Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Which she couldn’t blame him. That was her entire plan.
Flavia had been trying to ply and coax Kerrigan to her side since the day Vesra had declared her a Doma. As if Kerrigan would forget the prior days of abuse. She’d brought in tutors for various instruments, vocal training, and dancing, and Kerrigan had failed miserably on all accounts. She could dance. She was better than good at the ballroom styles back home, but she didn’t know any of the Domaran styles, and she wasn’t interested in performing for them.
Flavia sighed heavily when another tutor left. She rose to her feet and circled Kerrigan. “You have no musical ability. No songbird voice. No quick feet. What can you do?”
Kerrigan smiled devilishly. “You’ve got the wrong girl. I’m a fighter, a politician, a dragon rider.”
Flavia stopped before her and then burst into laughter. “A dragon rider. Now, that is fanciful. Even more than a fighter and a politician. As if they’re letting women into the Senate.” She bent double at the suggestion. “Dragons are feral. Only skilled dragon trainers even survive them. I’ve never even seen one up close. A little thing like you? You’d be dead on sight.”
Kerrigan didn’t correct her. She wouldn’t believe her anyway.
Flavia waved her hand at Felix. “Get her dressed for tonight. We have suitors coming in.”
Felix tilted his head to the side, and Kerrigan followed him down into the bottom of the inn once more. The two women were prepared for another night of bathing and milk baths and festooning her in adornments. But before she stepped into the room, she touched Felix’s hand.
“Thank you,” she said softly, gently.
He looked at her warily. “For what?”
“Taking good care of me. I don’t understand the clash between Domara and Andine, but I suspect that looking at me must be difficult.”
Kerrigan hadn’t learned much since she’d landed in Domara, but the violence between the various people was obvious to her. She was used to it being on racial lines. The hatred toward anything that wasn’t Fae. She hadn’t been prepared for it to be between two countries. But she wouldn’t forget how people had looked at Felix as they walked together into that small town. How Nella had shuddered at being around Andines. Kerrigan could put the pieces together even if she couldn’t see the entire tapestry.
Felix’s hard expression melted slightly at those words. She barely suppressed the satisfied smile. The only person she hadn’t been able to get her claws into was Felix. Maybe he was susceptible after all.
“Well, you don’t act like them. I’ll give you that,” Felix said. Then, he slowly withdrew his hand. “But you’ll need to learn to act like them to survive. Allow me to give you the lesson Flavia hasn’t imparted.” He loomed over her. “We are not friends. A Doma would never touch an Andine. And that’s how we like it.”
Then, he turned and walked out the door.
Maybe she didn’t have her claws in him. Scales.
The tavern below had been emptied for her debut. Or at least, that was how she was looking at it. Flavia had the jitters that Kerrigan normally associated with the start of a Season. This wasn’t exactly how Kerrigan had pictured hers going.
“Ready?” Flavia asked. When Kerrigan said nothing, Flavia just smiled wider. “Of course you are. Let’s meet the wealthiest men of Eivreen.”
Kerrigan put one foot in front of the other. She was dressed in another all-white gown. Her ears on display. Her skin coated in that same powder. She was a jewel on exhibit. Maybe she wouldn’t have hated it so much if it were for any other option. Gods, what would Fordham think if he knew what she was doing this very moment? He’d probably drop in with his shadow magic and murder anyone who so much as looked at her.
That brought a smile to her face. She needed the reminder that she was the predator in this room. She might not have her magic. But she wasn’t the vulnerable doll Flavia was pitching to them either.
All she needed to do was get through tonight. She was this close to finding a way past Felix, and then she’d be gone. It was one more night. One more performance.
Kerrigan took the step down the stairs and then another. She got her first look at the men who would purchase her. A disgusting lot of predators. Nearly all of them had pooches for stomachs and graying hair. Though she could see their wealth. Flavia would drain them dry if she could.
Flavia did most of the talking. She knew these men—at least tangentially. She could do business with them.
“And she sings?” the first man asked.
“She has a passable voice,” Flavia said tactfully.
“Hmm. I have one who sings passably. Though not as beautiful as her.”
“Think on it,” Flavia said with a wink.