by Willow Aster
Pride
Willow Aster
Contents
Preface
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Epilogue 1
Epilogue 2
Note to the Reader
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Willow Aster
Pride
Kingdoms of Sin, Book 4
Copyright © 2020 by Willow Aster
ISBN 13: 978-1-7335137-5-3
Cover by: Hang Le
Photography by: Wander Aguiar
Cover Model: Neil Ingham
Editing: Christine Estevez
Beta: Jennifer Mirabelli
Represented by: Brower Literary & Management
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trade-marked status and trademark owners of various products, bands, and/or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trade-marks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
License Notes
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Preface
This book is a romance based entirely on fictional places. It is set in the present where there are monarchies in a world that doesn’t operate quite like ours. There are no dragons or fairies, but there is lust, greed, pride, and wrath…something that exists in any world and has since the beginning of time.
Any mistakes I make in properly conveying royal practices and whatnot, I hope you will excuse and consider that in the kingdoms of Farrow, Niaps, Alidonia, and beyond, perhaps it’s just the way it is.
List of Characters:
Safrin Family of Farrow:
Neil* & Kathryn, father and mother
Jadon, son of Neil and stepson of Kathryn
Eden Safrin Catano, daughter, married to Luka Catano
Ava, daughter
Catano Family of Niaps:
Titus & Cecilia (Cece), father and mother
Basile, brother to Cecilia
Luka, son, married to Eden Safrin Catano
Mara, daughter, married to Elias Lancaster
Also in Niaps:
Brienne Jarvis, bodyguard to Eden
Elias Lancaster, advisor to Luka, married to Mara Catano Lancaster
Forbrush Family of Yuman:
Victros* & Anais, father and mother
Alex, son
Nadia, daughter
Gentry Barrington/Forbrush, son of Victros, boyfriend to Ava Safrin
Farthing Family of Alidonia:
Vance & Jonquil*, father and mother
Omar*, son
Delilah, daughter
Caulder, nephew, advisor to Vance
Otto Family of the Sea of Caninsula
Ralty & Sherai*
Shua, son
Solvang, daughter
*deceased
Prologue
Jadon, age six
I bundle under the fur, as close as I can get to Mum while she sleeps. She’s been sleeping a long time now and her body is cold. Usually we get warm when we cuddle, and sometimes we chat under the blanket, but she’s quiet and I’m tired of lying here. I’m tired of being cold too.
Miss Lang raps on the door and I poke my head out of the blanket when she yells out, “Hurry, boy, it’s cold out here.”
I scramble to the door and fling it open, letting Lang come inside.
She comes to a quick stop when she sees Mum lying under the fur and puts her hand to her mouth as it opens in a silent scream. Her expression is confusing and I put my hand on her arm.
“What’s the matter, Miss Lang?”
She clutches my shoulders and looks in my eyes. “You poor boy. When did she pass?”
“What…do you mean?” My face crumbles when tears start running down her face. I hate it when Mum or Miss Lang cries. “What’s the matter?”
She wails louder and holds me to her chest, and I start sniffling too. I’m cold and tired and it’s been quiet too long. The last thing I want is a wailing Miss Lang.
“You poor, poor boy,” she repeats and I sigh, wiping my nose.
“You’re going to wake Mother if you’re not careful,” I finally say.
“Your mother is dead, child. She’s gone and I’m so, so sorry that she won’t be coming back.”
I take a deep breath and stare at my mother for a few moments, willing her to open her eyes.
“She’s not gone! She’s right there!” I run to my mother and hold her hand up. It feels strange and flops back down by her side. My eyes widen as I try to shake her awake. “Mum, wake up! Wake up!”
She lies there as still as can be and I lean into her neck and cry until I can’t cry any more.
Miss Lang takes me to her house, dragging me out of mine, kicking and screaming.
“I can’t leave Mum! She said we stick together, no matter what.” I’ve said it in every way possible and still, Miss Lang insists that I cannot stay with Mum in our cottage any longer.
“It’s time for Mum to go to heaven. We will have a funeral for her and say goodbye then,” she says. “I need to get in touch with your family, you poor boy.”
