Page 23 of The Court the Fae Forgot
It was all I could do to keep from spewing bile.
Behind me, I could sense Ada had stilled. At least this part, the part where my parents planned to sell me off to the stablemaster at their very first chance, seemed to have come as a surprise to her, too.
At least this she didn’t keep from me too.
I’d known it was coming if I stayed, I just truly didn’t expect them to pawn me off quite so soon. Over the last month I’d often heard them whispering about their plan to hire help, a constant reminder of how eager they were to replace me. I’d thought their greed was enough to let them suffer me a little longer, but apparently my free—and good—labor was not enough for them.
I was almost disappointed in myself for being so surprised.
I shouldn’t have been surprised.
I was never good enough for them.
I gritted my teeth together. “And if I refuse?”
My father’s eyes bugged out of his skull at the mere suggestion. Half raised from his seat, hand already reaching for the buckle on his belt, he was only stopped by my mother’s arm reaching out to catch hold of him.
She fixed me with a stare that made me whither where I stood.
“Aurra, you’re going to go down to the river and bathe, now. Every bride is nervous before her wedding day. When you come back up to the house, we expect you to show some gratitude. After all you’ve put us through, we’ve sheltered, clothed, and fed you. It’s now someone else’s turn to take on that burden.”
“Frankly,” my father said, his head dipping deep into the cup still clutched in his hand. “Rayner is a better man than you deserve. The time has come to get rid of you before he realizes that for himself.”
I stamped my foot on the ground.
No. No, I’d had enough. There had to be another option—one that didn’t involve me having to either marry a man who would kill me or now rob my sister of her own chance to escape this sorry excuse for a life.
“But if I refuse?” I repeated the question with more force this time.
Pure hate radiated off of both my parents’ faces.
My father was the one to answer. He slammed his cup down and glared at me, teeth bared like the beast he was.
“The deal is done, Aurra. The paperwork was signed and returned this morning with the courier. Rayner’s dowry is paid. All that’s left is for you to be delivered.”
A great, overwhelming weight settled down on me with the revelation of what he was saying.
Behind me, I heard Ada draw a sharp breath. She reached out to grab me.
“No … no, no, no …” she whimpered. “I don’t want to go to school. You can go to school instead.”
Her shaky words only served to earn her a look sharp enough to make her flinch back.
My own voice raised a pitch. “But that … that’s not legal. I’m not a slave to be bought and sold.”
My father just stared at me, not an ounce of pity on his face. “I’d like you to find someone who cares, Aurra,” he said. “After the stunt you pulled with the fae last month, I’d really like to see you try.”
It was the first time we’d addressed the strange occurrence in the village, and from the look on his face and my mother’s, it was going to be the only time.
Because he was right. My father was right.
There was no point in arguing.
This was always how it was going to end.
Like he said … refusal was not an option.
CHAPTERTEN
