The Hunchback's Reluctant Bride ✔

21 | Ransom

Whatever these people were, they possessed magic, or at the very least, speed, because Vadde and Wyrn sat down before a freshly made wooden table.

Vadde puzzled over a proper greeting. Considering that she was the cause for the new dining apparatus, complimenting it was no option.

Usually, Wyrn's father and mother sat at opposite ends when they ate. Now, Wyrn and Vadde sat in the center, his parents opposite them. And not just Wyrn's parents, but each and every one of his brothers, even Bonn who was still recovering from his leg injury during the hunt.

One brother hurried to his father with paper, another with ink and a quill. But the man in question shook his head and said, "We can't ransom your brother's wife. It's poor form!"

"Hey," one protested, "we ransomed mine."

"That's different," his father grumbled, facing forward once more, "for one, we'd known she was a princess from the start. That was the whole point of snatching her. Marriage to you was the threat, my son. That won't work this time around. And besides, I hadn't liked her."

"Point taken."

Vadde'd decided to keep her head hung but that wasn't the case for Wyrn who sat with his arms folded, staring them down.

He wore a stone expression that matched his father's perfectly. Both were unamused.

"You brought a princess—a human princess here without telling us?" his father demanded.

Wyrn's gaze was unbending. "At least she's human."

Someone made a sound, perhaps Bonn, Vadde was unclear. She was also in the dark about Wyrn's meaning. Apparently, a human wife was a prize of some kind.

"A princess makes that an unworthy accomplishment. She doesn't want to be with a ~~ that's for sure."

Vadde gnashed her teeth. It was still happening.

"If you're trying to shock or scare her, it won't work," Wyrn warned. "I've already told her."

His father's stone expression dissolved. "And she doesn't care?"

"No." Wyrn sat smug.

It was a look of concern the man wore as he focused on Vadde and asked her directly, "You would remain married to a ~~?"

Vadde stifled a scream in the back of her mind. A what? A blasted what? A spider? A dragon? A phoenix? A troll? A vampire, a what!

When she waited too long and Wyrn looked at her, no longer emboldened, she traced his strong arm until he allowed her to interlock their fingers.

"I would remain married to Wyrn."

There was a deafening silence after that. She became unsure of her answer until she risked meeting Wyrn's gaze to see the affection there.

"No." His father shook his head, adamant. "A king does not give away his daughter. Not without purpose. Even if he had ten or more. A princess is a bargaining chip. They're used to secure loyalties. End wars, sometimes start them. Hell, in some cases they are gifts, but they aren't easily transferred to a common man—"

"Least of all one that looks like me," Wyrn interrupted.

But his father didn't back down. "That's not what I said."

"But it's what you meant."

The man sighed. "You're infatuated so you aren't thinking straight. Let's assume he's got five more daughters at the very least, but that still begs the question, why part with one?"

However, the king didn't have five more. He had only the one and if Wyrn's father realized that, it would be hell on earth.

And then it came.