Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“This isn’t about us, though,” Solla quickly says, turning her attention back to me. “It’s about you and Andor. I can guarantee Andor doesn’t want to marry Frida. He’s been scheming to get out of it since the day my father promised him to the royals of Altus Dugrell. It’s a way to create unity between the lands. A bridge of sorts. We need the countries to be united as one, especially these days. If he marries her, then the royals can’t turn against each other.”
“So if he doesn’t marry her, then he’s making things worse for the lands,” I say, hating that I even have to say those words.
“It’s a sacrifice,” Steiner says. “One that none of us are happy about, especially not Andor.”
And yet he didn’t say a thing. This whole time I’ve been sleeping with him, fighting with him, risking my life alongside him, falling for him, and he’s been betrothed to someone else?
I feel flattened. Reduced. Into nothing. Like we now have nothing between us when it started to feel like we had everything.
And that’s when I really feel the weight in my stomach.
I’d begun to think about Andor as if he was always going to be around. As if what we were doing together, this relationship or whatever it is, was not only just getting started but that it was leading somewhere. Maybe not here in the Stormglen, but somewhere else, together. I had hope for us, more than I let my silly brain know, that we were going in the same direction.
But he was heading in another direction all along.
“He’s coming,” Solla suddenly says, a strange white flash coming over her eyes.
“Who is?” I manage to ask.
“Andor. He’s in the hall, heading here,” she says. I suppose she has some kind of precognition along with her telekinesis. She nods at Steiner. “We should go, give them privacy.”
“It’s my lab,” Steiner protests.
“And she’s probably going to murder Andor for keeping the princess a secret,” she says. “Do you want that to happen in the hall where everyone can see?”
He gives her a begrudging nod just as the door to the lab opens.
“Steiner, we need to talk about those fertilized dragon eggs,” Andor says as he steps in. He comes to a halt when he sees me. “What’s going on? Brynla, are you all right?”
He strides over to me while Solla and Steiner quickly exit the lab, shutting us inside, and Andor puts his hands on my shoulders. “Why are you out of bed? What happened?” His eyes search mine, completely oblivious.
For a moment I can barely speak. The hurt is too much; my emotions have already been at such a high level that I’m having a hard time pulling myself together.
Finally I say, “I overheard you and your father arguing.”
His expression falls slightly. He knows what I’m about to say.
“I heard what was said about the princess,” I go on. “About the woman you’re going to marry. The woman that…isn’t me.” It pains me even more to say that last bit, to even admit that I think it should be me.
Fuck, how did I fall for this man so hard and so fast?
“Brynla,” he says, his grip tightening on my shoulders. “I’m not marrying her.”
“I heard your father. That this is your one and only duty. I heard your uncle tell you that you’re jeopardizing your relationship with her. Relationship, Andor. You never even told me…”
I look away, the anger I felt earlier turning into something more pliable, into a hurt that sinks in deep and makes my chest feel hollow.
“I’m not marrying her,” he says again. “Yes, I was promised to her but it was a promise I never made. I never agreed to it. It was decided for me by my father, by my uncle, and by the king of Norland. I’ve never had any intention in following through.”
“And yet they still think you did.”
“Because they don’t know how to take no for an answer.”
A coal of anger begins to simmer inside. “You never told me. At any point that we’ve known each other, you could have told me. You could have said you were betrothed to someone else. Instead you kept it a secret.”
“Which I know was wrong of me,” he says imploringly. “But you have to believe me when I say that I didn’t spend any time thinking about the betrothal. Not even a little. The idea of their stupid bargain disappeared the moment I laid eyes on you.”
I want to believe him. I think I believe him. But it doesn’t stop me from feeling betrayed, from feeling sick that this was going on, something huge that was kept from me. Even if Andor had forgotten, his family sure hadn’t. His father sounded livid. They certainly believed that Andor will follow through, or they did until today.