The Last Dragon King (Kings of Avalier #1)(12)

“Have either of you ever been pregnant before?” she asked us, and we both shook our heads in unison.

I didn’t know how they did things in Jade City, but here the young women kept their purity until marriage. Sure, some of the girls bedded the men in secret but it wasn’t spoken about or aspired to. If a rumor spread about your purity being taken before marriage, no respectable man would have you.

She checked something off on the parchment and then asked our full names. After writing them down, she faced our parents.

“Kendal and Arwen will be taken by the protection of the Drayken Elite Royal Guard into Jade City to live until the king makes his choice for next wife—” Kendal squealed in excitement and Regina paused. “For each moon that they are away, you will be paid five hundred jade coins.”

Kendal’s mother and father gasped in shock, but my mother stayed quiet, her eyes narrowing at Regina.

“And what if I don’t want to sell my daughter to the king?” my mother asked boldly.

I went rigid. A look of shock crossed Regina’s face. “Ma’am, no one said anything about selling them. You will be fairly compensated for their temporary absence—”

“I can’t eat jade coins. My daughter is a hunter, and without her we don’t have food and neither does a small percentage of this town,” my mother said with venom in her voice.

What she said was partly true. I had become a prominent hunter in the village, and what meat we didn’t eat, we sold or bartered to others, but after the cougarin I caught today we would have food for at least two moons. The jade coins would be good for other things, and she could barter them for food with the neighboring townspeople of Gypsy Rock if need be.

Regina nodded to my mother. “If you would let me finish what I have to say, you will find that the compensation package also includes meat, dried fruits, yeasted bread, and chocolates, delivered every fortnight.”

“Chocolate?” Kendal’s mother perked up.

My mother fell silent. There was nothing else left to argue about without looking suspicious.

“Your daughters will be treated as highborns, with a maid staff and private quarters in Jade Castle,” Regina went on, and I could see the defeat fall over my mother’s face.

“Because we do not wish to bring them away from their culture and the comforts of home, they may each bring one maidservant from their home city if desired,” Regina said, and I perked up. I met my mother’s gaze and wondered if Adaline was too young to bring. Probably. She still needed to be sung to sleep at night by our mother. My mom shook her head slightly as if reading my mind, and I nodded.

I’d go alone, then. It was better that way. Maidservants weren’t a thing in Cinder Village, so I doubted Kendal would bring anyone either.

“In the event of a marriage proposal, a new compensation package will be presented to you at that time. If you agree, please sign here, and know that you are doing the entire kingdom a great service.” She pulled two smaller parchments from her satchel.

I expected her to hand them to our parents, but she handed them to us, each with a pen.

Kendal went beet red as she held the pen and I knew why. She had never learned to read. As a seamstress, she really had no need for it. I only learned because I’d started out with an apprenticeship with the town scribe until my father’s death, when a year of crop blight on Mother’s potatoes forced me into hunting so that we could survive.

I pointed to the part that said Sign Here and Kendal took her pen and drew a large X.

I looked at Regina for a split second and found that she watched me curiously.

What happened if I didn’t sign? Would it bring shame to Cinder Village? To my family? Would the king march in here himself and throw me over his saddle and take me by force? It didn’t feel like I had much of a choice. If I fought this, they might take me anyway but then refuse the offer of jade coins and food, and then where would I be?

I purposely didn’t look at my mother. I didn’t want to see her urgency for me to refuse.

I scanned the document to find that it said everything Regina had promised and it was signed by the king himself.

Five hundred jade coins.

I quickly did the math. We needed about fifteen jade coins per moon to get by. Five hundred meant that my mother and Adaline would have a full belly in a warm house for the next three winters. It meant so many things for our life. And the contract said five hundred jade coins per moon cycle. It didn’t say only one moon cycle. So I’d go there and I’d watch the king woo this Grim Hollow girl, all the while collecting my jade coins and yeasted breads. Then I’d come back fat and rich.

I grasped the pen and scribbled my name before I could convince myself to back out. My script was awful. I’d never practiced as much as the others in my scribe class, but my name was still legible on the line.

Arwen Novakson.

“Great. We should get going. We’d like to hit Gypsy Rock by nightfall.” Regina took the contracts from us and slipped them into her pouch. “Pack whatever you like. I’ll have the porter load the wagons.”

“It’s May Day! Can’t we have the dinner feast with them?” my mother asked, the disappointment apparent in her voice.

Regina sighed and faced my mother. “I’m really sorry, ma’am. We’ve been on the road for an entire moon. Traveled from Grim Hollow all the way up here. This is a matter of the crown, and cannot wait.”