to fall.

Lord Snowraven's expression hardened. "Explain."

Tae Mar met his gaze. "I am leaving."

He stared at her, unmoving. Then, his lips curled in a bitter smirk. "Leaving? And where, exactly , do you plan to go"

"South."

His eyes narrowed, his Mind already calculating. You think you can just walk away from this? From everything I arranged for you? Do you even inderstand what you are breaking?"

Tae Mar's hands clenched at her sides. "I understand that you sold me to a Monster."

His nostrils flared. " I gave you power. I srcured your place in a that would have discarded you. And this-this is how you repay me?"

She let a sharp breath. "You call this power?You chained me to a man who-"She stopped herself. "No, You do not get to make this about your plans anymore

He took a slow, deiberate step toward her. "Do not test me, girl."

Tae Mar did not back down. "I already Have."

His hand curled into a fist. Not to strike-he was not a man of brute force-but out of frustration.

"You are a fool." His voice was low, laced with barely resrained fury. "You think running will give you freedom? All it will do is make you a fugitive. Do you unstand that? You will be hunted. You will have name, no house, no allies."

She swallowed but held firm. "Then
I will be free."

His jaw tensed, his breath shap and unsteady. Then, without warning, the words ereupted from him-

"You are dead to me."