Chapter 45 Father vs. Daughter

Chapter 45 Father vs. Daughter
Fiona

My father sets his jaw, looking me over and faltering before thrusting his chin up. I'm sure the urge to scold me is burning him, but he doesn't say a word because he knows he can't. He knows he’s in the wrong. He has to know that after all of this—the contract, the siege, the time that has passed since I was taken from Solara—that he has no excuse. 

The same irritation from what feels like a lifetime ago boils in my veins again. The sight of my sister standing in the middle of Caldara’s great hall, dressed like some prize lamb ready to be led to slaughter, makes my stomach twist until I want to retch. Elara looks too young in the gown. She might be nineteen, but she's still soft and delicate. She looks like a child in an adult's gown, with how her nerves and discomfort are written so plainly across her face. It’s too revealing. She looks like a prostitute, not a princess—a very young, inexperienced, terrified prostitute.

My father stands beside her, chin high, eyes cold and proud, as though he hasn’t bartered me away and plans to sell his young daughter in a much worse way, after years of swearing it would never come to this. The betrayal sears through me twofold. 

It was one thing to sell me to Varek with a patch of land for the sake of our people, to end the siege, but there is nothing reasonable he could be selling Elara for tonight.

I stare at him, waiting for him to say something, but he says nothing. It feels more cowardly than defiant, like he has no answer.

There is no answer he can give that will make sense. He must see it on my face because he doesn't meet my gaze for long.

“Fiona,” he says smoothly, like he’s speaking to a child who can't possibly understand. “This is for the best.”

“The best?” I snap, my voice rising. A few heads turn, but I don’t care. “You brought her here, dressed her up like… like—” My throat tightens, fury strangling me. “After all that has happened, all that you've agreed to, you have no business doing this to her.”

His expression hardens, glaring at me, finally looking at me dead on.

"Matters of Solara are no longer your concern, Fiona."

I tilt my head. "Is that the road you want to take, Alden?"

His eyes narrow. Elara takes in a sharp gasp. The bond that may have once been between me and my father strains in my chest. I can feel it trying to break with my wolf's fury. He glances back at Dante before setting his jaw. I take Elara gently by the elbow and lead her out of the hall away from the eyes of any man who might have noticed her. I know my father only follows because he can't handle a show that we've broken ties for his own sake as much as Solara's.

Once we’re tucked just out of sight of the ballroom, he straightens and smooths his cloak.

“You think me cruel, but I should have done this long ago,” he says. “Precautions should have been taken the moment Caldara grew bold enough to raid our borders.”

“You've secured a ceasefire with Caldara on my head. What further precautions could you need?” My laugh is harsh. “Don't bother lying to me. You were never good at it. What is your actual aim? I hope to the goddess that it is a better plan than what has landed me here."

He flinches, but his eyes sharpen. “Watch your tongue.”

“I've watched it long enough,” I spit. “Look at her!" Elara curled into herself. "You've trussed her up like a mere courtesan. She's a princess, your daughter, not some simpering woman desperate for a husband." I narrow my eyes. "With me sold, she should be your heir."

Elara’s soft voice cuts through my rage. “Fiona…” She fidgets with the sleeve of her gown, eyes lowered. “It’s fine. Truly. You never wanted marriage. I… I don’t mind. It’s for the best.”

Her words land like a knife to my heart. I know well enough that Elara has had every intention of becoming Luna Queen of Solara someday, or of some other territory, but it was never meant to be like this. It never should have come to this.

“Elara, it is not for the best that you were brought here and put on display like this,” I whisper. My hands tremble as I catch her chin, tilting her face up. “It’s not for the best if it puts you in a position you don’t want. Do you understand?”

She hesitates, her lips pressing into a faint smile. “If it keeps you safe… if it keeps Solara safe, then I—”

“Stop it.” My voice cracks. I look back at our father, my chest heaving. “This isn't keeping anyone safe." I narrow my eyes. "If it could have done so, he would have just sold you straight to Varek and been done with it. At least then the lie would be over.”

His nostrils flare. “You think you know so much? You don't? King Varek gave me no choice. Caldara’s army is stronger than ours. They are merciless. Do you think I want this?” His voice drops, low and defensive. “I had no choice. The only way to have a chance to stand against Caldara is to marry off Elara to someone who could and would cripple Caldara. It's the only way you could come home."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" I ask, glaring at him. "You? Attempt to stand against Caldara? Your actions alone make it seem like you have had no intention to adhere to the agreement you signed."

Or that the agreement itself was just an excuse, but for what I couldn't guess. Not yet.

"Believe what you want," he says. "But this has already been decided. Elara is going to marry the prince of Hyath.”

My ears roar, blood pounding so loudly that his words echo through me like a war drum. I thought of Mira's sister and all the other women buried beneath Hyath's banner. The king of Hyath had slunk off with Lucian earlier. Neither he nor his son looked to be waiting for them to arrive, and then there is the fact that they had arrived first.

Something was up. An instinct at the back of my mind prickled and sent a wave of unease through me. Our father was a lot of things, but he is, above all, a king, a proud man, and not prone to making the same mistake twice, yet here he is doing so, not just in selling his daughters for his own gain, but for making a deal with a man who meant him no good.

First, Varek, now the king of Hyath.

"Do you expect me to nod along and let you do so?"

His eye twitches.  "I expect you to know your place."

I smile at him, coldly. He stills, looking a bit wary. I take Elara's wrist and take my father's cloak before he can do more than squawk his displeasure.

Elara’s eyes glimmer with unshed tears. She looks up at me as I shake it out and wrap it around her.

"Solaran fabric is too thin for this castle. You'll catch your death."

I take her by the shoulders and glare at my father over my shoulder.

“You have no more words to say to me. You disgust me, and I would rather not ruin my appetite before the feast.”

His jaw tightens. “I'll look past your anger, Fiona, but do not go against me. If nothing else, think of Solara.”

“I am,” I snarl. “But I’m thinking of Elara first.”

His face goes pale. I don’t give him the chance to say anything more. I guide Elara back into the hall without a glance. He calls after me once, his voice commanding me to come back, but I don’t stop. I don’t even look back.

I might attack him, and that will neither serve my nor Elara's purposes. My father may have once been a great king, but his judgment is compromised. The best thing I can do is show him that or make a pathway to get him off the throne sooner rather than later. I needed to find Elara a better, more suitable match than the prince of Hyath.

The crowd swells with laughter and music. I see Liora across the room, standing with a cluster of courtesans. She's stiff among them. Her eyes land on Dante and follow him as he's pulled into another conversation. I can hear it starting up behind me. She looked uncertain and a little unnerved as I led him and my sister towards her. She was the best option.

“Liora,” I say, and my voice comes out sharper than I mean it to. I take a breath, softer this time. “This is my sister, Elara. Elara, this is Lady Liora of Caldara. She's Varek's cousin and has been my friend since I arrived here.”

Liora's eyes widen a little. “Friends? Is that what we’re calling it?”