Zwaantie paused for a second. “Wait. Something is wrong. Tell me.”
Luna rubbed her forehead. “No, it’s not. I don’t feel good, but I still have to work. I know you’re excited about this plan, but all I can see is how many ways in which it can go wrong.”
“Say the word, and I won’t do it.”
Luna gave her a sad smile. “I’m not about to tell the future queen what to do. I think it’s stupid, but I’ll still support you in your decision.”
The prince’s room was three doors down from hers. This early in the morning the hallways were empty. Luna knocked, and Zwaantie waited. Hunter opened the door, his hair disheveled. He wore only a pair of short shorts. Zwaantie looked away quickly and felt bad for Luna. She had to look at him.
Luna coughed. “The princess would like to speak to High Prince Leo.”
“Of course,” he said, “One moment, please.”
They heard bumps and bangs from the other side, and two minutes later the door opened. Hunter had managed to put some pants on but nothing else. His chest was distracting.
“Ladies, come in.” He gestured into the room.
Luna followed after Zwaantie. Leo stood near the fireplace, dressed as he had yesterday before they went to see the cows. He bowed when he saw her.
“Luna, Hunter, I would like to speak with the prince alone. Will you excuse us?”
Luna hurried out of the room, but Hunter hesitated. He walked over to the prince and whispered something in his ear. The prince nodded and then dismissed him with a wave. He left and looked back just before he shut the door behind him.
“Would you like to sit, Princess?” Leo asked.
He seemed nervous, unsure of himself.
She sat and stared at him for a moment. She took a deep breath. There were a thousand ways this could go wrong, but she had to try. This was the only way she could save Phoenix.
“If I were to marry you, how would that work? Where would we live? What about the wedding? Do you have anything you want from us?”
He seemed taken aback by the question. “I thought that you didn’t want to marry me.”
Zwaantie fiddled with the lace on her dress and looked down, demure. “Just curious.”
“Curious enough to wake me up?”
She shrugged and waited.
“Well, we would live here, obviously. I’m the fifth son. I have no kingdom in Stella. And you are the crown princess. My only request is that we get married in Stella because my father won’t risk a visit to Sol. After that, we would need to visit our outlying kingdoms so the rest of the citizens of Stella could meet you. It is customary when a prince or princess gets married. It would take about a year. Then we would come back here, because you are the crown princess. As for me wanting anything, your hand is all I’ve ever wanted since I’ve laid eyes on you.” The prince pushed his feet against the footrest, which caused the chair to rock back and forth on two legs.
Zwaantie blushed and stared at him from under her eyelashes.
“Sounds reasonable enough. I will marry you.”
He toppled over backwards. Zwaantie laughed, and he scrambled up. He picked up the chair and sat down, his face red.
“Ha ha, nice joke,” he said.
“I’m not joking.”
“Right, ever since I’ve gotten here, you’ve done nothing but laugh at me. And scowl occasionally. Besides, you told me that you weren’t interested in marrying.”
“I wasn’t. But I changed my mind.”
“Right. And what exactly changed your mind?”
“You make me laugh.”
He grinned a little. “Okay, you’ve had your fun. But I must get myself ready for breakfast. As much as you like to laugh at me, your parents don’t, and I need to make myself presentable.”
Zwaantie sighed. He still didn’t believe her. “Before we announce our plans to my parents, I have a request.”
“What plans?” he asked.
“To get married.”
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t think your parents will appreciate the joke.”
“No, they wouldn’t if I was joking, but I’m not. I need you to ask them for something. It is customary for the king to offer the groom a gift of his choosing, and I’m asking you to ask for a gift for me, since you said you didn’t want anything.”
He sank into his chair. “Holy stars, you are serious.”
“Yes, I am. Now will you do that for me? Ask them for something for me, but you can’t tell them it’s for me. You have to pretend you want it.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again. “Okay, you mean it. You want to marry me.”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Fine, I’ll play along. But if this is some sick joke to anger your parents, I’ll never forgive you. And you don’t want a high prince of Stella as your enemy.”
