Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Spoken like someone under duress. "Mmmhmmm. Ink-blay ice-tway if you need elp-hay."
Leah meets my gaze and gives me a steady look. "I mean it. I've decided to stay and become Heir Remrrrtel's wife."
"Are...you in love with him?" I can't hide the disbelief in my voice. "Seriously? You're acting more like a prisoner."
The smile she gives me is small and slightly wry. "We have an agreement between us."
I just stare at her. This doesn't strike me as a happy bride or a woman excited about becoming a princess. She seems vaguely sad and distant. As I watch, she fusses with one of her bracelets, turning it back and forth on her small wrist. "You clearly look thrilled about the agreement," I point out. "Like you're on death row."
She jerks her head up and gives me a startled look. Nervous, she wets her lips. "It's...complicated, all right? I didn't want to marry him initially but we've talked. Things have changed. I've agreed to marry him and I have to. Understand?" She leans forward and reaches out to touch my hand, squeezing it tightly in a rather unpleasant way. "This marriage has to happen."
"Did you make some sort of deal with him? Do you need help?" I squeeze her hand twice, implying she can send me a message silently.
"I really am fine," she says, and her voice is firm even if her eyes are sad. She doesn't squeeze my hand back. "It's not a marriage of love but one of mutual goals. And that's all I can say about it. I appreciate your concern, though."
"Oh, sure." I have no idea what else to say. Leah doesn't seem happy about getting married, but she also doesn't want to back out of it. To me, it very much feels like a hostage situation, but every time I try to get her to give me a signal, she ignores it. She wants to go through with this.
Marriage to Rem is going to make her absolutely miserable and she still wants to do it. I can't help someone determined to be a martyr. I give her hand two more squeezes and she delicately pulls free from my grasp.
Her smile is practiced and sweet and completely false. "I'm told that you and Zhurrrvas have been a couple for quite some time. It's very kind of you to make the effort to come to our wedding in support of me."
So we're going to hide behind niceties? Okay, fine. "I am the soul of kindness, Princess of Earth."
Leah wrinkles her nose as if pained. "Caught that, did you? Lord Remrrrtel's advisors feel that our marriage will be more acceptable to the masses if it is thought that I'm royalty back home. That it might be seen as a bizarre sort of alliance instead of a terrible match for a praxiian lord."
"You mean so they don't act like he's marrying his dog?" I joke. "I've noticed how they look at us. Like we're drooling mouth-breathers instead of sentient beings."
Her eyes go wide at my words, and another smile touches her mouth, this one slightly more genuine. "You know all this—and clearly don't approve—and yet decided to go public with your union to Lord Zhurrrvas?"
Does she not know the truth of why Zhur and I are really here? I guess she's been given the same story as the others—either that or she's choosing her words deliberately because we're not alone. There's probably at least twenty guards in the room, to say nothing of the “helpers.” She's very careful, this Leah. "What can I say," I drawl. " I'm a fool in love."
"We all do strange things for love, don't we?" And her expression grows sad and fragile again.
Poor Leah. Despite the crowd in the room, it's obvious that she's very, very alone.
CHAPTER
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN
ZHUR
"She totally stonewalled me," Maeve complains as I join her in our quarters that night.
It's been an exhausting day. I've met with dignitary after dignitary, ambassadors from everywhere, politicians, business leaders, and lords from the mesakkah homeworld. Each time I've had to explain my actions over and over again, and tell them why I abandoned my post in the middle of the night with no word. Why I forced my brother to cover for me.
The strange thing is, the more I repeated the story we agreed upon, the more I was glad to be free of all of this. I'm tired of appeasing old, blustering lords and slimy politicians. I'm tired of hearing their complaints about how my actions affect them. All I want is to join Maeve in our quarters and hold her tight. Maybe take something apart and put it back together to relieve some stress.
After a day like today? I find that Rem is more than welcome to my throne. I can't wait to be done with all of this. How did I manage this long as Heir? I dislike the job intensely.