Broken (The Captive #5.5)(56)

"Of course he has. It will give him an advantage over you that he's never had before." His father believed those words but Atticus didn't. "Especially if you're insane enough to think that you will marry that village girl. It seems your cousin has more common sense and drive when it comes to the intrigues of politics than I'd given him credit for. My son, however, appears to be an imbecile."

He fought the urge to drive his fist into his father's face but he refused to rise to his father's baiting. "You can arrange it so that Jane or another of Silas's relatives, whichever he chooses, will have the opportunity to marry my firstborn son," Atticus continued as if his father hadn't spoken.

A cruel smile twisted his father's mouth. He poured himself another goblet of the viscous blood. "You think they aspire to be linked to the child of a prince and a gutter rat?" he scoffed.

His teeth ground loudly together. "You and I both know that you have your ways and that you could work something out with them if you tried."

"Yet again you're speaking to me as if you have a choice in this matter. Let us get this straight right now, you have no choice here. This marriage will benefit us all; do you think this truce amongst the nobles will last long? We must have the House of Salaze on our side when the truce collapses, that won't happen if you try to get out of this marriage. We will not be making an enemy out of them because you're caught up on some village whore."

The blood rushed to his face; before he could stop himself he banged his hands on the table. "I told you not to talk about her like that!"

His father slammed his goblet down, blood sloshed out the sides of it and onto the table. Before he could even blink, his father was upon him. Atticus's fingers flew up to claw at the hand squeezing down on his windpipe as his father thrust his face into Atticus's.

"And I told you not to speak to me like that again!" he spat. "You're not strong enough yet, boy."

Drawing on Genny's blood and the connection they shared, power swelled up to surge through his veins. His upper lip curled into a sneer as he lifted his forearm and smashed it against his father's hand with enough force to knock his father's hold free. Surprise flickered briefly over his father's features but he suppressed it quickly and stepped back to straighten his tunic.

Atticus hadn't been expecting to break free of his father's hold. Even with his breeding, it never should have been possible. His father had almost four hundred years on him but he wasn't about to be pushed around, and he most certainly wasn't going to make Genny unhappy by being forced into a marriage that he didn't want. His father could probably still take him in a fight to the death but neither of them were willing to let this escalate to that point. They would both be losers then.

"Merle will marry the girl," he said as he straightened his own tunic and stepped away from the wall.

His father released a harsh bark of laughter. "Merle can only marry the younger daughter. Silas will not accept a substitute that has a lower pedigree than his own daughter. You will marry Anna. You need only bed her often enough to get her pregnant with a son then you can go about your life with this village woman as you see fit."

"There are others amongst us that would prefer not to see this marriage happen. I'm sure if I bring this new arrangement up to The Council they will be more than happy to see Merle replace me. If it comes to that we will lose an alliance with Silas."

His father's mouth pursed, the flicker of red in his eyes shocked Atticus more than his sudden attack had. His father was never ruffled, never showed any signs of losing his composure, but that flash of red revealed just how agitated he was right now. "If you continue to refuse to marry Anna, I'll have the village woman killed."

Red suffused Atticus's vision at his father's blunt threat against Genny's life. Before he could stop himself he took four steps toward the man. He came back to his senses before he launched himself at his father and started the fight to the death that he hoped to avoid. If he lost the fight, Genny would be left alone and defenseless in a world that was becoming increasingly hostile for her.

"Don't threaten her," Atticus growled.

"You will do as you're told and I don't care what I have to do in order to ensure that. You will marry Anna or I will have the girl killed. I don't care if it takes me years, I will find an opportunity to destroy her if you refuse this contract or if you bring any other option up to The Council."

Atticus's hands fisted, his nails dug so deeply into his palms that blood spilled free. He didn't know what to say or do, with that one threat to have Genny killed, his father had taken all options away from him. "Stay away from her."

"The wedding will be moved up to the end of next month. I'd suggest finding a more suitable place for your mistress so that your bride doesn't become aware of her existence." Atticus took another step toward his father. His father lowered his goblet to the table and turned to face him. "You're valuable to me but don't think I won't beat you into submission and lock you away until the marriage can take place. If you force my hand, I will hide the girl from you and you'll never know where she is until you've produced an heir."

"Stay away from her," he enunciated each word vehemently.

"I'll stay away from her if you remain the dutiful groom."