Dissever by Ward Tracey

Author:Ward, Tracey [Ward, Tracey]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2014-02-08T08:00:00+00:00

***

We sat at the round dining table, all of us facing each other, but all eyes were on me. Waiting.

“What happened to my mother?”

My voice cracked on the question. The answer scared me but I had to know. This question had to come first.

Bronwyn glanced at Kian, looking a bit confused. “She died.”

“I know that, but how? How did she die?”

“I don’t know what her illness was.”

I shook my head, getting frustrated. “You don’t understand. Did they take her? The Saints. Did they kill her? Where is she?”

Kian’s eyes went wide. He shook his head quickly. “No, Anna. She’s not with them. She’s… I don’t know where she is, but she’s not with them. I promise you.”

My shoulders relaxed as I slumped into my chair.

“Oh, thank the stars,” I muttered.

“Why would you ask if they’d taken her?” Bronwyn asked slowly.

“Because I have it on good authority that they wish to take me.”

The silence in the room was human. It lived and breathed along with us, its life spanning out before me in perfect, full clarity. And when Roarke spoke, it died.

“What authority is that?”

“Don’t worry,” I smirked at him. “I haven’t been speaking to the birds. Or fish.”

No one laughed.

“Who told you The Saints want you, Anna?” Kian pressed.

My humor faded as I felt the weight of the situation sink in. “Prince Frederick.”

Kian cursed under his breath. Bronwyn swiped a hand over her eyes.

“Have you set a date for your marriage yet?” Roarke asked quietly.

“No,” I said, shaking my head at him. “I told you, I don’t want to marry him.”

“Yes, but what you want has never mattered to your father and it certainly doesn’t matter to your Saints.”

I continued to shake my head. “Frederick told me to tell my father that I’ll die an old maid. I think he’s refusing to marry me.”

Roarke frowned. “Since when?”

“Since the accident in The Shallows.”

Kian met eyes with Roarke. He nodded. “They’ve told him.”

“Will they let him refuse? Could it be so simple?”

Kian shook his head. “I doubt it very much. They’ll force him, they’ll find a way. Either that or the King will marry her himself.”

“What?!” I cried. “I’ll be married to King Phillip?”

Kian nodded. “They need you as their Queen.”

“They cannot possibly need me that badly. He’s old enough to be my father.”

“Age doesn’t matter. The King doesn’t matter.”

“Why? Why do they need me?”

There was a silence, long and painful. When Bronwyn spoke her voice sounded tired.

“Because they’ve chosen you. The Saints.”

“Chosen me for what?”

“For payment.”

We were getting somewhere now. Frederick had mentioned payment as well.

“Payment for…”

“Safety.”

I snorted a laugh. “Whose safety? Who on this island is safe? Between The Shallows and the storms and whatever happened to Frederick—“

“Hubris,” Roarke muttered.

“Whatever the danger may be, there’s plenty of it. What exactly are we being protected from?”

“The unknown.”

I looked at all of them in sheer frustration. Kian saw it, saw my mounting annoyance. He raised a hand to slow me.

“I understand we’re talking in riddles to you, Anna. I’m sorry. For it to all make sense, we have to start at the beginning.

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