He stood and paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. He was handsome. Someday he would make his wife happy. But that girl would not be Zwaantie. She almost felt bad for what she was about to do.
“I’m not playing. A year away from home is a long time. I want to bring along Luna. But she won’t leave without her brother and husband. So you need to ask for your choice of any three slaves in the kingdom.”
His eyes darkened, and his voice grew cold. “We don’t have slaves in Stella, and I won’t bring any there. You ask for too much, Princess.”
“Well, they wouldn’t have to be slaves in Stella. The Voice doesn’t work over there, right?”
He rubbed his hand over his face. “If I bring them over, I’m removing those bondage bands. They won’t be slaves when we come back here.”
“That’s fine.”
“Then I’m not asking for just three then. If we are going to release them, I want to bring more. How many could I ask for without angering your father?”
Now it was Zwaantie’s turn to be surprised. “I don’t know. We should just stick to the three. I don’t think I’m worth more than that.”
“You are worth far more than that.” He got up and kissed her cheek. “Now, I do need to get ready. We’ll announce our engagement at breakfast. Shall I fetch you from your room in twenty minutes?”
Zwaantie nodded, a bit unsure of what she’d just done. She hoped he wouldn’t ruin it with his grand plans.
They entered the room together, Zwaantie’s arm tucked in his elbow. Mother raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. Zwaantie tried her best not to act nervous or upset, but until she knew for sure that Phoenix would accompany her, she didn’t want to get too excited. Plus, there’s the I’m-about-to-announce-a-marriage-to-a-man-I-don’t-want-to-marry thing. It didn’t matter that Zwaantie knew she wasn’t going to marry him. She was still worried about the whole thing.
As soon as they finished eating, Leo took her hand, and they stood in front of her parents. Breakfast had been odd and awkward. She was tense, but Leo was all smiles.
They both bowed. Mother pursed her lips. Zwaantie had surprised her many times by making brash announcements or asking for things she shouldn’t. The Voice never warned her against those things. Sometimes, she almost wished the Voice could read her thoughts.
Leo spoke. “As you know, my purpose in coming to Sol was to secure the hand of your daughter in marriage. This morning, she and I discussed the idea at length, and she has agreed to marry me.”
At that moment, Zwaantie should have looked at Leo and smiled. Instead, Zwaantie stared at the ground, thinking of Phoenix.
“No,” Mother gasped.
Father cleared his throat. “I thought we made it clear that Zwaantie will marry a Solite prince.”
“You did. Zwaantie explained to me that who she marries is her own choice. She chose me. She assured me you would be supportive.”
Zwaantie met her mother’s eyes with defiance. She’d said pick a prince. She didn’t say he couldn’t be from Stella.
Mother held her gaze for a few moments. “Very well, then we shall begin wedding plans i
mmediately.” Mother never lost her composure for long. She knew Zwaantie was only doing this to get back at her, and she would make sure Zwaantie felt the full impact of her choice.
“I’m sorry to disappoint the high queen, but Zwaantie has agreed to get married in Stella so that my father can attend. We would love to have you travel to our kingdom and be present for the wedding. It will take place in three months’ time.”
Mother scowled, but recovered quickly and smiled. “Before you leave, we must have the traditional wedding ball. We hardly ever get the excuse to have a dance, and I want to use this one. We can have it ready in four days.”
Zwaantie gave her a tight smile.
Father had been suspiciously quiet. Zwaantie looked to him. His face was impassive.
“It is customary when a groom chooses a bride to ask the father for anything under his jurisdiction. As high king, all of Sol falls under mine. What is it you would ask for your gift?”
“I would like my choice of fifty of your slaves.”
Zwaantie staggered for a moment. “Three,” she whispered furiously to him. “I told you three.”
