Page 50 of Tamed for Her Pleasure

Chapter Seventeen

Penelope

Jeremy has always been a weaselly noble who suffers delusions of grandeur. He is the second cousin of the disgraced lord, Marshal, who tried to take a mated omega and the reason I met Alfred at all.

It seems stupidity runs deep in their family. Jeremy was not close enough to be discredited, and yet I see echoes of the weakness in him. Oh, he is handsome, an accomplished swordsman, and is said to be renowned for his prowess in the bed, but he deluded himself that we might be wed.

I foolishly indulged him in a brief affair once, which led to him getting ideas above his station. Not that I care about a man’s station. Alfred is a nobody in our world. My father has knighted him, given him a title and lands, a place we might call home and live until I must serve as queen, but I hope many years are ahead of us before that comes to pass.

There has been something off about Jeremy since he arrived at the castle under the pretense of attending our wedding, like heseeks to drive a wedge between Alfred and me, with the aid of his sister.

I trained with Joyce in the Raven Guild and considered her my friend once. Lately, however, I have questioned her loyalty, and whether her friendship was merely part of an elaborate plan to get me to marry her brother. At first, I passed off her gushing about him as my suitor as the enthusiasm of a good friend. When I knew it would never work between Jeremy and me, I told both of them separately, and in kind but plain terms.

She did not speak to me for a month, which hurt, but I told myself it was a reflection of her disappointment.

Then it was like I had never spoken to her about Jeremy, and she would continue to talk about him as though we were still destined to wed.

Today should have been an afternoon tea between two friends. Instead, Joyce has brought Jeremy along.

“But he’s a barbarian,” Joyce says, turning her little nose up. “Aren’t they terribly uncivilized?”

Joyce is as pretty as her brother is handsome. She received a lot of attention from men of the court until the scandal surrounding her wider family.

Perhaps she is still hedging for me to marry her brother to elevate her place?

I plaster on a smile. “Oh, Alfred is very much a barbarian. But that is the appeal, don’t you think?”

If she expects me to be concerned about her slight, she will be disappointed.

I told Alfred I loved him earlier today. He is so easy to love and admire. He has the ability to be himself with both people of high standing and low. He and my father are very different, but I have noticed my father listening to his opinions.

Alfred speaks plainly and is intimidated by no man. He goes to the barracks daily, where he trains with the other soldiers. Itis clear they like him well. And not simply because he is about to marry the princess and their future queen. I have also seen many nobles, not just my father, softening towards him.

An unpolished gem is still a gem.

“I heard that you were” —her eyes lower to my waistline— “forced to marry him on account of being with child.”

My laugh bubbles up. “I am not pregnant. Is that the best you can do, Joyce?”

Her expression turns pinched.

“My sister is only concerned,” Jeremy adds.

“I am not with child,” I say. “But it would be none of your business if I was.”

“You should not feel pressure,” Joyce continues. “Many men would take you either way. Jeremy would.”

She is really not getting the point.

A little color enters Jeremy’s cheeks, and I believe he finally recognizes the folly of pursuing this.

“My sister is handling her disappointment poorly. I see your mind’s made. If there should ever be any... any reason for you to need to call on me, I would always be there. Others may speak of you being defiled by a barbarian, but you would not hear any such condemnation from me.”

My brows have crawled higher with every word leaving his lips. “You are magnanimous, Jeremy.”

His chest puffs up. I can be polite. I have spent a lifetime being polite.

Their opinions hold no sway. Soon, I will be married, and Alfred and I will move to our estate. If I never see Jeremy or Joyce again, I will not be sorry.

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