Comms
Sunday evening, I lay on my couch, my feet flung over the back, my arm thrown over my eyes, and I was engaging in my new favorite pastime of feeling sorry for myself.
The only good thing that happened in the last three days was all the mega new, warm clothing I’d ordered for my trip up north had arrived (oh yes, I’d ordered more). It all fit. And I’d look fabulous while I was engaging in putting off my fiancé.
Or, fabulous for me.
I’d done some research on Tanyn Firefierce (and one could say, in the last three weeks, Mira had been busy dumping a variety of pics out there of the king doing admirable things while looking amazing doing them).
What I’d learned was: he was outdoorsy.
He skied, and I skied.
But outside that, and waltzing into a park to have a picnic, or wandering the pavements, shopping, those were the extent of what I did outside.
However, he hiked.
He climbed.
He fished.
He cycled.
He ran trails.
Although I couldn’t say I didn’t enjoy seeing the many pics of him engaged in these activities, I did none of those things.
I also had no interest in doing any of those things.
In fact, I’d had dates where the male suggested we do something like that, and I not only declined, I also made excuses to end it with them because I didn’t want some male trying to drag me onto a bike, or worse, some nature trail somewhere to look at birds or whatever.
I shuddered at the thought.
But learning this was excellent.
I knew in my soul we didn’t suit, and this was proof of it.
So all my fancy, warm gear was the fancy and warm you’d use while, say, lazing by a fire in a chilly cabin, reading.
Or sitting on a balcony, drinking hot-buttered rum while watching snow fall.
Not the fancy, warm gear you’d use while sitting on the back of a sled while dogs ran you through a snow-tufted forest.
However, that was the only goodness to come out of the last three days.
First, my father had not contacted me, but Mom had apologized for him no less than five times and asked me to dinner three.
I declined those invites too, sharing I’d see them after the trial, which made Mom openly anxious, and I felt bad about that, but I was nowhere near close to letting go of my grudge against Dad.
And in all that was happening, I forgot that Bash told me he had something on with his buds this weekend, but he was thrilled for me to be at his house when he returned home late that very afternoon.
I really wanted to warn him not to be thrilled, but I also didn’t want to break up with him over a comm, and I further didn’t want to give him any idea bad news was coming his way, which might mess up his weekend fun with his buds.
So I’d been waiting for him at his place when he returned, and I knew he thought he was going to get welcome-home sex then we’d go out to dinner or something.
But instead, I had to explain my father arranged my marriage (I didn’t tell him to whom), my compatibility trial was the next weekend, and therefore, even if I didn’t want to, I had to end things with him.
Bash was full demon as well, so this descended into a shouting match, because somehow, I was at fault for arranging a marriage I didn’t want, and no matter how often I shared this with him, he refused to believe my father acted alone.
As such, our breakup was strident, ugly, and so damaging, even if I managed to put Tanyn off, I would not be returning to Bash.
And that hurt because I’d liked him.
This was my thought when my Palm chimed.
Excellent.
I was in the perfect mood for this comm from Tanyn.
“Engage audio and video,” I spat at it, taking my arm away so I could hold the display to my face.
“Fucking hell, that bad?” Tanyn asked when he appeared.
Color me shocked there would be a time I was okay knowing I looked awful.
But I was oh-so okay looking awful right now.
“Somehow, your lot made the rules. A member of your lot, that being my father, tied me up in this muddle. And he is a member of your lot. But to Bash it was me who was to blame.”
“By my lot, you mean…?”
“Males,” I hissed.
“This is indicative of this particular male not being worth your time, if he doesn’t understand this is your duty to your family.”
“I liked him,” I pointed out.
“You’ll get over it,” he returned.
“I have no choice, thank you so very much,” I shot back sarcastically.
“Very true. And you’re welcome for me saving you from someone like that.”
This damned male.
“Okay, so I’ve confirmed it’s done,” I stated. “Can we stop talking now?”
“Catla—” he started consolingly.
I was in no mood to be consoled by him or anyone, but especially him.
To that end, I sat up and snapped. “Duty to my family?”
“It’s the way it’s been done for millennia. Especially in families like ours.”
“Too true. However, I do believe it’s been proven repeatedly that females can think for themselves.”
