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The truth is that as much as this marriage is a benefit for Lodra, it is also a benefit for Jalma.
And Vippera’s father certainly knows this. That is why he won’t do anything to upset me.
As long as he doesn’t find out that you have no choice but to go through with this marriage.
My father and the King of Jalma continue speaking quietly, and my gaze is drawn back to the blonde woman who has stolen all of my attention.
I only look away when my father tugs on my arm.
“As a sign of our goodwill,” Vippera’s father says. “We have promised that the human will be included in Vippera’s dowry. Is it truly that important that she be transported in your wagons, rather than ours?”
I want to claw his eyes out for a second, and I have a quick vision of myself doing just that, but I bite down on my tongue and give a curt shake of my head.
Both my father and the King of Jalma turn away, though I do not miss the anger that flashes through the eyes of the King of Jalma at the disrespect I have shown him.
The wagons with the human slaves start rolling away, and I follow my father and mother to our carriage.
Vippera will be staying at our castle starting tonight, after the engagement ceremony, and I have already arranged to move out of the main castle into one of the side houses on the royal estate.
We reach the royal estate an hour after we leave the village.
I help my mother out of the carriage, and wait until my father has stepped out before I stalk away.
Slyth is waiting for me in my chambers where he helps me prepare for the engagement ceremony.
I am not sure what it is about me or my demeanor, but Slyth notices that something is different about me right away.
“What is it?” he asks me curiously.
“I don’t know,” I say reflectively, which is the truth.
I really do not know what it is about the young human woman that has stolen my attention as much as she has. All I know is that I can’t get her out of my head. All I know is that I can’t stop thinking about her.
All I can see is the shape of her, voluptuous and strong, moving through the air as she snatched a child out from under the feet of the Jalma naga army.
“Something is different,” Slyth murmurs. “You are different.”
I want to tell him that everything is different now, even though I don’t know how it is different.
I want to tell him that I want to claim this human woman, for whatever strange reason, but I also cannot say it out loud, in case anyone is listening.
I would not put it past Vippera to have installed spies in the castle before her actual arrival.
I shake my head at Slyth. “Nothing is different about me,” I tell him as our eyes meet in the mirror.
We both know that I am lying. But Slyth also knows that I am probably lying for a reason. He won’t push it now. But he certainly will push it later.
Why can’t I get her out of my head?
After Slyth finishes helping me, I am summoned by my mother to sign some documents. They are transferring pieces of land and property onto my name as a gift for going along with the engagement agreement.
The fact that I will get it all when I become King anyway is not lost on any of us.
But my mother feels guilty, especially as my father gave my older brother nothing after his betrayal, so she feels the need to appease me somehow.
I have been thinking about my brother more and more often since the engagement agreement to Vippera.
But now as I walk towards the large, main dining hall, I think about him almost as fiercely as I think about the human woman.
