AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“There’s nothing touching about this,” Castor grumbles. “This burden is too heavy for those little shoulders.”
“Only because you spoil her,” Retsos teases. “Give the girl to me and I’ll toughen her up…”
“You will never touch her,” Castor shouts, stepping towards the untouchable demon.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want—and that includes killing you.”
“Enough!” Father shouts. Instantly, the room goes silent. “See where indecision gets you?” he growls at me. “You daydream too much, Sophia. It will only end in devastation. Tonight, I will help you make your choice. Then, we will go home and make sure you never dream again. From now on, there will be no fantasies. Only plans.”
“Papa, I—”
“No more excuses, dear,” Father interrupts. “I will point at each boy once, and once only. You will tell me if he should go or stay.”
Before I can say another word, Father points a long finger at the first boy in line. “See him? He comes from the Radulov family. They are poor and unimportant, but they make some of the toughest warriors in the underworld. Should we take him, or should we leave him to the wolves?”
My heart squeezes as I force myself to look into the poor boy’s eyes. His long brown hair is sticky with blood and his nose is broken in two. There’s a whisp of peach fuzz over his top lip. His eyes are dark black and filled with emptiness.
“Leave him,” I whisper, hanging my head in shame. I’m not sure what happens to the boys I condemn, but I can’t imagine it’s pleasant.
“Good girl. Now, how about the next boy?”
My father’s spindly finger cuts through the air and my gaze follows closely behind.
“What family is he from?” I swallow when my father’s finger falls on our next subject. My heart beats so hard that I feel like it might crash through my chest at any second—and there’s a black hole growing in my stomach so fast that it hurts—but Father was right. He’s told me all of this before. I’ve been prepared. I should be ready.
Forget the fairy tales, Sophia. Forget your white knight. Your blonde haired, blue eyes prince charming. You are not a princess in need of rescuing. You are a future queen. The very ruler who will lock those innocent princesses away. That is your fate.
The thought burns going down my throat. But I know it’s true. I always have known. Now, it is time to grow up, no matter how young I still feel. No matter how young I still am.
“He is from the Gonchar family,” Father says, clearly pleased with my inquiry. “They are neither good warriors nor particularly powerful…”
“Then why is he here?” I ask, but only because I know I should.
A proud smile lifts my father’s sunken cheeks. “Because his family are experts at keeping our secret money secret, and it might be useful to have a hostage to make sure they don’t ever fudge the numbers… or go talking to anyone they shouldn’t be talking to…”
The realization makes my skin pimple with dread.
“Are all of these boys hostages?”
“Yes,” Father nods. He’d never explained that part of this ritual to me. “Everything we do is for the sake of power, Sophia.” Then, before he says another word, he leans back in close to my ear and whispers low enough so that only I can hear. “Let men like Retsos have their sick, twisted fun. He may be untouchable, but he will never be like us. You and me, we do everything for a reason. We must. Never for pleasure. Never for fun. Only for a good reason. For power. Understand?”
“Yes, Papa,” I nod, barely getting the words out from under the heavy blanket of responsibility descending upon me.
“And so, do you think we should choose the Gonchar boy?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head after a moment of tough consideration.
“Good girl,” Father nods. It feels like he is leading me somewhere, to someone… and when his finger falls on the next boy, I believe I know exactly who I am supposed to choose.
… Or maybe it’s just those captivating emerald green eyes. There’s more life in them than in any of the others… and far less fear. This boy looks just as furious as he does terrified.
“Who is that?” I ask, gulping.
“Roman Barinov.”
“The Barinovs…”
Unlike the others, this name is a familiar one.
