8

Conditions? Stipulations. Of course, they had those! Why was I even surprised?

And from the evil look on Thomas’s face, I wasn’t going to like them.

I looked away from him. The last thing I wanted was for him to notice the hesitant weariness inside of me, itching to come out.

I rushed forward to join my father, who put a hand out to stop me coming too close.

I stopped in my tracks, trusting him to guide me the right way.

I couldn’t help but wonder why he needed me to stop walking, though. What would happen if I did get too close? Was there some kind of trap?

Matlock spoke. “So, the Council is willing to accept Ava as my legal heir? Irrespective of illegitimacy and… her female sex?”

He furrowed his brows, as though he didn’t trust the Council to make sure all our conditions were met, as though they had found some kind of loophole they could try and jump through without us noticing.

I wanted to roll my eyes. I nearly opened my mouth to apologize for having a vagina, but I managed to refrain. I did want to attempt to take this seriously.

I looked over at Tavlor who hadn’t flinched. Then I realized for him, it probably was a big deal. After all, most human royal families had made males the only legal heirs for thousands of years. For some countries, those rules were only recently changed.

For humans, it made no sense to have such a rule, but for witches… it was probably possible to make such a rule. If they controlled their High Warlocks to the point that they were only allowed to have one child. One heir. Of course, they would make sure it was a male.

It was probably in the laws they made the High Warlock abide by.

Really should have studied that contract before today. Why didn’t I ask my father for a copy… shit!

Thomas nodded. “Yes, we will accept her despite those faults. She will need to be trained, of course. As you were. She will need to be schooled in our laws, our way of life, her responsibilities…”

They were making it sound terrible! So much more like a job than I ever thought it would be.

I didn’t want to appear ungrateful. This was what I wanted. This was what I said I would do in order to ensure my safety. But if they gave me conditions I couldn’t meet, then that wasn’t fair, either.

I had to say something. “Okay… but I have time for that, right? It’s not like I’ll be taking over my father’s responsibilities for years.” Decades, preferably. “I assume I only inherit on his death? Not before?”

It wasn’t something we’d discussed, and as I asked the question, I realized I really didn’t know a lot about the role I was about to take on. I’d simply wanted to be a part of my father’s life. I wasn’t sure if showing my ignorance in this matter was a good idea or not.

I sighed and started twisting my fingers together. I just wanted to know my father and be with him as his daughter.

But maybe we should have had some heart to heart discussions first?

Thomas nodded. “Yes, you only inherit on his death, unless your father decides to step down early. Which doesn’t happen. You need to understand, however, that High Warlock’s are schooled from infancy in the correct way of addressing the public, their role…”

He let his voice trail off. There was a hint of a sneer on his face as though he thought I would never be able to catch up.

“Responsibilities… yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said with a shrug. Really, training someone since infancy?

They didn’t want me to be excited about this win at all, did they?

I waved my hand, accepting their condition. “That’s fine. I accept that I need to learn a lot about my role, and I’m sure between my father, and some of your chosen tutors, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

That didn’t mean of course that I’d be the High Warlock they wanted me to be. I could see issues already with the way they ran their realms, their people. Their insane belief in their supremacy.

But I wasn’t going to tell them that, of course. I needed to learn their ways and get fully accepted before I had a chance of changing anything. Of improving things for the people of these realms.

“I’m glad you agree,” Thomas said, looking smug.

I glanced from my father’s worried face, to Tavlor’s, and back to Thomas. Was there a catch I was missing? Clearly, something was going on here, something I didn’t understand. I waited for someone to tell me. When that didn’t work, I just decided to fuck everyone and ask.

“What else is there?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Well…” Thomas puffed up his chest and held out his hand, magicking up a scroll, a contract of some sort I had to assume.

I wonder if it’s as airtight as the one they’ve already broken.

“What is it?” I asked, looking at him like he was a moron—which he was. How could he be smug over something I didn’t understand and then expect me to get his point?

“It’s the current contract the High Warlock signs when they inherit, or reach twenty-one,” he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I’m twenty-three, I reminded him. I didn’t even try hiding the triumphant grin on my face, being able to correct him in front of all these people.

“Exactly.” He nodded once, his eyes scanning the document. “So, although you won’t inherit for some time, we assume, there are several stipulations you will need to put into place in the next year or so that will need to be agreed to.”

