AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Valen,” Mum said as we passed him, still standing as though sentry.
He inclined his head. “Mrs Vanguard. Miss Vanguard.”
It was always Miss Vanguard. Like he was more servant than friend. It would take me years to see that, for Apollo and Valen, they were one and the same; there was no friendship without service, and no service without a friendship more like brotherhood.
Mum took me into my room and shut the door.
“What’s happening?” I asked her.
As she turned, I saw her hand was shaking a little, but she was putting on a brave face. “You know how Frenella and I have always joked about you and Apollo getting married one day?” she said.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah…”
She nodded as she started moving around the room, like she was getting an outfit ready for me. “Well,” she said, forcing the joviality. “Well, that’s going to happen.”
I frowned. “No, it’s not.”
She gave me a look and I didn’t know what it meant.
“No,” I repeated. “The school just thinks we’re together because Valen–”
“This has nothing to do with what the children at Saint Benedicts do or do not think, Harlow,” Mum said harshly, then let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”
“Mum, I don’t understand.”
She nodded again. “I know. I…” She sighed, sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to her.
I dropped into it, and she looked at the wall like she was praying for courage.
“You are to marry Apollo, sweetheart. There’s nothing we can do. The two of you get along so well, that it was probably going to happen anyway. Now, it’s just…a certainty.”
I didn’t know what to say. “But I don’t want to marry Apollo.”
Mum sighed again and I thought she was holding back tears. “You don’t now. Who knows what the future will bring?”
“If Apollo keeps up this future God charade, then I can tell you what the future will bring,” I muttered.
“I know, sweetheart. I know it’s hard.”
“It’s not hard. I just say no.”
Mum took my hands. “You can’t say no, Harlow.”
“Why not?”
“You need to do this, sweetheart,” Mum told me, and I saw fear in her eyes. “It’s how it works.”
How it works. This world I was only permitted to understand half of. This world where I was deemed too soft to make my own choices or be my own person. This world that took sweet boys and turned them into hardened men.
I could see it in her eyes. I was going to have to do it. At least, I was going to have to agree now. Surely, I’d have at least five years before we could be expected to marry. That was plenty of time to make an escape plan.
I nodded in an effort to reassure her. “Your marriage to Dad was arranged.”
Her nod wasn’t quite so reassuring. “Yes, but... This is a little different.” Her eyes beseeched me to understand as she ran her hands over my hair. “We owe the Callahans, sweetheart.” Her voice shook. “We...had no choice. Your father was backed into a corner. A life for a life. The life they demanded was...yours.”
I felt my eyes widen. I thought this was a marriage deal. “They’re going to kill me?”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach the sadness in her eyes. “No. No, they want your hand. Apollo as your father’s heir.”
