Page 36 of Rotanev
No, I feared Nero and what he might do to me.
Although, I also hungered for him. Wondered what life with him would be like. Possessed secret hopes of a happy future.
Hopes that continued to dwindle as more and more words of his behavior reached me. Our courtship was typical for our positions and mostly founded on arrangements made long before my time.
I was created for him, after all.
He’d shown interest in me, had sent me gifts, even tried to engage in conversation a few times. But we both knew this arrangement was about merging kingdoms.
Trident, the father of all sirens, owed Nero a boon.
I was that boon.
A future queen meant to reign at Nero’s side. Alas, all the commentary made it quite clear I would be serving from beneath instead of as an equal.
“What has you troubled?” he asked, stepping into my room with a frown.
“Oh, nothing. I’m fine.” I shut the door behind him and turned. “Just… thinking.”
“About tomorrow?”
“About life.”
He nodded, a thoughtful look entering his emerald gaze. “You know, most intended brides boast an excited glow to them. Particularly the day before their vows. But you seem to be lacking that. Why?”
I sighed. “Am I that obvious?” Because I thought I was hiding it well. And in truth, I had been excited only weeks ago. It’d just been these last few days, living within Nero’s realm, in his space, that caused anxiety to settle.
I knew the reason, of course.
All the little comments painting him in such a horrid light. If only he had time for me, I could ask him to explain. Although, one such recollection described what he did to those who questioned his reign.
So perhaps not.
“I’m just wondering how well I really know Nero,” I admitted, sitting on my bed. “We were betrothed before my conception, so I grew up learning all about him. But meeting him is a very different experience.” Mostly because I hadn’treallymet him. He was too busy running his kingdom to spend much time with me, which I understood and respected. Or I was trying to, anyway.
Dolos settled beside me, his lanky form much taller than my own. “I can imagine that’s difficult for you to be promised without your consent.”
“Oh, it’s not that. I mean, well, yes, I suppose it is. But I don’t mind the arrangement; I just wish I knew him better.”
“Is it that, or do you wish you’d had a chance to live your own life prior to being committed to someone else for eternity?” he asked, his eyes bright with knowledge and experience. “You’re only nineteen, yes? An infant compared to Nero and the other gods of our age. He’s lived for millennia, sowing his oats and refining his existence. While you were just created. Some may call that unfair.”
I frowned, both at his words and his candor. No one dared discuss such things because they were just how arrangements were made in Mythios Realm. And to even consider otherwise was, well, reprehensible.
Yet, also interesting.
Because his comments held truth.
Why must I give away my innocence to a man I hardly knew? One everyone thought would destroy me rather than accept me as his queen? Was I nothing but a pawn for him after winning a game with Trident? That rumor—one I heard yesterday—hurt the most.
“She’s just a trophy, one he’ll use to his liking and kill once he tires of her. And the poor thing doesn’t even know…”
The words still stung.
Everyone here had labeled me as naive, speaking ill of me without having even met me. All because they assumed their King of the Seas would destroy me.
Every word proved him to be a completely different god from my studies. Trident had called him just and considerate, a leader who truly cared about his people.
Well, his people disagreed.