My father took the scroll from Thomas and handed it to me. For some reason, he didn’t read the contract himself. It was as though only I could read it.

His face was pinched, and I wondered if he knew which of the stipulations I was going to balk at.

I opened the contract up and began to read, though the writing was ornate and not at all what I was used to, it was legible enough. I frowned, trying to read fast and get to the part I was supposed to hate.

Thomas continued while I read. “We’ve filled in any relevant parts that apply to you, Ava, although the contract is almost identical to the one your father signed when he came of age.”

Matlock stepped next to me. “Can we have a moment alone, please?”

I wasn’t sure why he was deciding now to be polite. It wasn’t like these people deserved that respect. But I kept my mouth shut.

“I’ll go through everything with Ava.”

My eyes scrolled down the first page and it all seemed pretty standard, until I came across the section on my marriage. I furrowed my brow and read the sentence once, and then twice, and then one more time because I could not believe it was there.

I was going to marry Cedric Cornall, in six months!

I’m fucking… gonna what?

I looked up at Thomas as he began to gather the Council to leave the room.

“Who the hell is Cedric Cornall?” I demanded, handing the scroll over to my father to peruse. He opened his mouth to try and get me to calm down, no doubt, but I held my hand up as though to say ‘stop.’

I was already past that by now.

There were a few too many pleased smiles within the Council as they all glanced back at me. My stomach tightened, feeling like it had been filled with lead. And like an anchor, it was sinking low, to the point where there was no way in hell I’d be able to pull myself up from drowning.

They weren’t seriously trying to fix me up in an arranged marriage the way they had my father? And with someone I’d never even met?

And yet, as I stared at Thomas, as I stared at the Council as they retreated like the cowards they all were, I realized that that was exactly what they were doing.

Thomas took a few steps forward, smiling. “We realized last night that you, being a female, Ava, gave us an unusual advantage. One we have never had before. One we never even considered.”

Oh, my god. This is bad.

“Advantage?” I squeaked out. I cleared my throat, trying to cover up the crack in my voice as a cough.

I swallowed hard against the need to scream and kept my decorum as best I could. My mother had taught me how to fake being calm to get through a conversation, but at the moment I was seeing red and could barely imagine a different outcome other than a screaming match. I could never be as good as she was when it came to patience and keeping my face cool and collected while my insides were in turmoil. Bella, sure, but not me.

Thomas smiled and went on. “Yes. We have a chance to breed into the High Warlock line in a way we never have before. By introducing strong male genetics from one of the families.”

I forced down the lump in my throat, though bile tickled the back of my mouth. Breeding? As in horses… cattle. Dogs?

Was that how they saw me? As a breeding machine set to produce the next High Warlock for them? Like I was some kind of animal and the only thing of value I had to offer them was my vagina. My mind, my abilities, my spirit was nothing to them. I shouldn’t be surprised. Hell, I shouldn’t even be hurt. But I was.

“Oh. And which family does, uh…”—I couldn’t remember his name—“your choice come from?”

I didn’t actually care. I was trying not to lose it in front of these people. I couldn’t look at Tavlor. I knew that if I did, I would break down and the last thing I wanted was for everyone to see me cry.

My father answered before Thomas could.

“He’s Charity’s nephew,” he said. “Which will mean that they can breed in the same genetics they were hoping to with my marriage to Charity, but failed to do so.”

I glared at my father, unable to hold back my revulsion to such an idea.

“No fucking way.” My voice was barely a growl, barely a breath, and yet I hoped my eyes threw daggers at him.

My father glanced at Thomas, not responding to me or my glare.

“Give us a minute,” he said again.

I looked towards the too smug Council, then back to my father.

“You can’t be serious?” I said, barely able to get the words out.

Tavlor’s hand on my arm made me calm enough to hold it all together. I clenched my teeth, swallowed, and counted until the Council finally left the room.

Then my anger exploded. “I will not agree to this!”

I was panting, my chest rising and falling at a rapid rate. I stepped back, away from both of them. I couldn’t be near anyone right now.

“I cannot believe they’d try and pull this sort of shit! Especially… especially since they know how colossally they failed with you and my mother. Seriously, they think I’ll just fall in with this plan?”

My father looked up from his reading of my contract to glance at my face.

“They know you won’t and that’s why they’re doing it,” he said simply.

Tavlor was just standing by Matlock’s side, stoic and silent.