I want to tell her to stop calling me that, but it doesn’t matter, Mum will make her stop when I see her again. Mum is my family, the only family I’ve got.
“I want to see Mum,” I repeat, as we walk into her dark place. I step over things on the floor and rub my arms as I try to get warm.
“You won’t be seeing her again, child. I know you don’t understand it now, but your mum is gone.”
A few nights later, I meet a man whose
hand trembles when he reaches out to shake mine.
“I’m Neil,” he says.
His eyes are kind. When I shake his hand, I feel safer than I’ve felt since leaving Mum in our house.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t know.” His head bows and he presses his fingers to his eyes. When he lifts his head again, his eyes are wet and he looks sad. I frown at him and he pats my shoulder. “I didn’t know about you until now or I would’ve been here sooner,” he says. “Jadon, I’m your father, and I will take good care of you, I promise.”
I swallow hard. I feel like crying. I miss Mum more than anything, but I’ve always wanted a dad. She told me it was just us though. I don’t understand how I have a dad now, but I really want to go with him, so I don’t say anything. He pats my shoulder again and takes a steadying breath.
“Are you ready to go to your new home? Your sisters will be excited to have a big brother.”
“I’ve always asked Mum for a sister,” I say excitedly. “How many are there?”
“There are two. One is a few years younger than you and the other is just a baby, but you’ll like her too. Even though all she does is cry and smile.” He laughs and I do too.
I can’t believe I have a family. I run and get the bear I have and the little bag Miss Lang put my clothes in and rush to my father.
I still can’t believe I have one.
It takes a long time to get to my father’s house. I fall asleep against his shoulder a few times on the way. And when we arrive, it’s the biggest house I’ve ever seen. A castle.
My insides are shaky as I walk inside, holding Father’s hand. A little girl runs up to me and holds out her doll. I smile and when I don’t take the doll from her, she waves it in my face until I do. When it’s in my hand, she snatches it back and runs circles around me.
“This is Eden. Someone is sure happy to meet you,” Father says.
A woman walks in, holding a baby and I stare at her. She’s beautiful and tall and the baby is so cute. I smile and the woman doesn’t smile back, looking at my father. She stares at him for a few moments but doesn’t say anything, instead turning around and walking out of the room with the baby.
“Kathryn and Ava,” Father says. “She’ll come around. It’ll just…take time,” he says under his breath.
Eden waves her doll in my face again and I start a game of peekaboo behind the doll, forgetting all about the woman and baby.
During the night, I hear the baby crying and leave my room to find her. I’m a little scared because Father tucked me in and I shouldn’t be out of bed, but I find baby Ava’s room not far from mine. I go inside and she’s in her crib wailing. I look around, but no one else comes, so I reach over and hold onto her little hand. She stares up at me, eyes wide, and I sing a little song Mum always sang to me. She quietens and even smiles a little smile before eventually drifting off to sleep.
I fall asleep lying on the floor by her crib, just in case she cries again. I don’t want her to feel like she’s alone, the way I do without Mum.
Chapter One
Jadon
Present
I go visit Kathryn. She’s being watched in the cottage to the east side of our property. She claims to be a bird in a cage, that I’m locking her up to torture her and to put her in her place. If I was that kind of person, I would’ve done it as soon as I became king.
Kathryn Safrin has hated me since the day I came to live in her house. I’m the illegitimate son of her husband, and as much as she loved him, she never forgave him for the affair he had while he was away at war for two years. Apparently, my mother never forgave him either, because he went back to his wife once the war was over. She never told him about me, and until the day he died, he did everything in his power to make sure I knew how much he loved me, to make up for those formative years in my life when I didn’t have a father.
Kathryn isn’t locked up because I hate her. I’ve never hated her—I’ve been hurt by her...there’s a big difference—but I don’t trust her right now. It’s been a month since she tried to kill me and while I know it wasn’t strictly her fault—she was kidnapped, given heavy hallucinogens, and hypnotized nightly with orders to kill me. My sister, Ava, also underwent the same brainwashing and she tried to save me when Kathryn shot me.
