What? How can this be? How come he won? He cheated! I seethed, my thoughts flashing like sparks in a darkened room.
Every nerve in my body pulsed with indignation as I recalled the moment—the flash of a gleaming dagger, its blade tainted not only by metal but by poison. That dagger, a violation of the sacred "one-sword" rule, had been used without remorse.
I could almost see the horrified expressions of the onlookers; they knew what they had witnessed. And yet, somehow, he still emerged victorious. I felt as though the very honor of our code had been defiled.
In a bitter rush, my mind whispered, "I am sure he asked for it—he asked for a marriage." I gritted my teeth, my voice simmering with rage. What was this madness? I had not endured endless trials merely to be forced into a union with someone who had brought me nothing but death's promise.
If I were to be married, it would never be to someone so despicable—a man whose ambition was drenched in lethal treachery.
