That was when the impact of what I’d just done hit me hard.
I just sold myself to a Kylorr.
Chapter 4
Gemma
“Gemma?” came Fran’s soft voice. “They’re ready.”
Turning from the window, I met Fran’s hazel eyes. Her black curls had been wrangled into a tight braid that fell over her shoulder. She was dressed in a deep emerald-green dress that looked beautiful against her warm brown skin.
My friend gave me a wobbly smile as she took in my white dress and my long, straight hair that I’d left unbound. She said, “You look beautiful, Gem.”
I ignored her words. “Has Father met with the Kylorr yet?”
Meaning my soon-to-be husband and his witness, all the way from Krynn itself.
“No, he’s…he’s waiting for you. You’ll go in together, and I’ll be right behind you.”
I nodded and strode forward, the slippers on my feet slapping against the stone. “Let’s get it over with, then.”
Before I lose my nerve, I added silently. Or my breakfast.
Everything had happened so fast. Only three days ago, I had called Mr. Cross with my answer. The very next morning, I’d had an answer from the Kylorr and a contract to sign.
Now I was standing in the atrium of a Nulaxy courthouse. A neutral governing colony, given my father’s ties to the United Alliance and the Kylorrs’ own loyalties to the Uranian Federation.
Only two days ago, I had packed up my entire life into three trunks. Only two days ago, I’d said goodbye to my home, to my planet, to the Collis. Only two days ago, I’d said goodbye to my mother at her grave by the lake.
Only two days ago, I’d said goodbye to my sisters.
We thought it best if they didn’t attend the wedding and instead stayed behind in the Collis. We thought it safer. It was possible the Kylorr could change his mind. That upon seeing my sisters, he could change his preference to one of them. I didn’t want to give him the opportunity.
When we’d said goodbye, Piper had barely looked at me, which had left a tight knot in my throat. Mira’s tears had soaked my shoulder, and I’d had dug half crescents into my palms to keep myself from soaking hers. We’d never been apart since either of them had been born. Not once. Not ever. Not even for a day. Now I didn’t know when—or if—I’d ever see them again.
Fran, the last remaining housekeeper of House Hara and my dearest friend, had come as a witness to Nulaxy in their stead.
“Gemma,” she said, stepping in front of me, blocking my path when I made a beeline for the door that would lead to another door that would lead to him.
Fran’s gentle, warm touch made me freeze. I hadn’t cried. Not once. But I didn’t need to be strong for Fran. She wouldn’t think any less of me, and so when the tears suddenly blurred my vision, I let them.
“Oh, Gem,” Fran murmured, biting her lip. She reached out and pulled me into a hug. “It’s going to be okay.”
More bandages. Temporary ones. I wanted to believe her.
“I-I made arrangements for the new manager to be at the house starting next week. Father will meet with him, but I would appreciate if you could show him the caverns, introduce him to the workers,” I said.
“Gemma,” Fran said, sighing, pulling back. Her hazel eyes darted between my own. She was only a year younger than me, but sometimes she felt more like a mothering figure.
“Promise me,” I pleaded softly.
She nodded hesitantly. “I will. But stop. I know they’re your family and you can’t help worrying. But you’ve done everything you possibly can for them. You’ve given so much. Too much. Let them stand on their own. You need to start looking out for yourself, okay?”
Hadn’t Sorj said something eerily similar?
I swallowed and wiped at my glassy cheeks.
“Don’t pass judgment so quickly either,” Fran said quietly. I flinched. “You don’t know him. Or what he’s like.”
“He used Mr. Cross to broker this marriage,” I pointed out. “And you’ve heard the stories, Fran.”
“That’s all they are. Stories,” she said, taking my upper arms and squeezing.
Blowing out a sharp breath, I gave her my hesitant nod. “You’re right.”
“Of course I am,” she huffed, cracking a small smile. Then her smile faded. “I’ll miss you, Gem. If I could go with you, I would. You know that.”
“I know.” But it had been in the contract. Only I was allowed to step foot on Krynn. No one else. Not my family. Not my oldest friend. I squeezed her hand. “I’ll—I’ll miss you too, Franny.”
I looked at her, steeling my spine. She gave me a clean cloth to wipe the tears off my cheeks. I took a deep breath, fastening my eyes on the door.
He was near. He was close.
“I’m ready.”
When the doors opened, I saw wings. Great, terrifying, black wings, folded and tucked against their owner’s broad back, hiding their massive span. I couldn’t see his face, but he filled the room like a violent and sudden storm, making panic rise in my throat.
Father’s hand spasmed against my forearm. I stopped at the threshold of the small, darkened courtroom, my legs freezing beneath the skirts of my white dress. A human wedding tradition. I wished I would’ve worn black. He was dressed in black, after all.
This wasn’t a celebration. This was a transaction.
That thought unlocked my legs, and I began to walk, dragging my father forward, whose grip had tightened considerably on my arm.
Is he having second thoughts? I wondered. Bitterly. Sadly. It doesn’t matter now. I am already sold.
I was House Hara’s sacrificial lamb. Offered up to my new husband, with my neck bared and presented, awaiting the slow death of his bite. I’d heard it was a terrible death…to be drained by a Kylorr.
At our approach, he turned.
Whatever remained of the air in my tight lungs whooshed out as our gazes connected.
Red.
He had red eyes. Since his skin was gray, those eyes resembled burning embers nestled among dark smoke. His pupils were vertical slits, flaring briefly as we regarded one another. Then, strangely, those pupils flitted and narrowed on my father.
His bones were sharp—his cheekbones, his nose, the hard square slash of his jawline. His face was grim and surprisingly regal. Haughty and arrogant even, given his pushed back, broad shoulders and the sudden flaring of his massive wings, the sound like a whisper in the silent room. Black horns jutted above his temples, with a ribbon of spikes spiraling tight around each of them.
Our differences—between a human and a Kylorr—were vast, though not as vast as I’d assumed. His face was long and angular, but he had two eyes, a nose, and a wide mouth with thin lips. His hair was black, like mine, shorn to his shoulders. His ears were pointed, the tips peeking through his hair.
Chills ran down my arms, however, when I spied his fangs. Two of them. Long and sharp, poking into his bottom lip, ivory against his dark gray lips. I imagined them slick with blood. I imagined the flash of them in darkness, accompanied by those terrible, terrible red eyes, and I froze all over again.