Page 11 of Bloody Business

Besides, everyone read the contact over.All the adults agreed it was great.Group consensus made it so.Even if some of them were starting to have doubts, they were too afraid of him to say anything.

There was just one thing.

Human women didn't have very many rights, but if she had a son, he could take them to court.No one believed that the goblin would stand up for her rights, but what if her husband died?What if she had a brat who objected to an entailed inheritance?

He could have saved a lot of time if he had consulted a lawyer about his intentions; it never would've stood up in court.He'd grossly misunderstood the nature of entailments.Unfortunately, he was greedy and thought he was smart.

He found a sketchy doctor who swore that his potion would keep a woman from having any children.The potion was expensive enough, so of course it must be very good.The doctor said it might cause a woman some discomfort, but it wouldn't kill her...

So her uncle ordered a preemptive strike to make Julep infertile.

Wedding

The wedding was heldthe next afternoon in the ballroom.There were chairs, but the tables have been removed.No money had been wasted on decorations or food.

Only a handful of adults from her family attended, along with the priest.It was a business transaction and they treated it as such.

Julep was ghostly pale.Her freckles stood out, and she had dark circles under her eyes.She was so unsteady, her aunt had to support her as she made her way up front.Even as sick as she was, she wouldn't let her uncle touch her.

Her aunt hovered, undecided whether she should leave as protocol demanded.It would look bad if the bride fell over.

Artur had been standing before the priest, studying the idiotic marriage contract they thought he would sign.Had they been drunk when they wrote it?Even a child would know better than to sign it.No matter.He'd brought his own contract, and that would be the one he would sign after the marriage.

If the uncle gave him any trouble, he would make him eat this moronic paper...along with some of his teeth.

He looked up as Julep was escorted in and froze.“What's wrong?Are you sick?”They could have waited, or at least informed him.

The aunt started to babble something.“Shut up,” he said coldly.

She shut up.

Julep met his eyes.She was wearing the same ball gown, but no one had bothered with makeup and her hair was in a simple braid.It was clear they hadn't felt like dressing up cheap sausage like a steak today.The lack of respect to her, on top of her clear illness, made him see red.

The lack of respect forhimwould be painful.The disregard for her would be gruesome.

“They made me drink infertility tea.”

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