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“Do you think her presence has to do with the Marriage Law?” Rianne asked.
“What do you mean?”
We stopped in front of Taskier’s classroom. He hadn’t arrived yet, which didn’t surprise me. After breakfast, he tended to return to his rooms and read for a bit before he was forced to interact with others, as he liked to say. It wasn’t uncommon to find him lost in the Old Histories that he didn’t walk into his classroom until it was exactly time to do just that.
“I mean,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper. “I hear they want to marry wolf and human, that’s their intended goal in order to strengthen unity between the two races, especially with the Vrykolakas growing in numbers. Clearly, she’s a human. What if she’s, I don’t know, brought here as some kind of bride?”
I snickered. I couldn’t help it.
Rianne raised her brow. “What?” she asked. “Look, I know it sounds dystopian, but I’m serious. What do you think this law is going to turn us into? And by us, I don’t mean you. I’m sure you’ll be protected because of your father. And I’m not saying that to be rude or petulant, I’m just speaking the truth.” The two of us entered the classroom and took our seats, turning towards each other. Rianne dropped her voice but continued. “We’re going to be auctioned off as brides to the highest bidder.”
I wrinkled my nose. “What are you talking about?” I asked, pulling out a notebook.
“Think about it,” she said, leaning even closer to me. “You think these humans don’t want to dominate wolves? Imagine being married to a human. Imagine, as a wolf, giving up your power to a man, a human. You could kill him with a bite to the neck, but you would have to obey and serve him. You would have be subservient to him and to his wishes.”
“There’s no way —“
“Wake up, Adrya,” Rianne said, her voice harsher than I had heard it. “This is marriage. It happened in my parents’ relationship. I’m sure it’ll happen in mine. I don’t have the same protection as you do when it comes to choice in marriage. My blood is…well, I’m not a pure wolf because of my parents. Who do you think will be paired up first?”
“You’ve been giving a lot of thought to this,” I murmured.
“Not all of us have the privilege to be ignorant about our future,” she said.
I jerked my head back. “Oh, and I do?” I asked. I could feel my voice rising and I clenched my teeth together to keep myself from drawing too much attention to us. “You think I wasn’t raised about the exact expectations placed on me, being the first-born to an Alpha? Not only must I educate myself on different races, the relations between them, and who the important people within their hierarchies are, I must also be proficient in sewing, art, history, dancing, music, reading, and, on top of that, I must perform wifely duties to whomever my new husband will be in order to provide him with pups — never mind if I even want them in the first place. And that’s not including educating myself on my own pack, how to properly rule, the politics of being Alpha — especially as a female — and what my husband’s role might be. I must protect my pack and simultaneously decide what’s best for them. All of that is placed on my shoulders, my burden to carry, following me around. I don’t get a chance to be ignorant of my future, you say? Rianne, I have thought aboutnothingbut my future since the day I was born, and I can list you all of the ways which I can and might screw it up. Don’t condescend to tell me you have any idea what a privilege it is to be born in my role. I admit, I am well protected and I want for nothing. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own burden to carry.”
I had no idea where all of this came from other than the fact that I had been holding it in for so long that it felt good finally letting it out. I was breathless by the time I finished, but I refused to look away from her.
Rianne’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of red. She held my gaze with respect, though I wasn’t sure she was entirely convinced of what I shared with her. Finally opening her mouth, she was about to respond when my uncle interrupted us.
“Ads?” he asked from his desk.
I turned towards him, surprised he was present this early, even if there were only a couple of moments until class.
“Your father requests an audience,” he said. “He’s in his office. He says it’s important.”
I glanced over at Rianne, as though she would know what my father could possibly want. He didn’t have any classes during the First Hour, so I knew he wasn’t terribly busy, but he was well-aware I did. It could be a jab at my uncle just because, but this felt…significant.
I stood up and caught my uncle’s eye. He furrowed his brow, silently wondering what was going on, but when his gaze slid over to the envoy my father sent, he softened slightly. I didn’t think he knew what this was about either. He nodded at me once before clearing his throat, finally getting the attention of the students a few minutes passed the anointed start time.
After we exited the classroom, I turned to look at the envoy himself. I recognized him as one of the many warriors my father kept within his trusted inner circle. Sometimes, I wondered if they appreciated being sent on menial errands like this one, but they all seemed to respect my father well enough not to question him. Christopher Crane had wavy dark hair that covered his neck, a chiseled jaw, and smooth, tan skin. His angled face was freshly shaven each morning, adding even more youth to it, and his dark eyes were deep and captivating. He was definitely a favorite amongst the women in the population, and even I noticed the lingering stares they gave him as we passed by in the hallway.
I, myself, had had a crush on him, but it never amounted to anything serious. If anything, he was someone to fantasize about when I got bored or when Matthyw wasn’t around.
I shook my head, my hair following the slow gestures. Now was not the appropriate time to think about Matthyw.
Unless my father’s request was about him.
Unless Matthyw told my father where he saw me.
Would he?
Of course he would. Anything to threaten my legacy.
We hadn’t seen each other in years. I didn’t know him. Not as I had.
I wanted to, though.
It scared me how badly I wanted to know everything about him.
