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“No, she is not,” Branford replied. “When I took her up to my room, I had every intention of bedding her. I had been staring at her in that dress all evening, and I was ready to see what was underneath it.”
“And was she lacking?” Parnell asked. “You can still annul since you haven’t consummated the union.”
“She’s a commoner, Parnell.” His voice turned hard and callous. “I could open the doors of this carriage in the middle of a busy marketplace, take her in front of a dozen witnesses, declare her a lousy fuck, and still have the marriage annulled. I don’t intend to do that.”
“So what changed your course?”
“I don’t remember exactly what she said,” Branford answered. “It was her tone, not her words, that made me look at her—really see her. She had her eyes closed, but it was apparent that she was…was…” Branford paused and let out a long sigh. “Parnell, she was terrified. I thought she had been trembling with anticipation, but she was afraid of me, not just nervous; I would have expected that. Honestly, she looked frightened enough I had to ask if she was a virgin. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a servant girl to be raped, and she clearly thought I was going to hurt her.”
“So what did you do?”
“I stopped, obviously,” Branford said, his tone suddenly dark. “I’m not a rapist, and that’s what it would have been.”
“You can’t rape your wife. She is yours for the taking.”
“Yes”—Branford’s voice was a snarl—“but making it permissible in the eyes of the Church doesn’t change the violence of the act, does it? Regardless, I told her we would wait until she was ready, and she still cried half the night.”
“Cried? Whatever for?”
“I don’t really know,” Branford admitted. “Like I said, this is the part of the plan I didn’t consider. This woman…”—Branford let out a low chuckle—“Woman. Look at her, Parnell. How old does she look?”
It was tempting to open my eyes to see his expression, but I continued my façade of slumber. After a few moments, when Parnell hadn’t responded, Branford spoke again.
“Just sixteen years, hardly a woman at all. She’s a young girl who knows nothing of life outside of tending to that overbearing princess.”
“And now that the wife has a name and a face, what do you intend to do?”
“I don’t know,” Branford said. “I don’t know how th
is changes things. I only know it does. I don’t want her to be afraid, especially not of me. I assumed I would leave her to Sunniva at home, but now I am reconsidering. I want her to travel with me when I have to leave the kingdom.”
“Take her to the tournaments?” Parnell gasped. “Given your reputation? Why in God’s name would you do such a thing?”
“She may be seen as an enemy of Hadebrand now,” Branford said. “I don’t trust her to be safe if I can’t see where she is, especially not after what happened with Lily. I feel very…protective of her.”
Parnell chuckled low.
“I think I know what the problem is,” he said.
“And what is that, oh wise one?”
“You like her, Branford,” Parnell said. “That wasn’t part of the plan, was it?”
Branford scoffed.
“Just how do you think you will be able to conduct yourself with a wife at your side after you have won a tournament?” his cousin said, pressing the issue. “Do you think she would be oblivious of your activities away from home?”
“She would be there,” Branford said. His hand on my arm shifted, and I wondered if he had shrugged his shoulder. “Why would I need to look for another?”
“Because she might not be ready yet?” Parnell inquired.
There was another long silence as the horses pulled us along the stone road.
“I’ll not push her,” Branford finally said. “She’s probably only heard tales of how it can hurt, and I intend to show her there is another way, but she likely will not believe me.”
“You do like her.”
“Perhaps.”
