Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“Does that mean I can ask for yours?”
Helly laughed sharp and short. “I suppose you can.”
Helly put a hand on Kerrigan’s shoulder, and together, they headed out of the chamber.
Kerrigan swallowed and looked up at Helly, wearing the navy-blue House of Stoirm coat of arms pin on her lapel. “Any news from the House of Shadows?”
Helly sighed. “If you mean, have I heard about Fordham? Then, no.”
“Oh,” she whispered.
“Wherever he has gone, he does not want to be found.”
“So, I should abandon him to his fate?”
“I did not say that,” she said gently. “But you have bigger things to worry about right now.”
“The election isn’t for months.”
“I meant … your impending nuptials.”
Kerrigan groaned. “Right. Any luck in finding a way out of that?”
Helly shook her head. “I did what you’d requested and sent feelers out about the House of Medallion’s presence on your lands, and it is as dire as Lord March made it seem. I do believe he could follow through on a house takeover if he so wanted.”
She grimaced. “So, I have to marry him?”
“There’s still time. Play along, and we’ll figure it out.”
That was what her father had said. They’d offered her dowry to be rid of the betrothal, and March had been insulted. She couldn’t afford to insult him. She had to play faerie bride for a little longer. Because if there was a way to break this engagement … a way to get back to Fordham, she would damn well find it.
3
THE SEASON
“I … can’t … breathe,” Kerrigan gasped out. Her arms were wrapped around a poster in her bedchamber.
Benton and Bayton tittered behind her.
“Just one more pull,” Bayton said softly.
“Yeah, hold still, miss,” Benton agreed.
Kerrigan held her breath as the twins jerked on the laces hard enough to break her ribs. “That’s enough.”
“All done,” Benton said, patting her shoulder. “No one will be able to resist you in this new Parris piece. Though I do have to say, I am not used to all this extra … skin.”
“I fully agree, sister,” Bayton said.
Kerrigan laughed and then regretted it as the stays dug into her. Benton and Bayton were half-Fae twins brought in after the House of Shadows defeat. Under the thousand-year-old spell that had trapped the court inside the mountain, half-Fae and humans had no rights. The Great War was fought over their enslavement, and at the end of it, the House of Shadows was imprisoned in their own mountain. All their old ideals had remained.
She had discovered that the cage that had held them for a thousand years had been put there to save them from destruction. Mei had been the House of Shadows ambassador, and she, like Kerrigan, was a spiritcaster. The last one in a thousand years. She’d given up her life to save her people. The unintended consequences of that being isolation and the enslavement of half-Fae and humans into perpetuity.
Kerrigan had unintentionally connected with Mei’s magic and brought the barrier down, resulting in the Battle of Lethbridge. As terms of surrender for the House of Shadows, all slaves were freed and brought into Kinkadia as refugees. Kerrigan offered to sponsor Benton and Bayton and to get them jobs in the city. They’d refused and insisted on working for her. She insisted on paying them for their job as soon as she received a salary from the Society. Though they continually argued that their freedom was payment enough. Not that she had any intention of trading their enslavement for indentured servants.
“You two are insufferable,” she said, heading for the mirror. When she got a glance at the gown Parris had delivered, her breath caught. “Wow.”
Benton and Bayton smirked behind her.
“We told you,” Benton said.
“It’s gorgeous.”
The dress was a soft baby blue and draped across her like a cloud. The corseted top had a square neckline to reveal her cleavage with puffy cloud-like sleeves to her wrists, which were light enough for the Kinkadian spring humidity. She wished she could breathe easier, but Parris was a genius.
He’d also been a member of the House of Dragons as a child. He had been taken in by a fashion mogul, who helped him open his own shop. It was now thriving. She wanted to say it was partially because he saved all his best designs for her, but he was too talented for it to be anything but his own incredible art.
Unfortunately, she had to wear it for March.
Her face fell at that realization. The twins glanced at each other. They’d been with her for two weeks, and they knew better than most exactly how she felt about this forced marriage.
“It will be all right, miss,” Bayton said, taking her hand. “You’ll figure it out.”
“Prince Fordham will come back,” Benton said with enough conviction to bolster her. “He won’t let you go through with this.”