Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
"You want me willing." Melina's words are flat, her arms crossed over her chest in that ugly outfit she wears. "Because the great leader has to make it look as if everyone wants to lick his ass. Because if I fight you, they start wondering what's so wrong with you, right? And we can't have that."
Her mind is sharp and clever. I like that she sees things I don't say aloud and calls them out to me. She'll be a clever mate…if I must take one, that is. So I incline my head. "I will be a good lord to this fort and to you—"
She rolls her eyes, as if what I'm saying is utterly ludicrous, and I'm taken slightly aback by that response. "All you men in charge think the same shit. Fine. You want me willing, is that it? And if I'm not willing, what's the next step? You're going to trot women and children in here and torture them in front of me until I agree to suck your dick?"
…did she say suck?
Is that what people do when they're in private together? My Salorian upbringing hasn't prepared me for such a concept. I clear my throat to hide how her words have unnerved me. "You're giving me ideas, and you know you shouldn't, my lovely—"
"I'm not your lovely," Melina rages. "And let me guess, my other option is to leave, right?"
"Actually I'm afraid we've passed that point," I say in a soft voice. "I'd use my drakoni and bring you back." Especially now that she's said the bit about sucking on my cock. "We've discovered you have a price. Let us hammer out the details, shall we?"
Her nostrils flare with pure fury, and for a moment, I suspect she'll come across the table and attack me. She's like a hissing, spitting fledgling, and I cherish every snarl she makes, knowing that she is furious and yet she is still about to give in, oh-so-beautifully. "Fine," Melina says. "You want to talk price? Let's talk price."
She pulls out the chair at the far end of the table and sits down with a heavy thump, glaring mutinously at me.
"First of all, I want dinner," she says in a sharp voice. "A nice one. I'm tired of sending everything back. You want to keep me? It's going to cost you a fortune. I want dresses. I want jewels. I want a bath every night in hot water, with fresh soap. I want hair products. I need shampoo, and detangler. I need bonnets and scarves and a wide-toothed comb. I want shoes that are the right size. I want clean sheets for my bed, even if it's got your sorry ass in it." And she curls her lip slightly at me.
I'm utterly delighted at this turn of events. "You shall have it."
"Don't get too excited. That's just for starters." She taps a delicate fingernail on the table, pointing at nothing. "And if I'm the consort of this fort, then you need to make it a place that I'd be proud of, or no one's going to buy that I'm with you. So this is how it's going to be."
How it's…going to be? I'm awed at her ferocity. Awed, and more than a little amused. Here I thought she'd be announcing her surrender, and instead she's come in with a list of demands. I knew she was perfect to be my consort. There is no stronger, cleverer female to be found in this fort—or even in all of this world. No wonder she makes me want to break all of the rules a Salorian lives by.
But if there are no other Salorians here, can they truly judge me for wanting to blend in?
I already know the answer to that, however, and I choose to ignore it. Instead, I listen as Melina dictates how she thinks I should run the fort. Everyone needs access to running water of some kind, she tells me. Few of the buildings left standing have some, and it adds to the filth and disease of the city and leads to unsafe conditions. She wants me to dig latrines for the people, and at another location, a place for them to retrieve fresh water for drinking and bathing. She wants to set up a school program for the children, who need to be educated on reading and writing and math so the knowledge of the past isn't lost.
"And we need to give single women a safe haven of some kind. Right now, they're forced to seek out protectors or whore to put food in their mouths. I want them to have an option other than that. Your troops won't let them go hunting on their own unless they're bribed, and so they're trapped here with no way to earn coin other than on their backs. I don't care if it's a farming program, or teaching, or something else, but they need to be able to support themselves and not rely on the benevolence of some asshole." She gives me an extremely pointed look.