Page 9 of Bride of the Black Dragon
Guttersnipe? Well, that’s something I’ve never been called before.
“I was told to come to you,” I say and suddenly feel ugly. The way he and Henri are looking at me is the same way you might look at the disgusting mess your cat makes when it gets sick and spits up a hairball.
“Told by who?” Dorian demands.
“By…by your mother.” I’m sitting up now, aware that I’m flashing them both through the thin lace of the gown. I grab for my robe and pull it around me. “It’s our wedding night,” I say, trying again. “I…I’m supposed to try to…to give you an heir.”
My tongue feels numb and stupid—why should I have to explain these things? Shouldn’t he already know this?
“Get out!” Dorian points at the door, his face still screwed up into a mask of disgust. “Get out of my rooms and don’t come back! I want nothing to do with you.”
“But…but what about getting an heir?” I ask as I scramble off the bed. “The whole reason your father the King paid my dowry and brought me here?—”
“Out!” he repeats, still pointing. “I mean it!”
Feeling like I’ve made a terrible mistake—though I don’t see how—I scurry past the Crown Prince and his best friend. Both men are looking at me like I’m dog shit stuck to the bottom of a boot.
I hurry through the door and they slam it shut behind me. I hear a key turning in the lock and then Dorian’s voice saying,
“Did you see how she was dressed? And lying on my bed too! I shall have to get all the bedding washed.”
I feel sick—I don’t understand what I did wrong. I followed the orders my Mother-in-law sent along with the gown. I went to his rooms that he might take me and make me pregnant with a Royal heir. That is literally my only reason for existing here in the Citadel.
What will I do if I can’t fulfill my function?
The King and Queen have made no secret of the fact that they want a grandchild as soon as possible. If I can’t give them one, they’ll have no use for me. Will they send me back to my family in disgrace? Or will something worse happen to me?
I haven’t been at the Citadel long, but I’ve already heard talk of how ruthless the Royal couple can be. There have been two beheadings just since I’ve been here for offenses that would have meant no more than a lashing back home.
I don’t know what to think…or what to do.
Slowly, I make my way back to my rooms. Tanzy meets me there, her eyes going wide.
“So soon? Was it that quickly done, my Lady?”
I almost tell her the truth…but then I clamp my lips shut. I like Tanzy a lot, but I haven’t known her that long. I don’t want to tell her or anyone else that I failed in my mission—that I remain a virgin, untouched and unwanted.
“It was…fairly speedy,” I say, as lightly as I can. “The Crown Prince preferred to sleep alone when we were finished so I have come back to sleep here.”
“That’s well and good, then. I’ll turn down your bed.” Tanzy cocks her head. “Er…would you like a bath to ease you? The first time is meant to be painful, I know.”
“Thank you, Tanzy, but I think I’d rather just go straight to bed,” I tell her.
“Well then…as you wish, my Princess.”
She lets me in and tucks me into bed before bidding me goodnight. After the door shuts behind her, I lay there in the dark, wondering…
What am I going to do?
6
ELAINA
What I do is nothing. I pretend like everything is fine, but in reality, I’m a bundle of nerves. I know eventually someone is going to find out. The Queen will want to know why my belly isn’t filling out and she’ll call the Royal Physician.
I try several more times to go to Prince Dorian’s rooms, but every time the door is locked against me. I sit beside him at mealtimes at the Royal Table and when the Queen asks “how we’re getting on” I nod and smile and he gives her vague answers which seem to satisfy her…for now.
I feel a sense of dread growing inside me and I still don’t know what I have done wrong to be rejected in this way. I know I am nothing but a womb to the Royal family and if—when—they find out that I am not pregnant, I know who will be blamed and it won’t be the Crown Prince.