To me, the difference is clear and profound: Ava loves me and could never really hurt me, and my stepmother would love nothing more than to see me dead.
So yes, I do feel the need to supervise her recovery process a little longer, despite her manipulative attempts for freedom. The whole ordeal has been exhausting, not to mention an emotional lapse into the insecurity I felt growing up with Kathryn as my stepmother. It also feels like a distraction from what I should be focusing on: who was behind her kidnapping? And who is still out there waiting for the right moment to kill me?
There are probably too many enemies to count, but one was brave enough to kidnap my mother and my sister…neither in Farrow at the time, although that does little to ease my concerns over security since both Ava and our mother snuck back into the house without detection.
I’m walking along the path to the door, bracing myself for whatever mood Kathryn will be in, when my phone rings.
It’s a number I don’t recognize and I’m tempted to ignore it, but with my sister having been kidnapped before, I’m on the paranoid side and rarely avoid calls. Not many get past my team anyway, so if my phone rings, it’s usually important.
There’s always a small amount of fear that Ava will be taken again and that would put me in the ground. If anything happened to either of my sisters, I may as well take my sword to my gut and be done with it.
Enough morbidity, answer the damn phone.
“Jadon Safrin speaking.”
“As in King Jadon?” An amused raspy feminine voice that sounds like feathers mixed with claws catches me by surprise.
“Who’s asking?”
“This is Delilah Farthing.”
“Delilah,” my voice lilts at the end, “I was beginning to think you were merely a signature at the end of your family’s endless emails getting out of meetings.”
“Touché. I assure you, I’m more than a signature.”
She sounds playful and I have to say, it surprises me. Her family has been an endless headache to my peace of mind.
“To what do I owe this surprise?”
“I think it’s time we meet…somewhere neutral. Perhaps Ivalis or Grawlan?”
“What makes this time different? Forgive my bluntness, but I don’t have time for another no-show.” Every nerve in my body is on alert as I wait to hear her response. What are the Farthings up to now?
“My father is in remission, so I am freer than I’ve been in some time. However, I’d like to keep our meeting between us, if that’s okay with you. Tensions are still…shall we say, to the ceiling? I don’t know about you, but I love my kingdom and want to keep it in one piece. Something tells me you feel the same about yours.”
“Is this a trick, Delilah? Because it seems to me, nothing would explode negotiations between our kingdoms more than your father finding out about us meeting behind his back.”
“I’ll put it this way: you don’t want my father or my cousin, Caulder, knowing about our meeting. What I have to say is between you and me. Can you be discreet?”
I squeeze my forehead with my thumb and forefinger and look up at the blue sky. This could be a death trap I’m walking into, but it’s a risk I’ll have to take.
“Full of intrigue, Princess Delilah. Yes, I can be discreet. Question is, can you?”
“Ivalis, the day after tomorrow, noon, at the Cave of Stars. I’ll be alone. Don’t make me regret this…oh, and King?”
“Yes?”
“Watch your back.”
Shit. What kind of game is this?
“Always do,” I respond, my tone chilly. “I’ll see you in Ivalis.”
I walk into my stepmother’s room already in a suspicious mood after that troubling con
versation with Delilah. I’m distracted but on guard and when she glares at me as I enter, I try to tamp down the resentment that has steadily grown toward Kathryn. I’ve tried to be kind to her, tried to understand why she hated me when I became old enough to know how my father’s infidelity must have hurt what seemed to be a flawless relationship…I’ve even tried to not care. But it all comes down to the simple fact that I have longed for a mother since the day my own died, and Kathryn will never want to fill that role.
Today when her upper lip sneers as I sit down across from her, starting our chess game where we last left off, I brace my heart for the rejection. You’d think I’d be a stone-cold wall of defense by now, but that doesn’t seem to be my way.
“Hello, Kathryn. You’re looking especially lovely today.”
“I look dreadful and you know it. Now is not the time for false praise.”
“I assure you, when it comes to your beauty, there is no such thing as false praise. Your attitude, however, is another thing altogether.” I attempt a light tone, but when I make a move she doesn’t like on the chessboard, she growls and I groan. It’s hard work, being around her. Most days I wonder why I try.
