Bloodfire: Other Realm, Frost Family Series Book 2

Burn 21

The next month passed by quickly. Every Saturday, a sleek black sedan would appear at the Doyle's door, arriving to take the boy and man to the Winter Palace. And every time, the kids would all be left alone to play. Bren found himself looking forward to every Saturday. The rest of the week was a struggle for him. More and more he found threats and menacing reminders of how badly he was hated and despised. The bullying he experienced at school was steadily growing worse. But he fought not to let it show. He didn't want to worry his dad anymore than the weary man already was.

Despite himself, Bren couldn't help but feel a little sad. His Saturdays at the Winter Palace were swiftly becoming something much too close to the only days he felt like he really existed. Sunday through Friday he was just a lump of flesh on auto-pilot, desperately trying to make it through each day alive and whole. If he died or was injured, he wouldn't get to go to the Winter Palace, to his one escape.

It was on the fifth Saturday that the Lord Frost called him to his study. Bren's nerves spiked until they were just as bad as when he first came to the Palace. Jack sat in his chair, across a desk that seemed to stretch an eternity to Bren's tense mind. He swallowed and licked his lips, clenching his fingers into the jean material covering his knees. Jack's cold, serious eyes stared directly in his.

Silence reigned, uncomfortable and awkward for ten long seconds. Then, eyes hardening, Jack spoke. "So, Bren...you're a clever boy. Tell me, why do you think your father has been bringing you here these past five weeks?"

Fighting to keep his voice steady, Bren answered in a monotone voice. "He hopes that I may be able to marry Sera, my lord."

Jack nodded shortly. "Clever boy, as I said. Yes, Brennan, that is why you have been coming here."

"B-but...I'm four years older, my lord. Isn't that a little, um, much?"

Jack let out a humorless laugh. "Boy, you have a lot to learn about the nobility if you think four years is much of an age gap among married partners." He shook his head, sighing. "Now, by your response, I take it you do not wish to marry my daughter?"

Bren dropped his gaze, fingers at his knees clenching even harder. "I'm a commoner, my lord...or I was. Now I'm not even really an Other. Are there not...more important boys for your daughter to marry?"

"Countless more, to be precise. But that's not the question I asked. Do you want to marry my daughter?"

Bren turned a vibrant red shade. "I d-don't kn-now, my lord!" he stuttered out in a rush. "I'm only eleven!" he insisted. "How am I supposed to know who I want to marry? B-besides, who says I'll even ever marry?"

Jack hid a smile. "Alright, that's what I wanted to know. And you can't know, Brennan. If you said you had wanted to marry Sera, I would have known that it was only out of greed." Leaning back in his chair, feeling some of the tension leave his body, Bren remained silent. "So...What we are about to discuss must never leave this room, am I clear?" The boy nodded wearily, sea-filled eyes trained onto Jack's face. "I have already discussed this with your father. He has agreed to hand over the decision to you. He feels that, as this will affect your future, you should be the one to make the final choice. I must say that I agree."

"W-what is it?"

Jack ran a hand lightly over the top of the desk, face carefully expressionless. "I know of what has been going on at your school, in your neighborhood, and at your father's work place." Bren paled at the man's words, but Jack kept going before the boy could try to respond. "Let us talk straight to one another...How much longer do you think the wendigos around you will hold off? We both know the ORGR won't actually step in. They only do so with matters pertaining to Others, or when one of the royals commands them to. And even though you use to be a selkie, you will never be so again. Unfortunately, the selkie race is one of the few who can be forced into permanent humanity. As such, you cannot even be saved with the immense magic gained with the exchange of a soul-stone."