“You’re going to be queen.”
“Has it occurred to anyone to ask if I want to be queen?” I demanded.
“No. It hasn’t. Because it isn’t about what you want. It’s about what our realm needs.”
I shut up, because…
What was he talking about?
I didn’t have to verbalize my question. He told me.
“My brother launched an unprovoked attack on a foreign realm. Beings died. Others were maimed. Dozens, if not hundreds, will experience trauma remembering that night, doing this likely for the rest of their lives. For decades, during my father’s reign, my beings experienced the feeble rule of a weak king. That being, he didn’t rule. Tatra did.”
Tatra was Arnaud’s mother, the dowager queen, and from all accounts, a real bitch.
“Then Arnaud inflicted his depravity on them,” Tanyn continued.
“Only for that to culminate in them living with the fear of three realms declaring war on them. We need an alliance with Night’s Fall.
We need the alliance with Night’s Fall. One with the premier family.
The first demons to ally themselves with the Fall after the Rift.
A ceremonial healing of a centuries-old fracture.
But it’s far more. It’s a ceremonial, but very meaningful healing of a very recent one. ”
It was absolutely true, even though weeks had passed, alliances had been confirmed, Tanyn had taken over, and (obviously) Mira was working overtime, still…
All over the social tapes, Night’s Fallians and Sky’s Edgians were at each other’s throats about the troll attack.
Not to mention how Edgians weren’t big fans of being painted with Arnaud’s brush after all he’d done, culminating in him murdering the “love of his life,” the twelve-year-old Tula Longshot.
Tanyn kept at it.
“Assisting with this, it will be known we met at the Masque, which might have some effect on how beings remember it. It won’t only be a disastrous scheme launched by an insane king.
It’ll be the event where their monarch met his queen.
What you’ll be doing, assuming your position on a throne at my side, will be mostly for the benefit of those in the Edge.
Yes. But it will also benefit relations with the Fall. ”
Well, one thing you could say about that.
It explained why he picked me.
I’d allow it made sense, politically.
What I couldn’t think on was that it didn’t feel good knowing I was a pawn in this game and not that he actually wanted me for, well…
Me.
Though this was expedient, it didn’t quite cover all the issues there were about his decision.
“You do know, once that wears off, I will not be a popular choice for your beings,” I reminded him.
“Why not?” he asked.
Why not?
Was he crazy?
“You’re beautiful,” he continued, and my mind blanked at his shocking words coming from his well-formed lips.
But he wasn’t finished.
“You’re stylish. You’re well-educated. You’re accomplished. You have a forceful personality, and everyone knows demons admire a forceful personality.”
“Demons from the Edge hate the ones from the Fall,” I told him something he should know.
His eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“We go skiing up there, sire,” I shared. “We’ve felt it.”
“Felt what?”
“The prejudice.”
“From whom?”
“Demons from the Edge,” I stressed.
“Are you being serious, or is this some ploy to talk me into backing out of the marriage contract?”
For obvious reasons, he could not twig to the fact I intended to unleash a variety of “ploys” to get him to back out of the marriage contract.
But since this was no ploy, it was the truth, I could say in all honesty, “No. I mean yes. I’m being serious.”
“The Demon Rift was nearly five hundred years ago.”
“I know. You all should get over it. Alas, you have not.”
“Are you certain you’re not being sensitive to someone say, being jealous of your looks? Or your wealth? Some demons can be assholes when they’re around someone they perceive is better than them. Though, just to say, not only demons act that way.”
Hmm.
This was true.
“Specifically, who was unkind to you?” he demanded. “Or are you talking a general feel?”
Damn it.
Specifically, it had been Arnaud who’d acted like a jackass around us.
Him and our relations who still lived up there. We had family reunions. They were always awful to us.
But that could totally be about them being assholes because we were totally better than them.
Honestly, thinking about it, even though we skied up there a lot and Mom and I would take shopping trips to Abyssinia, we’d never really run into anyone else being ugly.
“Our Edgian relations,” I muttered, then admitted, “And Arnaud.”
“Arnaud was an asshole to everyone.”
“I sensed Mira didn’t like me all that much,” I remarked.