Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Things came to a head one day, three weeks after Slade had banished me back to my own home world. Pansy came to get me up in the morning and informed me that my brother, the King, wanted to have a word with me in the Throne Room.
“What does he want?” I asked listlessly. “If he expects me to plan the next state dinner for him, tell him I’m busy.”
“I don’t think that’s it, my Princess.” She gave me a worried look as she helped me into a court gown. “He looked very serious. I think you need to go see what he wants.”
Her words broke though some of the numbness I was feeling and I felt a shiver of unease run down my spine. Still, it couldn’t be that bad, could it? What could my brother want?
Feeling anxious, I finished getting dressed and went down to the Throne Room where Roderick was sitting on the throne. He had a frown on his face and it only deepened when he saw me approaching.
“Pansy said you wanted to see me,” I said. I had been trying to avoid this room—it bore too many memories. I couldn’t help remembering that the last time I had stood here was when Slade had been bargaining for my hand in marriage.
“Yes, I did. Er, thank you for coming.” Roderick seemed ill at ease, not that I cared.
“What is it?” I asked bluntly.
“Well, it’s…” My brother cleared his throat and shifted on the throne, as though he couldn’t decide what to say. “It’s about your future, dear sister,” he said at last.
“My future? What are you talking about?” I asked, shaking my head. “I have no future.”
“Yes, you do!” Roderick exclaimed. “That is, I believe you could have a very, er, productive future with the right man.”
I stared at him blankly.
“Roderick, what are you trying to say?” I demanded. “Out with it.”
“I’m saying that I’ve arranged a marriage for you, dear sister,” he said.
“A what?” I stared at him. “What are you talking about? I’m already married.” At least I thought I still was. Slade hadn’t actually divorced me. Not on paper, anyway. But then what did I know? Maybe the Brutes did things differently.
“A marriage,” my brother repeated. “One I think will be beneficial to all.”
“Who is ‘all?’” I demanded. “Do you mean beneficial to you? Because I can’t think of how it would benefit me.”
“It will get you out of the palace, at least!” Roderick exclaimed, letting go of his “kind brother” act at last. “I can’t have you drifting around like a ghost while everyone whispers about how the king’s own sister is a fallen woman who sold herself to a Brute! It’s scandalous.”
“I ‘sold’ myself to save our people when you gambled away the tribute money!” I snapped. “I’m so sorry if having me back again is ruining your day, but I can’t help that!”
Roderick lifted his chin.
“Be that as it may, dear sister, I feel it would be to your benefit to be married again. And it happens that I have had an excellent offer for your hand.”
“What? Who are you talking about? Who offered for my hand?” I demanded.
“I did, dear Princess.” The horribly familiar voice made me turn my head and I saw none other than Duke Hornsby striding towards us. He looked normal enough…until I saw his hands.
He was wearing metal gloves—they gleamed a dull silver as he walked. Most of his fingers were now metal too—except for the right index finger. That one was black…black and rotting, I thought, as the stench of corruption reached my nose and made me want to gag. He must have tried to have it reattached…but clearly that surgery wasn’t holding up.
I turned to my brother.
“Roderick, you can’t be serious about this!” I exclaimed. “You can’t give me to Hornsby—Slade cut off his fingers for insulting me. He only wants me so he can hurt me to get back at him!”
“Why, my dear, you wound me.” Hornsby put the hand with the rotten finger to his heart and made a sad face. “I have no wish to hurt you—I have long admired you from afar. When I heard that your brother had decided to break with tradition and allow you to wed, I decided to ask for your hand.”
“You’re lying,” I snapped. I turned back to Roderick. “I won’t marry him—you can’t make me!”
“Alas, the marriage contract is already signed,” Hornsby said smoothly. “And so you and I have nothing to do, dear Princess, but go off on our honeymoon.”
“How much did you pay for me?” I demanded, glaring at him. I looked back at my brother. “Well? How much did you sell me for this time, Roderick?”
My brother squirmed on the throne uneasily but didn’t answer. From the shifty look in his eyes, I knew it must have been a lot. Hornsby must have paid a monstrous bride price to get me in his clutches and there was nothing I could do about it. Still, I tried—I wasn’t going down without a fight.