Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
"What do you think, my dear?"
Did he really have to ask that? And if he insisted on having an answer, would kicking him in the nuts do? Would that be clear enough for him, or maybe she had to crush his balls with her bare hands, just for him to really, unequivocally understand what she thought?
"It's a good deal, isn't it?"
Estrella managed to lower her gaze in an act of demure hesitation, when in truth all she could still think about was planting a good solid kick to his nards. In the almost fifty minutes that Tony had condescendingly enumerated all the benefits that came with his marriage proposal, he had also managed to insult the Faes - her people - at every turn.
Weaklings, to have lost their land twice. No better than stateless immigrants now, scattered like dumb sheep. Need a strong hand, not like your missing husband.
Estrella closed her eyes. Remember, she told herself. Remember what you've sworn.
A rainy night, the twins knocking on the door to her family home, Aluin handing her Lysander's ring, and Alain pressing a torn piece of fabric to her hand, with the prince's note written in his blood.
Keep my kingdom safe for me.
I trust you.
When Estrella lifted her head, she was able to summon a smile for the hyena. "You honor me greatly, Lord Toby. However..."
And so it went on and on and on. Would-be suitors seeking a private word with her, and Estrella would always acquiesce and force herself to listen to whatever they had to say. Most of them were like Toby, with the way they expected Estrella to be selfish and greedy enough to do whatever it took to keep the throne. That kind, she could readily handle, even if they did annoy her to death. But the other kind?
"My beautiful princess," a voice leered from behind.
Speak of the devil, Estrella thought, even though in this case, she might be doing the devil himself a disservice. She turned around, her smile already in place as she curtsied in greeting. "Prince Pierro, good evening."
"You're even more stunning than I remember."
"You're too kind."
"I'm only saying what's true." And as if to emphasize his point, Pierro's gaze immediately went straight to her cleavage...and stayed there.
She pulled a fan out from the pocket of her skirt and snapped it open. "These things can be so suffocating, don't you think?" Estrella started fanning herself, which effectively prevented the hyena pack leader from ogling her breasts.
"Ah, er, yes." Pierro reluctantly raised his gaze back to Estrella's face. "Would you like some fresh air? Perhaps I can walk—-"
Estrella quickly shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but it might make people talk—-"
"About what?" Pierro's voice had become petulant. "It pains me to remind you of this, but your husband has been gone for over two years."
"But he's still my husband," she countered lightly.
"And was he even a good one?" Pierro asked snidely. "Fae are supposedly worse than the most cold-blooded fish of shifters."
The mermaids would kill him for that, Estrella couldn't help thinking.
"The Fae are pretty to look at, sure, but inside the bedroom..."
And this, Estrella thought, was why she always ended up having to go to confession every time she met one of Pierro's ilk. She hated, just absolutely hated the way they made Lysander sound like some sexless dandy, and it always had her feeling positively murderous.
Just because Lysander was more beautiful, elegant, and charming than all of the reigning beauty queens combined didn't mean he was any less male.
"Estrella, my princess..."
I'm not your princess, you jerk. Estrella wanted to snarl the words out loud, but she managed to hold on to her temper and feign a look of distress. "We've known each other for a long time, so I think...it's time I should tell you the truth."
Five minutes later, and Pierro couldn't get away fast enough, his tongue practically stumbling over an excuse to leave her company. She let out an audibly forlorn sigh as he turned his back on her, and it was only when she lowered her gaze to the floor that Estrella allowed herself a grin.
Sucker.
As with all the other men that had tried to woo her into marriage, Pierro had changed his mind as soon as he learned of Estrella's worries about being barren. Keeping one's bloodline from dying out might no longer be as important for most humans, but for their kind, it still remained (albeit unreasonably) a symbol of one's power and strength.
It was close to midnight when the ball officially came to an end, and Estrella cupped a hand over her mouth to hide her yawn. While socializing was no longer a vomit-inducing torment the way it used to be at the start, she still found it particularly draining, and most times, it also made her want to take a long, hot shower. There was just something about having to be friendly with smarmy men like Pierro and Toby that made her feel icky all over.