I glared at the man as he put the apple in my hand, acting as if he were giving me gold.

He smiled. Though it was more of a sneer. A sidelong look, with the devil in his eye.

Kevork was an ugly man. He had a bulbous nose, turned red by too much wine. His skin was pitted and pocked. His hands were gnarled and his nails were always stained yellow, just like his teeth, the ones that were left, anyway.

“Come,” he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me down the street.

It was lined with tents and merchants. Loud voices called, pitching food and spices, jewelry and shoes.

Dust billowed in the air. It was suffocating, especially in the heat of summer.

I loved the market. It was my favorite thing to do, to just wander and take in the sights and smells. Nothing was more alive than the market.

But today I was with Kevork. I’d rather be anywhere in the world than with the man I’d been promised to.

He greeted the man selling silk and cotton fabric. They laughed and joked and began talking money.

I stood there, not better valued than a fat sheep. Kevork held up fabrics to me, commenting on if the color would match my hair, bring out my eyes.

How it would cling to my figure.

How easy it would be to rip off come our wedding night.

Bile rose up my throat as I just had to stand there like a statue while these men laughed about young women on their wedding nights.

I was already an old bride. I’d fought my parents for the last few years, stalling them, telling them I refused to be pushed into a marriage.

But no more.

My parents had given my dowry to Kevork and told him we had to be married by the next moon cycle.

My fingers rolled into fists and my jaw tightened as my betrothed settled on some fabric for my wedding gown and paid for it.

I’d been born comfortable. Not the most wealthy in town, but certainly better off than the majority. But I hated it. Money brought arrogance and pride and the loss of humanity.

I was just a pawn my parents could use to further advantage themselves.

“Come,” Kevork said, grabbing my arm and dragging me further down the street.

“Do not touch me,” I hissed, keeping my voice quiet as I jerked out of his hold. I looked around, making sure no other heard me.

Kevork chuckled and grabbed me once more. “It is my right, geghets’ik,” he sneered, leaning in close. “I shall touch you as I like.”

I jerked away from him again. “I am not your wife yet,” I seethed. “And I will do everything in my power to keep your hands off of me even when I am.”

His face hardened, his ugly face contorting with rage. “Watch your tongue woman,” he growled. “Or I will have it for dinner.”

I took a step away from him, walking backwards. “You can try.”

Oh, he was going to kill me.

He lunged forward, faster than I expected his old age to permit. His wrinkled hands wrapped around my upper arms, crushing down hard enough I knew I’d be bruised later. Before I could even scream, he dragged me to the side, behind the tents.

With wide, terrified eyes, I realized we were in an empty alley.

I could see it in his eyes, exactly what he intended to do to me.

“No,” I said, gritting my teeth. “Do not lay your hands, or any part of you on me.”

“It is my right, geghets’ik,” he said with a wicked grin.

I turned to run, but he grabbed me, shoving me against a wall. My head hit with a crack and little lights burst in my vision.

He flipped me around, and his disgusting hands greedily groped at my skirts.

“No,” I muffled, still dazed. “Get…get off.”

He hauled my skirts up and I heard the sound of buckles and fabric.

“No,” I said again, blinking to clear my head.

I searched. My hands swept at the stone wall I was pressed against, looking for anything to fight back with.

“Step away from the woman!” a voice yelled.

My vision cleared, my thoughts less foggy.

A second later, Kevork was ripped away from me, just as I felt his warm skin pressing against private parts of me.

A possessed yell, scuffling.

I was frozen for just a moment as I realized just how close he’d been to being inside of me. Of how close he’d been from taking that one thing from me that I only had once to give.

So close, he was practically there.

Beneath me, I felt something sharp. My hands wrapped around it.

A piece of metal. Long and slender.

I turned, lifting its weight.

The two men were fighting, but all I could see was Kevork. I raised my weapon, and I brought it down through the air.

It easily found its way. Split his skin. Cracked bone. Pierced through tissue.

I embedded the rod through Kevork’s chest.

He made a small gasping sound. His eyes swung over to me, wide, shocked.

And then he collapsed to the ground, further impaling the rod though his heart. He made one more gasping breath.

And then he was dead.

I was filled with horror. I was.

But I just stood there, stone faced, looking at his dead body.

“Are you…” a shaky voice asked. “Are you alright?”

I remembered that there was someone else in this alley, someone who had pulled the man off of me.

My eyes slid over, and met the most dazzling ones I’d ever seen. I get lost in those eyes. Green, dark green. Like the trees just before their leaves change color. Leaves in the forest at night.

He was medium height and build, but he looked strong. Lean arms and trunk. Hands that seemed powerful, powerful enough to stop Kevork.

His dark hair was thick and wild from the scuffle.

And his lips. The most beautiful lips I’d ever seen. The top one was slightly fuller than the bottom.

“Are you alright?” he repeated the question, his eyes full of fight and worry.

I nodded. I was still slightly numb, perhaps in shock that he’d very nearly raped me, and now he was at my feet, dead.

“Thank…” my voice came out rough. “Thank you.”

“Did you know him?” the man asked.

I swallowed once, tasting blood. I realized I’d bitten my tongue at some point. I nodded. “My parents promised me to him.”

I couldn’t quite read his expression. I was still in too much shock.

“Did you love him?” he asked.

My stomach was actually ill at the suggestion. I shook my head.

The man nodded. He looked down at the man. “You tell them that he was robbed. That he tried to fight, but the robber killed him, and you escaped.”

I could feel it, the numbness wearing off.

And surprisingly, it felt good.

I felt good.

I nodded. “What is your name?”

He met my eyes again. They were still difficult to read. “Cyrus,” he said.

I took him in then. His ratty clothes suggested he was little more than a hard laborer. But he carried himself in a way that said he could handle himself. There was a humble confidence in the lift of his chin and the gaze in his eyes that I’d never seen before.

“Thank you, Cyrus,” I offered. “I’m in your debt.”

He shook his head. “It was only the right thing to do.”

I shook my own head. “Most would not see it that way.”

“A person is a person,” he said. “No matter if they are a woman or a man.”

I smiled, something fluttering in my stomach. No one had ever said such words to me.

“I’m Sevan,” I said.

“Like the lake,” he said, smiling.

I decide then that it was one of the most beautiful smiles I’d ever seen.

I nodded.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Sevan,” Cyrus said, bowing his head just slightly, but keeping his eyes fixed on me.

I smiled, feeling my cheeks warm.