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“Our mythology professor?” Lupa asks, wetting her bottom lip. When I nod, she says, “There’s something strange about him, isn’t there? Remus said he saw him in Rome the night before the fight… he even mentioned leaving you alone with him, which he felt bad about, by the way.”
“Arthur has hinted that there’s more to him, even warned me not to get on his bad side,” Morgana says. “But he’s never told me any specifics, and I’ve honestly never asked.”
I wipe my now clammy palms on my long floral skirt, wiggling my toes in the sand as I look over the Mediterranean Sea. “I don’t know how your families do things, or how you grew up. But did you ever hear about the legendary Kronos family?” I have my answer right in front of me, their saucer wide eyes tell me all I need to know.
They both nod and say, “yes” in perfect unison.
“Kai is—”
Lupa interrupts me. “Don’t tell me his name is Kairos.” Before I can answer her, she literally facepalms. “I never even thought about that. We all know he has more power than any other teacher, there are even rumors he’s been seen with the Leaders. How did I never connect the dots?”
“What am I missing?” Morgana asks, her eyes darting between me and Lupa as she clenches her hands, clearly unhappy about being the last to know.
I partly listen while Lupa catches her up on what Kairos means, and the parts she’s worked out for herself. I hum my agreement at the right places, and disagreement when she gets a few facts wrong, but my eyes are transfixed on the magnificent sea in front of me.
“So the Leaders are the Ruler’s council, am I getting this right?” Morgana asks, heat and incredulity in her tone. “Our bloody mythology professor is basically the god of our world…”
I shrug, and Lupa giggles, “Technically, he’s the titan.”
For some reason, the clarification makes us all laugh as it breaks the tension brewing. With tears in my eyes, and zero tact, I hiccup, “I’m marrying him tomorrow.”
“You’re what?” Morgana screeches.
“Voluntarily?” Lupa asks.
I’m oddly touched when Morgana reaches for her clutch, discreetly pulling a gun from it. Lupa twists the ring on her index finger—it’s gold and connected to a thick bracelet. I gasp as the bracelet that’s taking up half her lower arm opens, revealing a knuckle duster with a sharp blade attached to the end. It’s magnificent, and its beauty is only enhanced as it catches the rays from the sun and gleams.
“Woah! Woah!” I exclaim as I hold my hands up. “It’s voluntary, yes.” I can’t help cringing because it’s not completely non-mandatory. I agreed to his claim at the auction and that’s why I’m going ahead with it.
If it wasn’t for that damn auction orchestrated by my aunt, I would never marry someone I haven’t even had a date with. Hell, forget about dating… we haven’t even had sex privately. Every single time Kai’s dick has been inside me, we’ve had a freaking audience. How messed up is that?
Starting from the beginning, I explain about the auction since I don’t know how much Morgana knows about it. I fill them in on my aunt organizing the thing and forcing me there. No details are left out, I even tell them I never thought about Kai’s claim at first—my sole focus was on my survival.
“Bleeding hell!” Morgana whispers, her strong English accent leaking through. “And you’re going through with it just because of that? You may be a dragon, but no. I’m sorry, I can’t let you do that. No one should be forced into marriage—”
“Morgana, I said yes. I accepted his claim,” I say, interrupting her gripe. Then I place my hand on hers, meeting her gaze head on. “That aside, I kind of want to. I mean, I don’t know him well enough for marriage. But… there are feelings and we’ve kind of… I met him before I even knew he was on the faculty. He saved me from drowning, and since then I guess you could say I’ve felt this bond between us.”
Sighing, I try to gather my thoughts. I’m not doing a great job at explaining all of this. It all sounds like excuses, and it’s not. Sure, there are circumstances and reasons, that’s not all there is to it, though. I’m insanely attracted to Kai and I have feelings for him, none of the rest changes that.
“Look, I don’t know how to explain it. I like the man, I really do. He’s a pompous ass at times, but I want him to bemypompous ass.” I laugh self-consciously. “I’m not only marrying him out of obligation, though. You need to believe me when I say that.”
While Lupa is quick to let me know she’ll back me up as long as it’s what I really want, Morgana takes her sweet time. Her piercing blue eyes linger on my gray ones as she studies me. Feeling uncomfortable, I scrutinize her right back.
I let my eyes roam over her facial features as though I need to commit them to memory. She’s a beautiful girl. Her high cheekbones, full lips, and cute nose that’s turned up, make her perfect. The cleft in her chin and the dimples that are making an appearance whenever she smiles or chews are what make her human.
When I first met Morgana Hatt so many years ago, I envied the cleft and the dimples. My dad has those as well, and I wanted them too to look more like him. I even had a phase where I would draw dots on my chin, hoping people would think they were dimples.
“Okay,” Morgana says, pulling me from my thoughts. “I believe you, dragon.”
“That’s mighty kind of you, lion,” I volley, earning a smile from the HattProtégé.
Lupa is ready to move the conversation ahead, and she barely waits for us to finish talking before she asks, “What’s the rush, though? Don’t get me wrong, I will be there tomorrow—”
“So will I,” Morgana declares, her voice as stern as her icy-blues.
“But why tomorrow? I would have thought that something as big as you marrying the Ruler would be a wedding to be talked about through the ages. Something future generations will study in history classes while talking about the pomp and ostentatiousness of it all.”
This is the part I haven’t decided on yet. If I tell them my dad is back, it seems wrong not to mention that Morgana’s dad is dead, and so is Lupa’s uncle. Kai didn’t tell me that I could or couldn’t let them know, which is worse. Now it’s my decision, and I’m not ready for that.
