Page 14 of Oaths & Vengeance
That was the first time I brought him and his soldiers inside Veronna when my powers developed strongly enough. I’d wandered closer to see what his soldiers were doing. The village had been defenseless, with most civilians holding gardening tools for weapons, and those with swords ran through the roads, screaming with their bodies ablaze. When I saw what Lord Morgunn’s army was doing, I used my wind power to stop it. They were slaughtering everyone, no matter their age, status, or gender. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
My uncle had been furious with me for interfering and punished me harshly, but I didn’t care. I told him that if I caught him doing it again, I wouldn’t open another portal for him, even if it meant him killing me. He saw the truth in my eyes and relented. I’d watched closely for the next few years to ensure he kept his word, but after that, I’d assumed it wasn’t a problem. Had that been a mistake?
“He’s done it twice in the last year,” Darrow said, gray eyes darkening.
“But until last week, there were six months of peace, and I didn’t open any portals to your lands,” I argued.
Faina began playing with her dagger again. “Both times were before that, and we retaliated just enough to make him think twice about doing it again—hence the months of peace. Maybe you should keep a better eye on the destruction you help cause.”
“Why did you attack the other day?” I asked, because I knew I hadn’t brought my uncle’s forces over there in over half a year. “You started the fighting back up again this time, not us.”
Darrow’s gaze darkened. “He sent saboteurs to destroy several of our grain silos. Too many crops have been struggling and failing in recent years, making it difficult to afford the loss of even one. We know you had nothingto do with that one since we traced their route, but you'd better make damn sure you don’t help with others.”
Targeting food stores—even an enemy’s—was heartless and cruel. It wouldn’t be the lord and his family who starved, but instead, the poorest people and children who had nothing to do with the conflict. Only the worst kind of monsters forced vulnerable people to starve, even in enemy territory. I despised such methods.
Of course, I’d learned long ago my uncle was evil in that regard, and I was permanently trapped to be his tool of destruction. Maybe, though, I had a chance of undermining him without his knowledge.
“I promise I’ll pay closer attention.” I glanced between them, hating that I couldn’t disprove their claims when I knew it was possible based on his past behavior. “But you can’t really think I’ll let you come to my lands and do the same to Therress.”
I wasn’t about to let my people starve or die, either.
Darrow worked his jaw. “We aren’t interested in hurting innocents or destroying crops, but we will burn their homes and businesses as a message to your uncle. That method has worked in the past to stop him for a while.”
It would do the job because Lord Morgunn worked hard to stay on his people’s good side. Losing their homes and livelihoods would weaken their loyalty. They’d blame him for not protecting them better. He’d help rebuild, but that would cost him funds he didn’t like sacrificing. I hated that I may have abetted my uncle in such atrocities, but maybe if I made certain he didn’t hurt innocents again, it wouldn’t be a problem anyway.
“Fine,” I said, squaring my shoulders. “I can agree to that.”
He gave me a serious look. “Would you swear to it?”
A lump formed in my throat, but I didn’t have much choice if I wanted to save Rynn. Darrow had me backed into a corner. Not to mention, his argument made sense from his perspective, even if I hated what it would force me to do if I didn’t contain my uncle. “Yes. Help my cousin, and I will open portals under those terms—I swear.”
“And the marriage?” Darrow asked, amusement lighting in his eyes.
I clenched and unclenched my fists. “How exactly is a secret marriage supposed to work?”
“You will tell no one about it except your cousin and Briauna for obvious reasons, and I will limit who knows on my side.” He ran his gaze up and down my body with a critical look. “But despite your beauty, we won’t be consummating it on our wedding night or likely any night thereafter. We’re still enemies, and I don’t trust you. Making you my wife is purely to keep you out of enemy hands and grant me easier access to you.”
I tried not to take offense, though it was hard not to be insulted by his insinuations. “Not that I’m arguing the point because I’m not interested in sex with you, either, but why?”
“Your father killed my grandfather. Your uncle and cousins have killed many of my other relatives. Unless you prove yourself trustworthy or maybe if you beg prettily enough—both cases doubtful—I have no intention of bedding you,” he said coldly.
I crossed my arms, trying to contain my rage. As if Darrow and his people were so innocent, or I’d ever want him, either. “My father is dead because your father killed him. Your brother killed my brother, and the list goes on. Don’t act like this is all one-sided.”
“True,” he agreed. “All the more reason we keep the marriage as a business arrangement and nothing more.”
“But this will be forever unless one of us dies or finds our true mate,” I pointed out, shifting from foot to foot. “You’re not planning on killing me once you don’t need me anymore, are you?”
His lips quirked. “No. Luckily for you, I will always find your portal-channeling skills useful, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll ask the king to include vows of protection in the ceremony so neither of us can turn on the other.” Darrow shrugged as if that was no big deal, though I felt a wave of relief at the suggestion. “As for true mates, less than one percent of us ever find those anymore, so I’m not too worried about it.”
He was right. With the Naforya Fountain gone for so long, far fewer fae found their mates in recent centuries. Many of us still tried searching because such relationships were the most intense and powerful, with many benefits, but it was mostly a hopeless search. In the rare instances where it did happen, it was one of the only ways a couple could dissolve a marriage, allowing one of them to be free to marry their true mate.
Other points ran across my mind. “What about children? And I assume you’re not going to go without sex and be faithful to me.”
Darrow shrugged. “I’m a second son, so I don’t need heirs, and my father would never pass me the title even if something happened to my brother.”
Oh, right. The twins’ mother was a dark elf from Karganoth. The marriage had been intended to build peace between our realm and theirs, but it only lasted a little under thirty years before it tragically went wrong. Darrow and Faina’s mom had betrayed them and secretly worked with my uncle to plan a large-scale attack. That was how the former lord of Veronna, the twins’ grandfather, ended up getting killed, as well as hundreds of his soldiers.
I was only fourteen at the time and still honing my abilities, so I hadn’t been involved in the conflict, but it was a defining period in my life. When Veronna retaliated, I lost my father, and all my hopes and dreams died with him. He never would have allowed my uncle to do all the terrible things he’d done in the years that followed or treat me so horribly.
