Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Cian stops in the middle of the street, the dust churning under his feet. “What does that mean?”
“It means my father ordered me to get married or else,” I admit, hearing the harshness of the words from my own mouth.
“Are you serious?” Cian asks.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” I sigh and begin walking again. “He kicked me off the sunscreen project. He told me I can’t get back in until I have a consort at my side. He apparently thinks getting married will make me seem less like an asswipe.”
“You can’t get married just because your dad tells you to,” Cian insists.
I snort, an inelegant sound. That’s the pot calling the kettle black. “I don’t know why not. You were certainly going to, or have you forgotten a frigid filly named Maris? Are you trying to tell me it was your idea to bond with her?”
Before the civil war, Beck and Cian’s father arranged their bonding with no thought to love. I remember Maris. She was a highborn bondmate. She was also one of the coldest women I ever met. Cian couldn’t stand her. Many nights, I listened to my cousin bemoan his fate.
“That was different,” Cian replies.
A wave of rising irritation nips at my patience. “Sure, cos. It was different because it was your father threatening you and your inheritance at stake. I remember how much you hated that woman, and you would have married her if fate hadn’t stepped in. I’m sure you would have stood up for yourself in the end. You would have told your father and Beck to go to hell because you wanted to marry for love.”
“That’s not fair.” Cian frowns.
“None of it is,” I shoot back.
“And it was different. There was a kingdom at stake. I’m not trying to say I’m better than you. I don’t think that at all. I’m trying to point out that you have choices. You have more freedom than Beck and I had.”
Naturally I have it better off. I shouldn’t have even tried to talk to him about this. He’ll never understand. “Stay out of it. I’m going to do what I need to do, and that’s that. My father has always complained that I wasn’t willing to do what it takes. Well, I’ll show him.”
I hurry along, leaving my cousin with the perfect wife and happy life behind. I don’t need a lecture from Cian. Cian is married. He has his brother to depend on. My sister treats me like I’m still five years old. Come to think of it, everyone treats me like a child. I’m thirty. I run a business. Well, I run an arm of the family business. Of course, I have a manager who does most of the daily work, but everyone has help. Not everyone is as efficient and organized as my sister. Not everyone wants each minute of the day planned out to model efficient time management.
What does Cian expect me to do? Should I tell my father to go straight to the Hell plane and righteously pack my bags? Where would I live? How would I survive? I’ve never gone without a day in my life. I like being rich, and I’m good at it.
A long wail splits the air around the market, and I stop at the sound. It’s the howl of an animal in pain.
“What the hell was that?” Cian asks with a hitch in his breath.
“I think that’s our guest,” Beck replies.
Beck breaks into a run, his long legs eating the distance to the tent. Meg struggles to keep up with him. While Beck runs ahead, Cian takes their wife’s hand and hurries her along. I jog, easily catching up and matching Beck’s stride.
There’s a crowd outside the large tent, though I notice they give the place a wide berth, as though what’s inside is too terrible for them to get too close to. It’s easy for me to push my way to the front.
All around me, the people and creatures whisper in hushed tones. They talk about the animal in her cage and wonder if the bars are enough to keep her from their children. Savage, one calls her. Brutal. Some speak of her attempting to eat the gnomes assigned to care for her.
Maybe I should rethink the whole getting-married plan. Maybe Reeve has another, less hostile consort I can buy. I don’t need to die to prove this point to my father. A quiet, homely, uneducated rube will do nicely. I want her to shock my father, not cannibalize him.
“Reeve, what’s going on now?” Beck asks.
A small man with a pointy red hat moves toward Beck and Cian, who has taken his place beside his brother. I feel Meg move at my side, but I’m watching the gnome. Reeve of the Gentle Hills, who served the Finn family for decades, bows deeply.