He brought his lips close to her ears. “And I told you that you were worth more than that. I almost asked for a hundred.”
Father’s eyes burned with anger. This would all fall apart. “Perhaps you do not understand how the slave system works. They take care of our city. Keep it free of trash and debris. They also take care of us. Fifty is an awful lot of slaves that we would have to replace. You may have five.”
“Do you not think your daughter is worth fifty slaves?”
Father bristled. “Of course she is. But what do you need fifty slaves for?”
“We do not have slaves in Stella. I find I have enjoyed being taken care of. Plus, we could use some cleaning of our streets as well. And your daughter will be gone for nearly a year. Surely she needs slaves to take care of her. But if you do not agree to fifty, then seventy-five will do.”
Father stood, his face flushing. “No, absolutely not.”
“Then we do not have an agreement.” Leo bowed quickly to Zwaantie and stalked from the room, Hunter close on his heels.
Zwaantie raced after them, not even looking up at her parents. They were halfway down the hall to Leo’s room when she caught him. She jerked him around and slapped him across the face. “What the darkness were you thinking? I thought you wanted to marry me. Not to mention that my father is a high king. What right did you have to speak to him that way? You’re lucky he agreed to the marriage at all. Now you’ve ruined it. He’ll never agree to the marriage.”
You should not strike another. A pain flashed behind her eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
He brought his hand to his face, but grinned. “I didn’t realize you were so eager to marry me.”
“Of course I am. But now you’ve ruined it.”
He grasped her hands and stared down at her with those deep brown eyes. “No, I haven’t. Your father will come around.”
“He won’t come around. You’ve just made him angry.”
“I’ll visit with him this afternoon. I promise by tonight, we’ll have an agreement. I’ve done my fair share of negotiating with difficult people. This will not be hard.”
He didn’t understand Zwaantie’s father. No way would he give him fifty slaves. Especially considering her father didn’t want her to marry Leo.
Leo was insane.
Zwaantie turned from him and raced to her room. Last night was long, and she needed to rest. And she wanted to forget about her horrible morning. She threw herself down onto her bed and dissolved into tears. Luna sat next to her and rubbed her back, speaking
Luna spoke quietly. “I know you were planning on exchanging your wedding for the release of slaves, but I didn’t know you were going for fifty. That was extravagant. Don’t you think?”
“I wanted exactly three. The prince is the one who decided we needed fifty.”
“Three?”
“Yes, you, Phoenix, and Pieter.”
Luna didn’t respond, but Zwaantie felt her stiffen. Then Luna leaned across and hugged her shoulders. It wasn’t much, but Zwaantie knew Luna was grateful for what she asked for.
That evening, just as Zwaantie was dressing for dinner, Leo came barging into her room. He didn’t even knock. He had a huge smile on his face as he swooped her up in a hug and kissed her on the lips.
She didn’t respond at first, but then returned the kiss. She didn’t want him to be suspicious. Their lips moved easily against each other. It was nice, but there was no fire. No spark.
She pulled away as the Voice berated her. Filthy slut. Remove yourself at once.
She gave Leo a fake grin. “I’m sorry, but it’s the Voice. It doesn’t think we should kiss.”
Leo frowned. “But we’re engaged. Surely we’re allowed to kiss when we’re engaged.”
“Chaste kisses only. Also, we aren’t actually engaged. Father said no.”
The pain in her head dissipated.
“Ah, but we have an agreement. Fifty slaves will come with us. My choice.”
Zwaantie beamed at him. “I didn’t think you could do it.”
“Well, I hope you have more faith in me in the future. Are you ready for dinner?”
“Not quite, Luna has to braid my hair.”
Leo sprawled out on the couch across from the chair where Luna waited to do her hair.
Leo looked at her. “You know, she did this for you. Besides your husband and brother is there anyone else you’d like to bring with?”
