Page 46 of Her Dark Promise

“How freeing,” said Soren, as if he were reading Bastian’s mind.

“Rules are in place for a reason,” Bastian snapped back at him. “If there are no standards, no rules, what makes us any different from animals?”

I ignored their bickering and continued, “And then there’s me. I am the Queen of these lands and you will address me asyour graceoryour majesty.”

With a grumble, Bastian whispered to himself, “I will never call you anything, but a—”

Callum threatened, “I would think long and hard about your next choice of words if you want to continue breathing.”

“Settle down, boys. We have more pressing issues. You both need a role here.”

“A role?” Bastian asked.

“I can’t just keep you around for that pretty face of yours, can I?”

“I just thought—”

“Everyone has a role to play. If you aren’t going to be an asset then I have no use of you. And if you’re of no use then I may as well kill you now so there is one less mouth to feed.”

He snapped his mouth shut.

“So, what are your strengths?”

He thought about it for a moment before he answered, “I am a good hunter and—”

I cut him off. “Go deeper. Tell me something I am not already aware of.”

He contemplated for a moment before he said, “I enjoy cooking. Though, I never had a chance to because of obvious reasons.”

“What is obvious about that?” I asked, clearly confused.

“Is it not a woman’s place?”

I stifled a laugh.

“I think a woman’s place is wherever she wishes. It seems your village thinks very little of their women… Some things never change, do they?” I rolled my eyes at the thought. It was good that he could cook because that would give Emilia a break. I knew she was spiraling and a break from her daily routine mightbe enough to snap her out of her stupor. “You will then cook every meal for us, starting tomorrow.”

He nodded.

“And you?” I looked at Soren.

Without hesitation, he said, “I am a scholar. Before you decided to keep us, I was going to go off to university to study.”

He held his head up; he was very proud of his profession.

They may be related by blood, but they couldn’t be more different.

“A scholar you say?” I was intrigued, but not surprised. “Nothing else?”

“Is there something wrong with being a scholar?” He asked, not defensively as I suspected he would.

“A scholar isn’t a skill that I can utilize so you will clean the castle every day. You’ll start on one side of the castle and then slowly make your way through it. If a door is locked, then skip it.”

“Clean?” Soren repeated the word as if it were foreign to him.

“Yes. I mean, I could find other ways for you to occupy your time here, though it doesn’t matter to me how you get on your knees.” I knew that would get a reaction out of Bastian. I would do anything to torture him, get under his skin. He was gripping the silverware rather tightly, mouth in a grimace. “I don't enjoy repeating myself. As I said before, you will earn your keep here or you will die. I don’t have time to take care of two useless humans.”

He smiled at me, a wide smile that held nothing back. “Humans… The way you say it, it’s as if you’re not one. If you’re not human, then what are you?”

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