Page 63 of A Hunt So Wicked
"To ensure loyalty."
Everyone looked at me, and I realized I'd spoken my thought aloud.
"Think about it," I continued. "We're still to choose a wife, but from the remaining women. By orchestrating this Hunt the way they did, we get to pick from the strongest of the pack. The smartest, the most cunning, the ones who have survival skills. All important requirements of a queen."
"Wow," Alden murmured, shaking his head.
"But you said to ensure loyalty. A woman can be all of those things, but that doesn't make her loyal!" another Faolan shouted.
Torin pointed at him. "Exactly. But after what they've been through, would you ever dare be anything but loyal? Knowing what we're capable of?"
My stomach turned. This was the way they'd always done it. I thought of my mother. My kind, strong-willed, loving mother. She survived this exact same nightmare. She'd always seemed so in love with my father. Was it real?
"So, they will fear us. Our wives will be terrified of what lives within each of us. That's what it's come down to?" I couldn't stay silent. I was getting angry, and anger wasn't an emotion I typically experienced. In fact, I'd been accused more than once of having trouble expressing any emotion. That was not an issue at the moment. I felt as though I could rip heads off.
"All of our parents endured this, Alasdair," Taj chimed in. "Did any of us grow up knowing anything except love?"
None of this felt right. Evie would never be able to look at me the same again... and I didn't blame her. How was I supposed to propose to her now that she'd nearly died at my hands? Her guard, who had ensured her safety through all of this and had likely become her friend, was incinerated by my best friend.
"We will explain this to our chosen women," Torin declared. "We will make them understand. We all have a duty to the realm. They would not have come if they didn't have some level of respect for duty."
"And if they want nothing to do with us?" I argued, curious as to where everyone's thoughts lay on the matter.
The doors opened at that moment, our fathers appearing once more.
"They don't have a choice, Son," my father answered.
Ero nodded and continued. "They've seen too much. Those who remain will either be chosen or they will remain here, on the island. They’ll join those who came before them."
The guards stationed here, the maids and cooks. The servants. They were all a part of this in the past?
"They won't return to their families?" Ciar asked.
"They can't," I replied before anyone else could speak. Now that I knew the game, it was all clear to me. An elaborate contest created from the desire for power and glory. "Our gifts are a secret to everyone aside from those in the royal houses. It would be too much of a risk to let someone go free to tell the tale."
"Astute as always, Alasdair," Ero said appreciatively. His words of praise, which were always meant to make me feel respected, now left a slimy feeling upon my soul. I didn't agree with any of this.
Alden approached our father. “Why didn’t it end sooner? Once the first blood was spilled?”
King Cairo answered. “We stopped it as soon as each man had a kill, which is what is required by the curse. We aren’t monsters, and we took no pleasure in watching what happened out there. Believe me when I tell you, we ended it the moment we could.”
“Which is why you weren’t out there for the full three days we allotted for the hunt,” King Eamon added.
Their words seemed to appease most of the men as nothing more was said on the topic.
"What's the plan, then?" Taj asked as he pulled his locs into a knot atop his head, securing it with an orange leather band. The colors of our kingdoms were always on display. We'd been raised to be proud of our heritage, and yet, as I looked around the room, I felt as though I was seeing things clearly for the first time.
King Eamon sat down in a brown leather chair, groaning as he did so. He was the eldest of the four rulers, and age was beginning to catch up to him. "Tonight, you will select a wife from the remaining women. Each of you will write down your selections in order of first to last and each list will be tallied in accordance with the scoring. The final pairings will be read aloud by Ero, from lowest score, to highest."
Corvus waved his hand and a stack of papers appeared in his hand. “These are the women eligible for The Choosing Ceremony. Please take one.” He handed them off to one of the Ekpen cousins who took one for himself and passed it on.
"What have the women been told? Do they know?" Torin asked, taking a list for himself.
"They were informed that yes, royals are capable of shifting. That they proved their worth and thanks to their bravery, the realm benefits by continuing a strong, royal bloodline.” Eamon replied.
I gritted my teeth as Alden passed me a list and kept one for himself before Ciar impatiently took the rest out of his hands. I folded it into a square and stuffed it into my pocket.
Alden shifted his weight and asked, "And did any of them… take issue?"
