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“That’s correct.”
“So how wouldyoutreat your wife if you found out you were matched?”
He let out a nervous laugh. “I would give her as much space as possible and let her make her own decisions while keeping her informed of the rules that we all have to live by on Mudden to stay alive and out of jail.”
“That sounds… nice.”
He smiled at her, making her heart beat just a little faster.
“But to be perfectly honest, a part of me would still be wishing that she’d eventually fall in love with me and accept our marriage.”
She appreciated his honesty.
“I guess you don’t have much choice about who you marry either.”
“No,” he said. “We are raised to believe that having a wife and family is the most important thing in a man’s life, and then we are just left wishing. Wishing that someone will have their freedom taken away so we can live the life we’ve been told we deserve.”
She almost reached out to put her hand on his arm in a reassuring gesture then stopped herself. She didn’t want to cause him trouble.
“I guess it’s not so easy being a Mudden man either.”
He shrugged. “Except for those at the top.”
Chapter Four
Altair was already home when she walked through the door, setting the table with enough plates for four people.
“My uncle and Lauren are coming over for dinner tonight,” he said as she looked curiously at what he was doing.
She nodded. Clearly, she had no say in these matters anyway, so what else could she do?
“Go change,” he said. “Wear something that will make a good impression.”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Are you going to have me beaten up if I don’t?”
“What?” he stopped what he was doing and turned to face her. He looked pissed. She instinctively took a step back which only served to make him angrier.
“Since you had the miners beaten up for not working hard enough, I wanted to know if that was the way you treated everybody. Are you going to have me beaten up if I don’t do what you say?”
He shook his head, looking too angry to speak.
“Devon sent the Mudden military to the mines, not me,” he finally said, turning away from her again.
“Well, people think it was you.”
“Good.”
“You want people to think you’re an ass?”
“No,” he said. “But I don’t want them to think my uncle pulls my strings either.”
The more he talked, the redder he got.
“I need the people of Baedden to respect my authority or I won’t be able to accomplish anything here. Devon will be gone soon enough.”
He went to the kitchen and came back holding a platter of food. “Who told you about the mine?”
She shrugged. “Someone I know from my deliveries. I saw him on the street with his face beaten up, so I asked about it.”
