Lady Smoke (Ash Princess Trilogy #2)(42)

I freeze mid-bite, forcing myself to swallow even though I’m fairly certain it will come back up again any moment. Beside me, S?ren stiffens; he understands that word and must have cobbled together the context.

“Are you asking if he raped me?” I ask slowly in Astrean, holding King Etristo’s gaze. Avaric, Amiza, and Lilia flinch from the word and drop their gazes to their plates, but Etristo is unabashed.

“Yes,” King Etristo says after a moment. “I suppose I am, though there have also been rumors of your involvement with Prinz S?ren that I am curious about as well.”

At the sound of his name, S?ren looks even more confused. I hold King Etristo’s gaze for another moment before tearing my eyes away and looking at S?ren instead.

“King Etristo is wondering if your father raped me or you deflowered me,” I explain to him in Kalovaxian, not bothering to lower my voice.

S?ren’s face reddens, more in anger than embarrassment, I think.

“No,” he says to King Etristo in biting Astrean. It must be one of the few words he’s picked up.

King Etristo throws his hands in the air as if he’s being attacked. “I apologize if you take offense to my question,” he says, which doesn’t sound like much of an apology at all. “But you understand that I must ask it before we continue on our road to finding you a husband. Most men of high birth would never take a sullied woman for a wife.”

I frown, unsure where to begin with that sort of logic. I decide to call out the worst of it. “I would be considered sullied even if it had been rape?”

King Etristo smiles tightly and shrugs his shoulders. “It is how it is,” he says. “Men marry women who are chaste, and take women who aren’t as mistresses. Surely this is not surprising to you—they have the same customs at the Kalovaxian court, as I understand it.”

“Yes,” I admit. “But surely you didn’t take anything I’ve said to be a commendation of their behavior?”

At that, King Etristo’s face reddens. “There’s no need to take offense, my dear,” he says. “If what you say is true, you have nothing to fear. After all, my own wives—both departed and still with us—underwent an examination before we were married to ensure their virtue. My daughters did it before their weddings. Amiza did as well, isn’t that right?” he asks.

“It is tradition,” Amiza says, but she doesn’t look at me. Instead, she keeps her eyes on her plate.

“The examination is a simple thing, easy to endure,” King Etristo says, waving a dismissive hand.

I force a saccharine smile. “You’ve undergone it yourself, Your Highness?” I ask. “That makes sense. If highborn men should only marry chaste women, then surely highborn women should only marry chaste men.”

“Theodosia,” Dragonsbane hisses at me, her face sharp and drawn tight.

I’m tempted to point out her own hypocrisy in taking his side. After all, she can hardly claim to be a virgin, having had two children. But I hold my tongue and smile innocently at King Etristo.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” I tell him, fluttering my eyelashes. “It’s just such a strange custom for such a civilized world. There’s a reason you can’t find the word virginity in Astrean. The concept doesn’t exist.”

The table is quiet for a moment. “Well, this is not Astrea,” King Etristo says. “The suitors will begin to arrive tomorrow, so it would be our hope that you will have the examination before meeting them.”

I don’t know what that examination entails, but I don’t need to. Even though whatever it is will prove that I haven’t been touched in that way, I shouldn’t have to prove it. It shouldn’t matter. I know that I’m supposed to be sweet and pliable and unassuming in order to keep the Sta’Criverans’ favor, but this is a line I will not cross, not even for Astrea.

“Unless the men will be going through similar examinations before they meet me, I will not,” I say. “Marrying me will bring these men untold riches when we take back Astrea. If they want to forfeit that wealth because they’re too preoccupied with tradition, they are welcome to. I’m sure there will be plenty who would rather have the money.”





DRAGONSBANE MANAGES TO HOLD HER tongue for the rest of the quiet, tense dinner and even during the riser ride back to our floor. Her mouth stays tightly pursed the entire time, eyes hard and staring straight ahead. Once we’re in the hallway, though, and it’s only her, S?ren, and me, she grabs hold of my arm and spins me to face her, fingernails digging into the soft skin of the underside of my arm.

“Tomorrow, you will apologize to King Etristo and consent to whatever examinations they feel necessary.”

S?ren steps between us.

“If you don’t remove your hand,” he tells her in Kalovaxian, his voice low, “I’ll do it for you, and it’ll be an unpleasant experience for both of us, but certainly more painful for you.”

Dragonsbane clenches her jaw and stares at him for a moment, as if debating whether or not his honor will actually let him hurt a woman. Wisely, she decides not to take the risk and releases my arm.

“You will apologize for your outburst,” she says again, not taking her eyes off me.

“Of course, Aunt,” I say finally, pitching my voice higher and softer. “I’m sure King Etristo will understand how alarmed I was at the thought of having my person prodded at again after all the abuse I suffered at the hands of the Kaiser. And I’m sure he will agree that it would be best to wait at least until I’ve recovered more. If the husband I choose insists upon an examination, I will comply before my wedding.”