Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
“Consider if you lost him,” Dad urged me.
My beast curled into herself, probably because Dad was around, but also at the thought of losing Aleksei.
Aleksei’s beast, feeling this, pulsated adamantly.
“What did I say about addressing my mate?” Aleksei bit.
“She’s my daughter,” Dad returned.
“No, sir, she is mine,” the king retorted.
I jolted.
Dad visibly did too.
Mom’s eyes narrowed.
“Tread carefully from here, understanding this,” the king warned.
“Yes, your majesty,” Dad acquiesced (Dad! Acquiescing!). “Please, let me assure you, it is agony, losing your mate. Ask your son.”
“I would be inconsolable if I lost my queen,” the king replied. “And, of course, angry at the gods for taking her from me. But I would not take the anger of my loss out on a single being, especially one of my children.”
“With respect, sire, you cannot say that without having experienced the loss, and without having—”
“Your mate,” Mom finished for him. “It’s all about his mate.”
“Be quiet, Cetra,” Dad whispered harshly.
Here we go.
“I didn’t even want to be here, Tern,” Mom hissed.
Yep.
Here we go.
“If you two intend to start bickering,” the queen warned, “you can do so on your way home. Now explain. What is your purpose here?”
“I’ve had time to think on it, thirteen years of it, and I simply want Laura to understand,” Dad said.
“Our daughter is the True Bride,” Mom said at the same time.
Queen Calisa chose to focus on Mom.
“This has not escaped us,” she drawled.
“We are her parents,” Mom asserted.
“This is debatable, but I have no interest in debating it,” the queen returned. “Though I would like you to explain why you said it.”
“We received the no contact order,” Dad informed them.
“Yes, it is procedure for you to be notified when a no contact is filed against you. And yet, here you are,” the king said.
“We didn’t know Laura would be here,” Dad replied.
“We won’t be calling the constabulary, rest assured,” the king told him. “However, whether you knew or not, you contacted her mate’s family. This is not illegal, but it is dishonorable.”
“This is also not bringing the matter forward,” Queen Calisa put in.
“We are the parents of the True Bride,” Mom reiterated.
“I have no understanding of why you persist in asserting that,” the queen retorted.
Mom squared her shoulders. “We have a place in—”
“Don’t fucking finish that.” Now Aleksei was absolutely barking at them.
I saw Mom’s face pale at his tone, and I turned to look at my mate.
Those veins had popped out, and his eyes glowed purple.
“Honey,” I whispered.
“We wish to inform you we’re filing an intent for reconciliation,” Dad announced, but although it was an announcement, you could hear he was nervous.
And again, I jolted.
“Laura?” the king called me.
I looked to him.
He raised his brows.
I shook my head.
He turned to my parents. “Denied.”
I could tell it took a lot out of Dad to assert, “With respect, yet again, your majesty, you do not have the authority to deny our request. When an intent for reconciliation is filed, we’re guaranteed at least one meeting with our daughter, attended by an adjudicator, before the question of a no contact order is considered valid…or rejected.”
He was correct, but they could not be sitting there, doing this, thinking I would reconcile with them when they only came forward because they thought they could get something out of it.
“Allain!” the queen called.
Allain immediately came through the doors.
“Get the Minister of Law and Justice on a comm,” she demanded.
“Your majesty,” he said and pulled out his Palm.
“If you try to go around this, pull strings, we’ll talk to—” Mom began to threaten.
But I cut her off.
“What do you want?” I asked.
With no hesitation, pure and unadulterated Mom, she bitterly fired back, “Oh, can we talk directly to you now?”
“What do you want?” I repeated.
“You’re our daughter,” she snapped.
“Wait, did we enjoy roast pork by candlelight all the while exchanging presents last Dead Winter and I’ve forgotten?” I queried.
“You left us, we did not leave you,” Mom returned.
“You didn’t ask me back,” I reminded her. “In fact, I heard nothing from you at all for thirteen years.”
“So it’s our place to plead and kneel before you after we spent seventeen years providing for you and you simply up and leave without that first glance back?” Mom asked.
I could feel Aleksei, but more, his beast, responding to this, so I had to shut it down.
“Fine. I’ll attend a reconciliation meeting,” I conceded.
Aleksei’s fingers bit into my waist.
I kept talking.
“You can assert to the adjudicator what great parents you were. And then I can share my medical records. I can ask Mr. and Mrs. Truelock to testify regarding how often I was at their house because I couldn’t bear being around you and your constant arguments with each other that you never hid from me, and the ugly things you said to me. I can comm the Vinestrongs, and they can tell tales of how you never came to the school plays I designed the costumes for, and sometimes didn’t even bother to pick me up after rehearsals and performances, so they had to take me home. I can ask Cat to share the loving story of how Dad lost it and shouted at me for half an hour right in front of her when I accidentally dropped my school tablet, and he had to buy me another one. I’m sure Gayle will be happy to tell the delightful tale of you ripping my Summer Solstice gown to shreds, not because of anything I’d done, but because you were angry at Dad for the seven millionth time. I’d designed that gown. I’d stitched it with my own fingers. You refused to give me the money to buy the materials to replace it, so in the end, I had to borrow something from Cat to wear on my date. Shall I go on?”