Chapter 166: Bargain of Trinkets
He stared at her retreating back until she disappeared behind the large doors of the entrance.
Only then did he let all the frustration that was rolling though him take heed.
He punched his hand into the pillar beside him so hard that the skin of his knuckles peeled and bled.
The pillar shook slightly and the ground beneath him trembled slightly, but other than that, everything seed silent and unresponsive.
He clenched his fist and stord in the opposite direction.
Even his n seed surprised to see him in a foul mood.
Why was she the only one capable of provoking them beyond asure?
If such a suspicion was looming above them both, he knew she would have packed her bags as quick as she could and skirted as far away from him as she could.
But part of him was glad that her plan of escape was clipped on the nub. She wasn’t going anywhere until he said so.
He just hoped she was with child...
But if she wasn’t, he would make sure she would be, a wicked voice within him mumured.
Well, he had more important matters to attend. Claire Stenly and her tower of demands could wait for a few hours.
Andon was nowhere to be seen after Yeren had instructed the letter of exile be handed to him.
The council had agreed to it eagerly, although they would have made sure he never returned from his exile if Yeren had given them even the smallest opportunity.
And he hadn’t the guts to hand Andon the letter himself.
Yet part of him hoped Andon would bid him farewell before he left.
There was also Redmare to be concerned about. Until he was caught, everyone was going to be on pins and needles.
He knew that Redmare would not return to his ho or estates because that was the first place they would go searching for him.
How in the world would they find him?
But he suspected that he wouldn’t need to look to hard to find him. n like Redmare always revealed themselves.
Sighing, he returned to the study and took his seat quietly.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door.
"Co in." He said, sounding utterly bored.
A small head poked inside the room. After observing him cautiously, she coyly stepped into the large room and closed the door behind her.
"I ca for my reward." She mumurred, her voice so tiny and timid he barely heard her.
Oh.
The reward.
He didn’t actually have a reward for her, he had just said it to get rid of her.
She stepped further into the room and retreated into the shadows at the corner.
He smiled at how much she reminded him of her bullheaded sister.
"Well, have a seat."
He leant down and rummaged through his drawers for sothing of value to reward her with.
Then he produced a gold hairpin that had been designed in the shape of a daffodil.
It was a pleasant enough gift for a pretty little girl like her, was it not? He thought to himself.
She just stared at him for a long mont, not daring to co closer until her urged her to co closer again.
When she did, she began to beam at him.
"I’m not supposed to be nice to you." She admitted as though it was sothing she had sworn to secrecy.
"Why? Did your sister say you shouldn’t be?" He asked, grinning despite himself.
She took the pin from him and her eyes brightened with glee.
"Not exactly. She just doesn’t like you, and I’m not supposed to like anyone my sister doesn’t like."
He found himself leaning back in his chair, clearly very invested in the conversation.
"But do you ’like’ ?"
She nodded, her curls bouncing vigorously with each shake of her head.
"I do. But she believes I am much too young to know any better."
His smile widened. He could picture Claire saying those exact sa words to her sister.
But did she ever ntion to her sister that she had kissed him so passionately, that she had let him touch her so intimately...
"Well, you are young. What else does she tell you about ?"
The little girl grinned mischievously. "You would have to spoil
with more trinkets if you want
to tell you what my sister says about you."
"That is blackmail." He said, chuckling lightly.
She laughed as well.
He pulled off a bracelet on his table with the sigil of a howling Lycan and offered it to her.
She took it gingerly and inspected it before ehse nodded faintly.
"It is a little big for my wrists." She comnted.
"I know. You can keep it on your bedside. It is a very valuable bracelet."
She still didn’t seem convinced about its worth. To convince her, he added, "It belonged to my mother."
Her eyes rounded and widened as she seed to look at it in a different light.
Guilt crept into her small face, even though it was clear the object looked so much more valuable to her now.
"I cannot possibly -"
"Please, keep it." He insisted.
After a while of darting her eyes as she debated, she finally nodded and slipped it onto her tiny wrists.
"Now, what were you about to say?"
She drew closer and took a seat in front of him.
"She hasn’t ntioned anything about having revenge on you for everything that happened when father died. And her face softens when I ntion you when she thinks I’m not looking."
She drew a deep breath and hastily added.
"But don’t mistake , she still is very much smitten with Zach. He is going to co and live with us in our new ho."
His smile faded into dust.
"Did she say this?"
The girl shook her head. "She didn’t have to. Zach is part of the family."
The peasant boy, Yeren thought grimly.
"What exactly do I have to do to beco part of your family, little Miss Stenly?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)