She was a physician, sold as a substitute bride to the most feared man in the North. On their wedding night he gave her a choice disguised as a gift: a potion that would kill her if she fell in love within thirty days. He wanted her body but not her heart. She wanted to survive. In a castle full of shadows, they circled each other—testing, touching, withholding. The deadliest battle wasn't between them. It was inside them.