Page 5 of The Dark Prince
It was easy to see what was going on here. Perron’s daughter had lied. Judging by her fear, they had forced this girl into some kind of trickery. Perron was an idiot and likely knew nothing about his daughter’s schemes.
I put one hand on the back of Isadora’s neck, massaging the skin and tangling my fingers in her hair. I would make it clear to everyone here that a slight against her would be a slight againstme. And that included Perron.
To my surprise, she stilled at my touch and leaned into me. That was likely just my imagination, though.
“This woman is my choice. You provided a bride. Your debt is paid. Depending on my mood, I may send men back for the rest. Good day.”
Isadora kept clinging to me. I told herself it was only because she feared Perron more.She sees you as a lesser of two evils.
“Wait!What do you mean ‘the rest?’ ” Perron cried out. “You said I paid the debt!”
I glared at him, then glanced eyes purposefully at the lingering bruises dotting Isadora’s body. “I said your debt to me had been paid.”
I ignored his sputtering in favor of my wife-to-be.“Is there anything you need to gather? Possessions or belongings?” I asked her, my lips brushing against her ear as I bent down to speak with her.
She sucked in a breath, but shook her head. “No, no possessions,” she breathed out.
I frowned. All women had possessions. Dresses, powders, brushes and lip paint. What did it mean that she had none? The girl—Isadora—snapped her head up suddenly.
“Wait!” she called out, eyes darting nervously to me, then back to the blonde girl. “My hair tie, please?” Isadora begged, holding out a hand to the girl.
The blonde girl’s glare was murderous, but at a rumble from me, she quickly yanked the leather thong from around her wrist. Glaring at everyone, she stretched it until it snapped in half, then threw it on the ground.
Isadora gasped in horror, and her body shook slightly. Everyone in the room was watching her for her reaction. Isadora tried to be brave, but her lower lip trembled once. Twice.
She was going to cry.
I narrowed my gaze at the blonde who loudly gulped and took a step back. She’d broken that hair tie on purpose.
“Do not worry,” I said to Isadora against me, my lips ghosting near her shoulder but my voice was loud enough to carry across the room. “You will have your own at my manor, gilded in gold and silver. As many as you want,” I promised, my gaze deadly as I sneered at the blonde.
“It was my mother’s,” Isadora whispered softly to me.
Ah.
“Would you like to mend the straps?” I asked. “The women at the castle can fix it. They are very skilled.”
I whispered this to her, as though we were the only two in the room. I wasn’t sure why I offered—but it seemed like the right thing to do.
She nodded quickly, her hands clutching onto my leather belt.
I held my hand out in front of me, refusing to say a word. The crowd stared, uneasy.
“Give me the scraps,” I intoned.
Perron jerked his head at his daughter, who flushed and scowled back. He raised a hand at her and she scrambled forward, tripping as she bent to retrieve the two bits of leather. She practically threw them at my face but I caught them one-handed in my fist.
“I will hold on to them, and keep it safe,” I told Isadora, slipping the bands into a pocket. Her lips thinned, and she nodded unhappily.
I addressed the room. “We’re done here.”
I tuned out the protestations of Isadora’sdearfamily, letting her take one last look around before she never saw this manor ever again. My heart twisted a bit at the thought, but I savagely shoved it down. I’d learned long ago not to get entangled in anyone else’s life. It only led to pain when I inevitably killed them.
Isadora’s eyes landed on the portraits lining the hall; people who looked grand and important and shared her slightly upturned nose and her rounded face. Her expression was simultaneously relieved and devastated.
“Go? But we prepared a feast, and the wedding—” Perron cut himself off at my glare, but gestured widely at everyone and everything.
I chuckled. If Perron thought I would cave to societal pressure, he had no clue who I was.
