Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“Happy? You went behind my back …”
“Are you mad because I went behind your back to do it or because you can’t own me?” she asked, raising her chin. “I will never give up my house for you. Not ever. And you cannot force me to even if you become king. You have no authority over me in that manner.” She took a step forward. “You will never have authority over me. Never.”
March’s fury hit a fever pitch at her taunt. He launched forward with his body and his magic. It was almost comical. She should never have let him push her around to begin with. It was her own fear of him that had swallowed her whole from childhood that stayed her hand. It was then the fear that he would go to war against her people. She hadn’t even been a Society member. She might not have been able to keep her dragon. So many fears bottled up into one.
But she refused to cower before Ashby March a second longer. His first element was earth, and he used the stones beneath her feet to try to hold her in place. Even if she hadn’t been wearing Dozan’s ring, the attempt was laughable. The flame in his hand went out at his assault. As if he couldn’t control two elements at once. She had assumed he had all four elements to have gotten this far in life, but since he’d never entered the tournament, his control must have been meager. Now he was proving that to be true.
It was certainly nothing compared to her own.
She dodged his assault and then tapped her own magic to halt him where he stood. She smoothed out the stones he had called to, returning them to their earlier perfection. Then, she took a step forward as he stood, gasping in her tight air hold.
“Do you even know who I am?” she asked him, meeting his anger with her own. “Do you have any idea what I’ve gone through to become the capable fighter that I am? I could kill you where you stand without even blinking. I have honed my skills into this, and if I can take on some of the greatest fighters of our time, then you stand no chance. I am going to release you, and you are going to leave.
“You can’t touch me,” she snapped. “Do you understand?”
March glared harder. It was all he could do.
“Blink if you understand.”
March blinked. Kerrigan smiled wider.
She released him with a flourish for his benefit. He rocked back onto his heels as he regained full use of his body. He massaged his jaw, which he must have been clenching as she held him. His eyes were still furious. But he’d put one foot over the line, and she was done letting him do so.
“You’ve made a grave error,” he growled.
“I haven’t.”
March stepped forward. “You have. You can’t get out of our contract. And now, you’ve proven to me that I have no need to care about your concerns.”
“I am not marrying you, March.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“No, we won’t.”
“Your father has the best lawyers in Bryonica trying to figure out a way out of it. If he hasn’t found a way out yet, do you think you will?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Fuck you.”
Then, before she could even fathom what was happening, March backhanded her across the face. She stumbled back a step but didn’t fall. Her hand flew to her face, and her eyes went wide with shock. She turned slowly, dangerously, prepared to retaliate, but he was already walking back toward the party.
“Clean yourself up. You disgust me,” he spat.
It took everything in Kerrigan not to rush after him and do exactly what Dozan had suggested. Gutting him like a fish felt like justice at this point. He’d hit her. She still couldn’t believe he’d actually done it. And after she’d shown him how powerful she could be. After everything.
No.
No, she couldn’t marry this man.
She had known before. She had known when he was a child. And she had realized all over again when he threatened her at Geivhrea. But it was certain now. He had actually raised a hand to her.
Her hands closed into fists. All she wanted to do was walk back into that party, grab him with one hand, and punch him with the other. She wanted a real fight to end this insanity. She hated sparring with political jabs and ruthless words.
Words wouldn’t fix this. Only fists could be sufficient for certain jobs, and this was one of those jobs. But if she went in there and destroyed him as she saw fit, then it would be her fault. She’d walk right into his trap. No one had seen him hit her. Maybe no one would even believe that he was capable of that. March had everyone fooled.