Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
“I think you’re talking about memes. No one makes memes of the head of education.” Of course, no one really listened to her either.
“But they will make the memings when you are queen,” Queen Yasmine announced solemnly. “Now, we must talk about your dress. I think traditional is best for the actual ceremony, but you should wear couture to the reception. The whole world will be watching. We need to present a true vision of our country as a cosmopolitan nation. I’ve already called the heads of three fashion houses to submit designs. And, darling girl, I love you, but we must pluck those eyebrows. They’re growing together. They’re not supposed to do that.”
She wasn’t… She felt her forehead and grimaced. Technically hair was supposed to grow. Plucking it was the unnatural force here. It was also not the point. “Kash hasn’t spoken to me in fifteen years. Why would he want to marry me now?”
The queen sighed. “Have you listened to a word I’ve said? Kash doesn’t want to get married at all. I’m rather certain he doesn’t want to come home. That’s why I hired guards to drag him here. I was even smart enough to hire the particularly handsome one with the British accent and the law degree. Even now he’s explaining to Kash that there’s no way out of the trap I’ve set and that he should accept this beautiful gift of love and stability I’m offering him.”
“Is it a gift or a trap?” The queen had used both words, but it was definitely starting to feel like a trap to Day.
The queen’s smile turned beatific. “It’s both, of course. That’s the beauty of it all. You’re going to be perfect for him. You’re the girl to keep him in line. My boy is lovely and so smart, though he often forgets to use his brain. I wish his penis wasn’t so large. I think that was where we went wrong. It has to have come from my side of the family, because my husband certainly wasn’t that large. And I was happy with that. It meant he didn’t feel the need to use it on every woman who walked by. And you must get Kashmir to stop having it photographed. It’s unseemly.”
Day felt herself blush. Damn it. She didn’t blush. Ever. She’d seen almost everything there was to be seen and she was cool with it all. Sex was part of a good and natural life. Accepting her own sexuality had been important. But something about the elderly queen talking about Kash’s penis had Day’s skin flushing. “Your Majesty, I’m not marrying Kashmir. He’s been a halfway decent king, especially in the early years, but he would make a terrible husband.”
“But he won’t once you show him the way.”
“The way?”
“Dayita, there’s a reason I chose you.” The queen was quiet for a moment and then she looked back up, not even attempting to quell the tears in her eyes now. “You can save him. You can give him the stability he needs. You can show him he doesn’t have to destroy himself.”
“I don’t know why you think I can do that.”
The queen seemed to come to some inner decision because she sniffled and then sat back, her head coming up regally. “You are smart enough to lead this country. You are perfect to be the face of the monarchy. If I allow Kash to continue, we will be obsolete and our country will go the way of so many other small nations. You are right. At this point we still have a faction that would love to see us go back into the Dark Ages. I worry that there is a group of men waiting to take over. They would privatize something that has always been public. That oil was found on public land and therefore belongs to all of us. They would change this and that would send many of our people into poverty. Women and girls, most of all. Are you willing to risk that?”
Something was wrong with the queen. Day had never seen her like this before. Her majesty was so gentle and gracious. “Your Majesty, I understand that you’re upset with Kashmir, but I’m not going to marry him. You need to talk to him about this. You need to make him see reason. He should marry, but he needs to find the right woman.”
“You are the right woman, but he is far too foolish to see it. He’s spent fifteen years avoiding you.”
“He doesn’t remember my name.” He’d refused to see her the one time she’d shown up to the palace in person. He’d never written her back. She’d sent him letters for more than a year until she finally realized he was ignoring her.
“Then introduce yourself, darling, because I won’t be swayed,” the queen announced. “I will see the two of you married and settled and working for a brighter future or I will destroy it all and let the cards fall as they may.”