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Two
Baine
Lord Demious headed to the drawing room, summoning his assistant, Alec, to his side. I kept my comments about his bridal competition to myself. It wasn’t my concern on how the lord chose his bride, though I found the methods a bit odder than his usual antics.
“Alec,” Lord Demious said as we entered. “I need the backgrounds of these girls, abilities, families, and unpleasantries.”
I found a spot by the bookshelf to stand until this tedious review was completed. Instead of patrolling and securing the barrier around the grounds, I’d become his personal escort for the night—though the man needed none with his multiple layers of protection spells.
Each one of the women presented tonight wore a dampening collar. Even if they possessed great magic, there’d be no accessing it with that necklace on. The keys were locked away in Demious’ laboratory and only he possessed the magical ability to unlock the collars with a flick of his wrist. Beyond his natural talent, the magistrate had a knack for crafting powerful magical items, and preferably ones only he could control.
Lord Demious sat in his high-back chair behind the desk and whirled his hand in a circle, opening a scrying portal in the center of the room. “Let’s start with those three.”
“Ahh, yes, the Haalow sisters.” Alec began rifling through a stack of papers he held. “All three live here in Farrow’s Gate city, family is noble, mostly dabble in arcane and illusionary spells.”
“And why are all three here?” Lord Demious tapped his finger on the desk, clearly bored.”
Alec’s glasses slipped down his nose, and he pushed them back up. “It appears Mr. Haalow has a gambling problem and owes the bank quite a bit of coin. He hopes one of them might make a suitable bride.”
“Very well, next.” With a flick, Lord Demious moved the image to a pair of girls, one of them being the redhead I’d escorted to the washroom.
“What do we know about this one?” Lord Demious slid forward on the desk, swiveling and repositioning the scryer until the woman’s face and voluptuous breasts filled the image. He pinched his fingers, enlarging the woman’s chest until he smirked and re-adjusted the image back to her face.
“Hmmm.” Alec shuffled through the papers. “This one was a surprise?”
“A surprise?” I stepped forward, hand on my hilt. “You mean you did not acquire her yourself?”
Alec’s face reddened. “Well, it’s a bit of a strange story.”
“Hold, Baine. Let’s not slit any throats just yet.” Lord Demious waved a finger at Alec to bring him the paper and began reading. “So, I’m paying for my brides now?”
With a toss, he flung the paper across the desk. “Explain.”
“Yes, well, you had requested women with high magical talents, and one of our traders from the North heard. He managed to acquire Miss Rosalie Hawk and traded her for a reasonable sum.”
“And why would I want to pay for a woman I may not even marry?”
The red in Alec’s face deepened. “What we do know is her parents were both skilled in fire, natural sorcery, at extremely high levels, but passed the previous year—no reason listed. I believe . . . yes, here it is. She had agreed to serve one year of servitude in exchange for the deed to her family’s farm and about a hundred gold coin. They breed firehawks.”
Lord Demious rubbed his goatee, something he did when in deep thought. “Exceptional creatures. Does she know why she’s here?”
“I believe she does now, my lord.” Alec’s eyes widened a bit and sweat glistened at his brow. “I will personally explain the misunderstanding and that if not chosen, we will uphold the one year as agreed.”
“No.”
“My lord,” Alec said, his cheeks reddening to almost crimson.
“Let her believe she will either gain my favor or work the three years. Her deal was not with me.”
“Of course, understood.” Alec wiped his forehead. “Should we continue?”
“Proceed,” Lord Demious said and switched the scrying image to another female.
The two went through the remaining girls, a waste of time. Alec seemed proud of acquiring such prospects, yet I couldn’t find the meaning of the exercise. Lord Demious had enough power and wealth to marry any woman of his choosing. This “competition” seemed preposterous, even for him. Something else was at play here. After spending decades with the lord, I knew him well. I knew his true age, which would shock most people, and I knew that he did everything with perfect calculation. He had a reason for bringing all these females here and it wasn’t to pick a bride.
I had tasks that needed to be completed before the night’s end, and we had already spent two hours discussing magical talents and physical attributes with Alec pointing out which women appeared best suited for childbearing.
“My lord,” I said, turning to the magistrate. “I need to patrol the grounds and check on the guards.”