She shook her head. “I’ve already spoken to Mother. She doesn’t want to leave.” Zwaantie was relieved by this. She’d have no trouble getting Luna. But the rest of her friends might be more difficult to release. She might get away with Pieter, but asking for the queen’s slave as well would be too much.
“Can you do me a favor and find families who want to leave? I don’t want to separate any of them. I won’t get to choose until Sunday morning when we leave. But here.” He handed her a small bag. “The bag contains fifty coins from Stella. Give them to the people who are to come with. Then when the king announces that he is ready for me to choose, I will ask for those coins back. That is how I will know who is coming.”
Luna smiled at Zwaantie. “This is a smart one you’ve got here.”
It worried her. If he was so smart, then how was she going to escape? He’d see right through her plan. Leo looked her over.
“Why do you insist on wearing such awful clothes?” Leo asked.
Zwaantie glared at him. “Rude, much?”
“You cover up everything. There is no room for creativity and fun. I brought you a trunkful of dresses. Why don’t you wear one of them?”
“Because they are hideous. Not a single one would cover up what needs to be covered.”
That’s right. Good girl. That was odd. The Voice never complimented her before.
“You mean like your breasts? They are meant to be shown off a little.” His eyes twinkled, and Zwaantie knew he was teasing her, but her breasts had always made her self-conscious.
Zwaantie sat down across from him. Teasing could go both ways.
“And why were you looking at my breasts?”
“Why not? Seriously, I just want to see cleavage. I suppose I could just wait until our wedding night, but where’s the fun in that? Besides, I made a bet with Hunter, and I want to win.”
Hunter grimaced in the corner.
Zwaantie narrowed her eyes at Leo. “What bet?”
Leo ignored her, opened the trunk, and pulled out a shimmery purple and green dress that had no sleeves and would probably show off her underwear if she bent over.
“Why don’t you wear this one to dinner?”
“Not on your life.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother would kill me. And my father might kill you. We don’t wear clothes like that in Sol.”
“What is it with you people and rules? Haven’t you ever broke
n one?”
Zwaantie sighed. “Yes, of course I’ve broken rules. Who hasn’t?”
“Then break this one. Wear the dress. Please.”
“No.”
He sighed, defeated, and sauntered over to Hunter. “I guess you were right. She never has disobeyed mommy.” Leo handed him a few coins.
“What the dark?” Zwaantie asked.
“Hunter said you wouldn’t do it because you never broke rules. I disagreed. But he won. What a boring wife you are going to be.” He raised his eyebrows in a challenge.
“And what an arrogant cow-hole you are going to be. Why did I ever agree to marry you?”
“I’ve been asking myself that same question since you came to my room this morning. You obviously dislike me, and you have no interest in Stella, so why?”
Oh, he was smart. There was no way she would get away from him easily when they got to Stella. This would take more planning than she thought.
“You wouldn’t understand. But I’m not changing my mind.”
She stalked out of her room and went to dinner. Leo chatted with Father and Mother, and no one seemed upset by the arrangements that had been made. Hunter sat next to Zwaantie.
“Don’t let him get to you. He’s just trying to figure out your true motives.”
“What?” Now she was nervous.
“He knows you don’t love him. But what he doesn’t know is why you want to marry him. Don’t get me wrong, he’s totally okay with marriage for other motives. He’s completely smitten, and he was going to marry you no matter what.”
Zwaantie sputtered for a second. “What do you mean he’s completely smitten? He barely knows me.”
“Oh, I’ve told him the same thing, but he was lost the second he laid eyes on you. I’ve never seen him look at someone like that before, and we’ve been friends for a long time.”
Zwaantie let out a breath. She wasn’t prepared for something like that. She didn’t want to think that she’d actually hurt him. It was one thing to leave him if she thought he was just doing this to join their kingdoms. It was quite another if he was in love with her. She’d never love him though. Not the way she loved Phoenix.
“Do me a favor,” Hunter said.
Stella and Sol Box Set Page 14
