Black Pearl

Chapter 30

The sun had gone down and the ballroom was lit with a thousand candles by the time Leo found me again. Somehow, with a hundred people swarming around me, commenting on my gown, judging my hair, whispering to friends about me, I felt steady with my new husband on one side and Jacob on the other.

"You know, I don't think anyone would miss us if we snuck out now," Leo said. "There is enough food to keep everyone full and we have a second group coming in to continue the music all night."

"I can't leave my sisters. This day will be one that they will remember forever. I would be an awful friend if I cut it short. I will stay as long as they want to," I said, my eyes flashing around the room. 

I'm sure that Oceana was oblivious to it- too wrapped up in shoveling food into her mouth and listening to Willow's wild tales- but men had been watching her all night. Now, it was a man no older than her with a scar on the side of his face, tugging one of his lips upward. He could have been lovely, same as the other thirty men before him, but I wasn't going to take the risk.

"I will stay and make sure that they are tucked into their room at night. Alone. Same with your mother," Jacob offered.

"I couldn't ask that of you," I protested, but immediately became aware of how much my back hurt.

"I'm offering. Besides, it's expected that the couple leaves early to complete the marriage."

"Come on, I have enough wine to last us all night," Leo promised, already grabbing my hand and tugging me away from the crowd.

"Promise me you'll watch over them," I called to Jacob. He simply raised one hand, making an X over his chest. I decided that was good enough and allowed Leo to pull me through a side door that led to a small hallway.

"Why do we have to complete our marriage?" I asked, feeling a little ignorant. "I thought that was what the priest was for and the rings."

"That's part of it," Leo assured. He cast a glance over his shoulder, making sure that no one was following us before replying. "I am supposed to take your virginity tonight."

I would have paused, but he just pulled me right along.

We ducked into a small room that I had never been to before and I quickly realized why it had not been on the queen's grand tour. There was a thin layer of dust on the floor and a musty smell in the air. The only pieces of furniture were an old table and three chairs, one of them badly damaged as if a dog had chewed on it.

"This used to the guards' quarters within the palace walls, but they prefer the new one outside. To be fair, it's much larger and has actual windows," Leo explained, opening up one of four wine bottles that he had clearly set aside for us. 

"I see." It was a task to sit down with my plume of skirts, but I managed it and my back sang with relief. "But, I have to go back to what we were talking about before. What is virginity and why does everyone seem to care about it?"

Leo took a massive gulp of his wine, his eyes wide with something like fear or apprehension. He slid me my own goblet of wine before sitting down and even then, he took a moment, staring at his hands, trying to find the right words to say. 

"It means that you haven't had sex," he explained tightly.

I wanted to be impassive, like a good future queen would have been, but all I could think about was the broodmares, spending their days in their stalls, all alone. Like they had been used up. I flinched. My grip tightened on the stem of my glass. I knew that I was in charge of helping my species carry on, but I didn't think it would happen now. He had become so much sweeter than I expected, so much gentler, surely he wouldn't force me. But he was my husband now, he very well could.

And I could scream and scream, but no one would come help me.

"It's alright," Leo whispered. "You don't have to be afraid. I promise that we will not do anything until we are both ready, okay?"

I stared at him, barely daring to take a sip of my wine. I wondered if the man who caned his wife's hands in the gardens vowed that he would never hurt her too.

"I wanted to spend some time with you. And, to be honest, I'm not exactly the prince of the people. I can wave and smile and pretend to love all of them and care for them, but the reality is that Atticus was meant for that life, not me. I can never bear more than a couple hours in the face of the public. The least of my concerns is impressing them, especially tonight."

I nodded slowly. "Alright." It seemed reasonable enough. 

"I was thinking that I could take over your blade training," he announced.

"Ah, since you forbade Jacob from teaching me any longer?" I challenged back. 

"I never forbade him from anything. Have you met Jacob? If he wasn't something he will get it. He thinks that we are brothers more than friends and he can deny the prince if he wants to. He stopped teaching you because his goal was never to give you skill. He just wanted us to meet."

"It didn't matter, you hated me anyway."

Leo let out a beautiful laugh. "Of course I did. I'm sure that part of you hated me too. You were forced into a choice you didn't make, just like I was. But I will admit that meeting you while you held a butter knife certainly gave you some appeal. Even though you weren't trying to hurt Jacob, you had this fire."

"You thought I was dangerous."

"Because I knew my parents had married me off to a siren, not a common girl. And because that siren was apparently trying to duel with my closest friend."

My chin ticked up as I thought of Oceana spinning in the ballroom and Amaya trying to keep up. I thought of how he paled when he first met them. "Now you are unafraid because you know that I am weak, hardly a siren at all."

Leo snorted. "I'm not afraid of you because I know that you are good. A woman doesn't have to be a siren to be dangerous, even if it certainly helps. Archer and Willow made it very clear that humans with no enchantments to speak of are just as deadly as any creature. You could say that I'm learning."

"So then why would you teach me how to use a blade? Wouldn't it be easier to keep your little wife defenseless?"

Leo grin turned a little wicked. "Would you judge me if I told you that I love a woman who can handle her own?"

My stomach fluttered. "Never."

"Good, because as scared as I was, I had never seen a more beautiful woman than you and I have never been so attracted to anyone. Seeing you on horseback, watching you conquer new land, knowing your sense of adventure." He shook his head, his blond hair slowly coming out of its styled position. "You are all I have ever wanted, siren or not, princess or not."

~~~Question of the Day~~~

What is something that you find attractive that others might not?

I have a thing for guys with glasses and legitimate stutters (not fake wattpad stutters that go away in a day) As someone who worked with a speech pathologist I have no idea why this is lol