Page 22 of The Dark Prince
Ten
TYR
Ihad to be dreaming. That or dropped into an alternate reality where I wasn’t a vicious, deformed, murdering bastard cursed to bring ruin to everyone I loved.
I was warm by a roaring fire with more bread and mutton than I could eat in a lifetime. My pretty wife was on my lap, clapping her hands at the songs and shooting quick glances and shy smiles up at me whenever she could.
I felt … like a normal man.
Such thoughts were dangerous. I wasn’t a normal man. Pretending I was would only lead to a loss of control and ultimately more death and destruction. I couldn’t do that to these people. I wouldn’t.
And yet … It felt so good. Perhaps I would only pretend I was a normal man, just for tonight. Tonight only, I was a newly married man on my honeymoon with a wife who blushed as I held her on my knee, giggling at the jokes the other women whispered into her ear.
Puth had already offered his hut to us for the night. I knew I wouldn’t be able to refuse without more questions, questions I had no answers to. It would be easiest for everyone if I simply slept in the same hut as my wife.
I shifted in my chair, a certain part of my anatomy fully enthused at the thought. Isadora turned toward me at the slight movement, a smile on the corner of her lips. Her arms came around my neck as she twisted and put a chaste kiss on my unmasked cheek before turning back to her somewhat stilted conversation with Puth’s wife. I think she was one of Grisha’s daughters?
The innocent kiss only stirred more debauchery in my mind. I tensed, knowing I would have to keep a tight rein on my emotions. Otherwise, I could end up forcing Isadora into something she didn’t want. Or worse, I’d lose control. I’d hurt her and then she’d hate me forever.
Wasn’t that the point, though?
I had tried to find a wife that would be easy to hate in order to make the curse more bearable on all of us. I could easily hurt a wife I didn’t like. I could forgive myself and continue on in the role set out for me since birth.
But for the third time since I’d taken Isadora, I wondered if I wasn’t wrong about everything.
I could always take Isadora back and take the wretched sister in her stead. Then I wouldn’t be in danger of caring about her. I wouldn’t be threatening the safety of all those bound to me.
Isadora’s terrified face flooded my mind when Perron had stepped toward her in the manor. I’d never forget how she’d clutched at me: a literal stranger with the most fierce reputation in the kingdom.
No. I wouldn’t take her back there. I’d already flayed the man who’d tried to kill her. There was no way I’d allow her to return to an abusive household. I’d burn it to the ground first.
“They absolutely adore you.”
I jerked at Isadora’s face, a look of wonder stretched across her features. I was caught between embarrassment and indignation. Everyone always assumed I was cruel. It was for the best, though.
“My mother’s lineage dates back to this village,” I responded. “A few generations or so, I believe. Apparently, it’s enough to consider me one of them. I do my best to protect them.”
She nodded, still watching everything around her with a glazed expression. “That’s so nice. My mother was a minor noble, but she married a merchant. She said her parents weren’t too happy, but they gave her their smallest manor and a modest allowance. They took it away after he died and she refused to return home and remarry. I was very young. I don’t really remember him.”
Anger flared in my veins. “I’m sorry. Family should never be turned away, no matter the circumstances.”
The words felt like ash on my tongue considering my own family dynamics, but Isadora looked sad enough. She didn’t need my woes added to hers.
“Tyr! Look!”
I blinked, torn from my dark musings, as Isadora tapped my chest and pointed across the room. A group of children were weaving flower crowns and dancing in front of the main fire, overseen by Puth’s daughter, Asha. Isadora turned down large, doe-brown eyes on me, sliding off my lap.
“I want to see!”
I wasn’t sure why that involved me, but I could not deny her anything as she grasped my scarred fingers and tugged me after her. I jerked, forgetting I’d had my gloves off.
No one had said a thing. Isadora hadn’t stared at me once and hadn’t reacted upon feeling my marred flesh against her own.
The room suddenly felt too hot and too crowded. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.Focus on Isadora.
“May I have one?”
We paused in front of a group of five young children who had halted their dance at our approach. Asha smiled down at them, gesturing for them to go ahead. A little boy with blonde hair shyly reached out to Isadora, a crown of flowers in his hands. Isadora giggled and dropped to her knees so the boy could reach.
