Ash-colored Despair (18)
Thalia turned to him with a straight face.
- What does it mean?
“This means that we will have to be together,” Barkas answered calmly. “I may have to ride a horse sometimes when traveling, but I plan to use a carriage to travel with you whenever possible.”
She swallowed.
- Then... overnight...
- We will also live together.
My heart sank down somewhere. She didn’t know whether it was fear, or an old bitterness that had been ingrained over the years. Talia twirled the thin jade bracelet on her wrist and asked with a tense tremble in her voice:
- Is this really necessary?
Longboat did not answer. And Talia blurted out sharply, unable to contain her irritation:
“You knew perfectly well that people would talk if you married me.” Yes, the whole world already knows what is behind this marriage. If we also play a prank on a happy couple, it will look even funnier!
“We don’t need to look happy,” Barkas breathed out tiredly. “It’s enough if they think we’re capable of a marital relationship.”
A look of confusion flashed across Thalia's face, but the next moment her eyes widened in shock.
Does he really mean what I thought?
She looked in confusion at his ascetic face, on which it was impossible to find even a hint of human desires. But he continued evenly, almost detachedly:
- Whatever it is, marriage is marriage. You yourself know what it means to be a married aristocrat. If everyone believes that we are a normal couple, it will strengthen not only your position, but also mine.
Talia blushed. It seemed that "marital relationship" meant exactly what she thought it meant.
From trembling lips escaped the words:
“Y-you mean... we have to pretend we're sharing a bed?”
The corners of his eyes trembled slightly, either in a grin or in a nervous spasm.
— To put it bluntly, yes.
She clenched her teeth, looking him over slowly.
Under the thin silk, a trained body was clearly visible: broad shoulders, chiseled muscles, a flexible waistline, long legs, like those of a war stallion...
My throat is dry. She quickly looked down at her thin legs, visible under her skirt.
My stomach tightened. Her body only disgusted others. Even her mother winced, looking at her scars, and the nanny, who raised her from infancy, did not hide her hostility while bathing.
The very thought that Barkas could see this broke her into a cold sweat.
Squeezing the hem in her fingers, she rose sharply:
- I don't want to! Let them talk what they want! People still gossip, that’s what mouths are for! Why should I take part in this stupid show?!
- Thalia.
His large palm rested on her frozen hand. She twitched and looked up at him. Longboat squeezed her cold fingers so tightly that it almost painfully cut the bone. His voice sounded harsh:
- I'm not asking you to play.
-...
“I just need everyone to see that we are spending time together.” That's enough.
His words sounded not like an order, but like a request. This knocked all protests out of the tongue.
Thalia looked into his tired face. Even after becoming a Grand Duke, he still seemed to be in a precarious position. While she rotted in the locked bedroom, Barkas must have been fighting for his place without rest.
My throat became even more dry.
If Ayla were here... She would stand next to him, would help with all her innate dignity and authority to strengthen his power. He wouldn't ask like that. They would have had a normal wedding night and everything would have gone as expected.
Thalia bit her lip until it hurt.
Poisonous questions hissed in his head one after another: how would he treat Isla? Even if he managed to be soft even with her, his eternal opponent, what can we say about the one whom he could possibly truly love.
Every time the opportunity presented itself, he must have touched Ayla's body without hesitation. Images of Longboat, caressing her cheeks or ears, hugging her waist, vividly emerged in her imagination. In her imagination, they went much further, without embarrassment or hesitation.
My chest burned, as if someone had pressed hot metal against it.
Талия резко вырвала руку из его ладони. Having difficulty pushing down her seething feelings, she stared out the window.
- Do as you wish.
There was a heavy silence. She wanted to look at his face, but for some reason she felt scared.
Talia leaned her elbows on the edge of the window and pretended to watch the riders outside.
The dull sound of a horn announced the beginning of the journey, and the carriage slowly moved off.
She leaned out of the window a little. When the wheels crossed the gate, endless fields stretched out in front of them. A furious wind rushed across the plain, merging with the horizon.
Thalia, following the golden steppe with her gaze, glanced sideways at Longkas.
He also looked into the distance. The blinding sunlight hit his face, cutting out his profile with a harsh glare.
There was a strange, incomprehensible feeling in my chest.
They had to spend a lot of time together on this strange and beautiful land.
Will she be able to protect her fragile wall?
* * *
Without hesitation, Lucas tugged on the reins.
He had not mounted a horse for almost a week. Turgan, left unattended for several days, snorted and rushed energetically across the steppe.
The stallion's overworked muscles quivered under his thigh.
Lucas stood up in his stirrups and was hit in the face by a sharp, dry wind—so sharp that it made him want to howl with delight.
- Don't fall behind the line! - Tyrone called out to him, catching up with him from the side.
Lucas turned around with displeasure.
- Why are you bothering about such nonsense!
“I barely begged permission to take you with me under the pretext that you would learn to behave like a page!” If you behave so willfully, what will they think of me?!
Lucas clicked his tongue in irritation and pulled on the reins. It took some time to calm down the excited horse. Tyrone, meanwhile, slowed down and caught up with him.
“I already said, you will now be his lordship’s page.” So stay close to the carriage.
“You don’t understand anything,” Lucas muttered sarcastically. “I’m doing all this for my brother.”
“I'm sure his lordship is terribly pleased to see you dangling under his feet.” And that woman too, I suppose,” Tyrone snapped.
Lucas involuntarily winced as he looked at the carriage slowly rolling down the hill in the distance. My cheek still tingled from the memory. Then she slapped him so hard that his whole face burned for another two days.
He pouted his lips displeasedly:
“You saw for yourself what she did to me then.”
“And I saw you stick your nose into her neck,” Tyrone reminded.
Lucas immediately flushed:
“You speak as if I’m some kind of pervert!” I just thought it smelled weird, that’s all!
“...No matter how you say it, it still sounds like perversion,” Tyrone sighed, shaking his head. “As His Lordship said, you both need to learn noble manners.” You have been too loose, taking advantage of the fact that the former Duke was bedridden.
Lucas stared at him with an unkind look. It infuriated him that Tyrone so openly sided with Longboat.
“You’ve completely gone over to your brother’s side, haven’t you?” - he said.
Tyrone didn't object. It seems that he truly fully accepted Longboat as his only master. And Lucas understood that Tyrone was not the only one here.
The old conservatives, of course, grumbled, but the young warriors went crazy with delight. Everyone was hungry for a strong leader.
To be honest, Lucas was also half-fascinated by Longboat's overwhelming power. But he wasn't going to admit it.
- Okay, I was a bit rude - I admit it. But she's good too! Why did only I get it?
“She is a member of the imperial family,” Tyrone reminded dryly. - And now also the Grand Duchess. So I advise you to think before you talk. Did you hear what Lord Daren said?
He ran his finger across his throat.
“The one who, without batting an eyelid, makes sarcasm even in front of the Grand Duke Siekhan, won’t even choke on your bone.” So, for the sake of peace in the East, do not test her patience.