Page 12 of The Last of the Dark Lords
“Why didn’t you come find me, Skye?”
I lowered my bow. I hadn’t considered talking to Jelenna, or to anyone really. I’d felt an overwhelming need to escape. Even now, I wasn’t sure I could put my thoughts into a coherent order.
“I…couldn’t.” I fought through my reluctance. If I didn’t speak to anyone about it, it wouldn’t feel real. “Do you know about…”
“The rumor is the Prime asked you to marry the Dark Lord of Ashfuror.” She squeezed my arm. “Is it true?”
“Yes.” I let out a ragged breath. I checked to make sure no one was in earshot. “Grandmother wants me to sever Cyrus’ connection to his crown. It’s an artifact, a powerful one.”
“Sounds fun!” Jelenna flashed me a crooked smile. “What’s the problem?”
“We’ll take wedding vows. We’ll be bound together. That’s the strongest tie you can have with another human being. It wouldn't weigh on you to betray that?”
“Skye, they aren’tpeople, not like us. They’re manipulative and conniving. They don’t feel guilt when they do something bad. His father killed your parents!”
I squeezed my forehead with my right hand. A throbbing pain was threatening to take over. “It’s not about them. My vows mean something to me. They aren’t just empty words. The soul bond makes that doubly true. What will it cost me to betray that?”
“Maybe a lot.” Jelenna answered. “But isn’t the future of our home worth it?”
From her face it was clear that she thought the answer was simple, but it wasn’t to me. I’d understood the need for agents among the enemy’s people, I even assumed we had some active. But this was an act of deceit and aggression that could put the core of who I was at risk.
I didn’t have an answer.
“Listen.” Jelenna’s tone was more casual. “I think I’ll come along.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll need support. I can be a lady-in-waiting.” She curtsied mischievously.
I chuckled at the thought of Jelenna dressed in the elaborate lace outfits of the old aristocracy.
“You’ve never been a lady.”
“Your attendant, then.” Her face set itself into a mask of determination. “The point is, you won’t be alone.”
Her wish to stay with me was comforting. She was intelligent and deadly. It would be good to have a friend like her at my side.
“All right.IfI decide to do this, you can come.”
“Nice!” She slapped me on the back. “Now let’s talk about your virginity.”
“No.” My face surged with embarrassing warmth. “No, we will not be talking about that.”
“You need to lose it before the wedding.”
“I do not!”
“You really want your first time to be with the Dark Lord? Who knows what kind of ugly troll he is! I’ve heard that the old families of Ashfuror have been inbred for centuries.”
“I don’t think—”
“Why haven’t you taken care of this already, anyway?”
I rubbed my face with my hands. I hated this, hated talking about it and hated thinking about it.
“There was never anybody that I was that close to.”
“Oh, you mean you kept any potential love interests at arms length, because you’re scared to be vulnerable.”