I wanted to smack him. Surely, he had something to say about this? Surely he wasn’t okay with me going off and marrying another man? Where was the anger, the passion I had seen from him last night?

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” I demanded.

Tavlor shook his head, but emitted a strange growling sound. I opened my mouth, ready to go off on him about how little he cared when I realized he was pressing his lips so tightly together they were white.

I looked down and saw that his nails were digging into the palms of his hands that I could tell they drew blood, was barely breathing because his body was so tense.

A shiver shook my body as I realized how angry he was.

I nearly sighed with relief. I thought he had returned to that shell he was when I first met him and he followed orders blindly.

I turned back to my father. “What do you mean, that’s why they’re doing it?”

Matlock rolled the contract back up and handed it to me. “The rest of it is standard, they haven’t tried to weasel anything new in.”

“Nothing other than the fact they expect utter submission and complete control over me, you mean?”

My hands tightened into fists, squeezing the life out of the contract, and my heart beat an angry tattoo against my ribs.

Of all the things to want me to do… Marry a complete stranger? Never!

Matlock nodded. “Yes, the role of High Warlock has always been one of service.”

I pointed at him with an angry stare. “No. It wasn’t! It started out as a simple representative of the council, a judge of sorts. Someone to implement rules when the others wouldn’t or couldn’t agree. I don’t know when that changed into what they expect now… but it’s ridiculous! Even a queen can choose who she marries! How can they do this to me?”

My father walked forward and grabbed my upper arms. “I told you, because they know you won’t agree. Now calm down, so we can discuss this rationally.”

He let go of me and stepped away. I shivered with the stress of it all.

Then I blew out a deep breath I didn’t know I was holding, and focused on finding a solution. Not an emotional reaction.

“Okay… okay.” My fingers shook as I combed my hands through my hair.

At least it was some release from the pent-up energy, from the magic pushing against my fingertips, wanting to destroy everything, especially that damn contract. “What do we do?”

My father was pacing and Tavlor still stood like a silent statue.

I sidled up closer to him.

“Are you okay?” I asked in a low voice.

He didn’t answer immediately, then he gave a stiff nod.

Liar.

He was not okay.

I cupped his face with my hands, forcing him to look at me. “I am not going to agree to this. They can’t keep us apart. I won’t allow it.”

He blinked, as though only just realizing I’d spoken. “They’ll never let us be together, Ava. Not in the way we want to be.”

I went up on my tip toes and kissed his cold lips briefly.

Then I turned back to my father. “How are we going to fix this?”

Matlock stopped in his tracks and looked straight at me.

“Any chance you’re pregnant already?” he asked bluntly. He didn’t seem to care that I was his daughter in this moment and that he was asking a drastically personal question.

My jaw dropped open and I glanced at Tavlor, then back at my father. “Uh….”

We’d used no protection either time we’d made love, and I had no idea when my cycle was due.

“I don’t know.”

And I also had no idea how easy it would be to get pregnant to a half fae, half warlock sire.

I glanced at Tavlor, who now seemed brighter, and much more part of the discussion. “What do you think?”

He looked from me to my father, and back again. “I hadn’t considered… I don’t know if I am fertile or not. I’ve never sired an offspring before.”

“So, what was all that worry about us having children in the future then?” I demanded.

That was one of his main concerns this morning when he’d realized that I’d marry him if he asked me.

He frowned. “There are ways to encourage fertility, magic, Fae healing. I assumed that if you wanted a child, I could find a way to do so. But we’ve only been together twice. What are the odds?”

I turned towards my father, who seemed to be taking this conversation better than I’d expected. At least he was taking it better than I was. Despite the fact that I was a consenting adult with a man I loved, my face still felt like flames had eaten it alive.

He stepped towards me. “There’s only one way to find out and that’s a spell I can do. You ready?”

I took a step away from him, my hands flying immediately to my belly. I wasn’t sure about this.

“Will it hurt? And if I am pregnant, will it hurt the baby?”

Oh, my god. A baby! I’d barely stepped out of my mother’s shadow. What did I know about raising a baby?

My father shook his head. “No. it’s a simple energy test. It’ll take but a moment, you just need to relax.”

I glanced over at Tavlor whose jaw was tight, but he nodded.

I forced myself to look back at my father, then closed my eyes. “Okay. Go for it.”