“I just don’t understand why he would think it is ok to do this. I am a Princess. Doesn’t that count for anything? You guys knew that I would eventually be the Heir because of the prophecy. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“Danu’s visions set events in motion. He couldn’t offer for you in marriage because he was already promised, so he had to offer for you as a concubine to fulfill what the vision entailed. You have met her; you know she does not make these things easy, which leads me to the next part—Ryder does not love his bride, nor does he hold any affection for her, Flower. I wouldn’t put too much stock in what he thinks of her. If she is anything like Claire, she will go into the pavilion with the others, and she will be granted rights to dally where she wishes. He is obsessed with you; he might even me in love with you. Of course, he is Fae so he doesn’t recognize it as such, but it is all over him. We can all see it. He wants you and he will not let you go. He can’t break this contract; we have been trying to find a way. But I know something you don’t seem to have caught yet.”
“What; did your psycho Goddess give you another vision?”
He gave me a huge knowing grin. “She dropped a few clues in the maze. She called you the right choice for the Queen of Faery and told you to find something worth fighting for and your powers would come forth. Is he worth fighting for?” My heart stopped as I shifted back and stared at his patterned eyes. “You have to stop thinking like a Human, and start thinking like the Fae, Flower. They always stack the cards in their favor.”
“And what if I want to play a different game? Normally when the cards are stacked against you, it’s best to play a different game,” I whispered.
“Could you walk away from him? You carry his children, and I don’t foresee him allowing you to walk away.”
“I can’t just allow him to marry someone else, and keep me as his toy. I’d be nothing more than his whore, and I’m not stupid, Ristan. I know that a wife would be who he shared his life with, and I would be his bedmate. I deserve better than that, and even if it means walking away from him, I’d do it. I can’t be the other woman, and I know what I want. I want him, and I want to share his life; not just his bed.”
“Then fight for him,” he said.
“I can fight for love, Demon. I just won’t compete for it. I shouldn’t have to.”
Chapter Thirty-One
I was in that weird state between being awake and asleep, when Ryder sifted back to the room. He was silent as he sat on the bed across from me. He remained perfectly quiet until I finally turned over and leveled him with a glare.
“We need to talk,” he stated the obvious.
“There’s nothing to talk about, Ryder. Unless you went down there and figured out some miracle that ended with you not being married, well then, we’d have a shit ton to talk about,” I snapped angrily.
“Syn,” he warned.
“It fucking hurts! I can’t breathe, Ryder, because of you! Before you I was fine. I was living. I could breath and without you I can’t! When Adrian died it hurt like hell, but I could breathe, damn it!”
He pulled me across the bed before I could speak, and the tears that welled in my eyes ran freely down my face. “Put me down!”
“No,” he whispered.
“Stop touching me! I can’t think with you close. I wasn’t raised like this and you can’t expect me to just jump in line and figure it out. I can’t. I can’t erase what I was raised to believe in overnight.”
“I am not trying to force it, Syn. I’m trying to figure a way out of this contract. It just takes time. Just give it to me and I will figure it out.”
“Like the harem?” I barked, fed up with the lines. I didn’t trust that he would find a way out and it hurt. It really hurt.
“That’s not up for discussion,” he replied on a sigh.
“Why? Why isn’t it up for discussion? It’s off limit’s, that’s all you say. Explain it, and then maybe, just maybe I can understand why it’s off limits.”
“Because…Fuck! They are not just Alazander’s concubines! Synthia, think about it; what the fuck could make me keep women my father had?” he snapped.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered, taking in his defensive posture.