Semua Bab One True Love: A Love Mark Fantasy Romance: Bab 11 - Bab 20

After I was able to keep Nicolette and Yasmin from having a cat fight right there at the dinner table, Caulder and Soren began to discuss trading regulations with our neighbors.“All I’m saying,” Soren argued, lifting his hands, “is that raising taxes a single pence on the pound won’t make that big of a difference.”“Except it does when the kingdoms ordering from us are requesting thousands of pounds at a time,” Caulder shot back. “Far Shore is already complaining about the prices we do charge, and we charge them less than any other realm.”“Pfft.” Soren shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Then I guess they can buy their clear rock from someone else. Oh, wait.” He dramatically slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead. “That’s right. No one else makes clear rock, so they’ll just have to suck it up and keep paying what we quote them if they truly want it that bad, which they do. Everyone wants what we have. We should profit from that.”I opened my mouth to respond, only to

Madness claimed my uncle, Aturro, when he was a mere forty years of age. Father said it was a broken heart that sent him crazy. I never understood how that could possibly affect someone so severely.Until now.The need to see her was like a constant itch in my brain. After getting caught following her by the blackmailing princess, I resisted going anywhere near Vienne for a solid week, but my resistance began to run thin.I paced my room most days, feeling like a wild animal that had been caged and was slowly being starved to death. And she was like my food, my sustenance. As soon as I broke free of this stupid restraint I was implementing on myself, I had a bad feeling I would try to feast on her like a savage beast.But with that thought rose the fear that I would come on too strong and frighten her in my desperation, scar her permanently, and possibly even endanger her unborn child. So I locked the needs in even tighter.Except being trapped inside my own head was driving me cr

On the eve before Allera and Brentley’s wedding, celebrations had already started at the castle. All the king’s important council members, dignitaries, emissaries, and their families, plus Soren’s three oldest offspring—ranging in age from six to nine—came to feast with us in the dining hall.I wasn’t a fan of the extra crowd, the boisterous noise, and rowdy cheers that went up. The few people I was used to interacting with—either Allera, Brentley, or Nicolette—were all busy. Brentley was escorting Allera around the room to introduce her to everyone while Nicolette led some kind of chasing game with Soren’s children.Feeling as separated from everyone else as I’d ever felt, I made my way out of the keep to check in on the soldiers who’d become my friends in the back bailey.They had a low campfire burning, and about half a dozen of them were sitting around it talking when I strolled up.“Hey, if it isn’t the high and mighty prince in his preppy pants come to visit,” one called in t

“Caulder’s postponed our wedding.”“What?! Why? That’s insane. This is all just insane. I don’t understand why he’s making such a big deal out of this in the first place. People meet their one true love all the time in High Cliff, and no one treats it like some kingdom-wide conspiracy. Urban did nothing wrong!”Allera’s outraged voice from the other side of my chamber irritated my already-pounding headache until I had to gnash my teeth and press my fists to either side of my temples.“It’s because of who he mated himself to,” Brentley tried to explain, his tone more logical and soothing, yet it grated on my nerves as well.Damn. Could they not discuss me in another room?Besides, what was there to discuss? My sister’s outrage was frankly perplexing. She’d begged and pleaded and demanded I keep my bond to Vienne secret because she feared no one would understand. Now, here we were, and no one understood, yet she was shocked and appalled by their reactions as if she’d never thought t

The king and I glanced toward the doorway where Nicolette hovered, looking meek for the first time in her life, her eyes huge with worry.Her brother waved her into the room. “Nicolette,” he greeted. “What news have you?”“Vienne woke up again and was lucid enough to talk this time,” Nicolette said, glancing my way when I stepped forward to hear what she had to say. “She sends a message.”Caulder scowled at me with a short frown, then he turned back to his sister and nodded. “And what does she say?”“She had no idea Urban’s mark had chosen her,” Nicolette reported. “At first, she flat-out denied the possibility, insisting she couldn’t be his one true love, and then she was just confused. She said he hadn’t spoken to her once since he and Allera arrived at the castle. And she doesn’t believe he should be punished for simply helping her.” Glancing at me, she smiled slightly. “She said to thank you for what you did.”I opened my mouth to ask how she was, but the king lifted his hand,