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DAWN SPELLS DEATH. Night after night, the King takes in a woman, only to kill her before the morning sun breaks out across the land. When a thousand women have fallen in his reign of terror, the hunt begins for his next victim. Until Shahrazad, the daughter of his vizier, volunteers. But she is here to end it, once and for all. She intends to make him bleed for his thousand sins, and lead a revolution that will crumble his kingdom. And then, she tells him a tale as old as time to delay her death.

In your nineteen winters, you have never been as trepid as tonight. You look beautiful, like the moon, destined to die with the first glance of morning. Your obsidian spun hair has been brushed to perfection, detangled, and perfumed with rose scented water, the silks heavy against your dusky skin.

It seems peculiar to you that the king details presentation for someone he wishes to slaughter. Perhaps it is his manipulative lure, beckoning women with riches, only to have their blood staining his plush Persian rugs. He sits on a throne of blood and bones, after all.

The maid-in-waiting ushers you towards the mahogany doors that hold your fate, the room of nightmares wherein exactly a thousand daughters fell with dawn. You brace yourself for the monster that awaits, the glittery sash that settles on your hips suddenly constricting. You look beautiful, but you want to be deadly.

Fluttering your lashes, your hands clasp the intricately fashioned golden handles, breathing dipping as you push the doors open. The scent of hyacinths hits your nostrils first, followed by a strong gust of cold wind billowing the satin curtains. His back is towards you, and you fleetingly consider stabbing him with the dagger nestled within the folds of your robes.

No, you persuade your conscious rationally, analysing his broad shoulders. He could slit your throat before your fingers dare to grasp the hilt.

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Dark Fantasy Romance Mystery Arabian Nights Retelling