When Nelle Wychthorn was forced to sign herself away in marriage, she should have read the contract's fine print. Because she signs not with ink, but with blood. And that changes everything.
Season 1 'Of Crows and Thorns'
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Fiery Nelle, the isolat...
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I swallowed, feeling a little ill. Maybe Danne didn't mean it like that. Maybe he just liked me as a friend. "Yeah, of course," I replied, slapping his shoulder in a friendly way, trying to make light of his comment.
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it—
"I don't know if you understand...I like you."
Oh... Oh no...
Maybe yesterday I'd have welcomed this switch in our relationship, but so many things had changed since then, which mostly comprised of Graysen. The first thing I could think of to scatter his line of thought sprung from my lips unheeded. "Danne, what happened with Ferne?"
He blinked, once, then again, before his gaze hardened along with his jawline and his hands on my back. "He told you?"
Here we go—a lie.
Such a godsdamn liar, Nelle.
I nodded, keeping my gaze level and steady, not giving anything away.
Danne's hold on me tightened and his fingertips dug into my spine. "I'm sure in Crowther's version I'm the villain. The big bad Pelan."
I found myself swallowing back a laugh. Danne looked nothing like a big bad anything.
Remaining silent, I let the quiet smother him to force an answer.
He sighed, his gaze falling to the parquet floor as he shook his head. "It was all a misunderstanding. Ferne... She and I met last year and struck up a friendship." His gaze slowly lifted. He was smiling and his eyes glazed over as he drifted into memory. "She's lovely. Such an interesting creature. It's a shame she's stuck with her family out on their estate..." his tone dropped lower, became snide, "...with brothers like she has." A low rough noise at the back of his throat. "Feral. They need to be put down like rabid dogs."
A chill slid down my spine like icy fingers. I did not appreciate his opinion of the Crowthers. At all.
Movement in the corner of my eye captured my attention. Swiveling my head, I watched the pale-haired man retreat into the room adjacent to this main one, where our servants would cook the elaborate seven-course dinner using mobile kitchens brought in for the event. Now it was just Danne and me, alone.
The slide of Danne's hand along my back to return to my waist brought my attention back to him. The embarrassment and modesty contained within the downward curl of his lips startled me. "I suppose by then she developed a silly little girl's crush on me."
My eyes widened.
A crush?
Ferne had feelings for Danne?
"The next time we met it was at a gathering. A wedding. The eldest Estlore daughter wed one of their family's foot soldiers. A nobody."
Irritation prickled my skin. Why did he have to say that? A nobody.
