“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Language!” Her father tossed a hand into the air in exasperation. “Your mother needs to slow her drinking. We get it. No need to swear.”
“Hey!” Lemetria placed her hands on her hips. “I’m not the only one who spends money around here.”
“Oh please. Oh please!” Harlow leveled a pointed stare on her father. “You don’t get to point fingers. How much did you spend on elfish tobacco this month, Dad? And is that a new shirt? You both have to stop spending money. If you’re going to survive here, you both need to make changes. Only eat what you cook for yourself. Drink water. Try to get work. Stop buying clothes.”
“Don’t you mean all three of us?” Darium said. “You’ve bought… things.” He gestured vaguely around the room.
Her mother’s heavy sigh interrupted any attempt at an answer. “We shouldn’t be wasting energy fighting about this. Once you marry Adradys, our days of pinching pennies will be over! Thank the goddess he proposed to you. It’s the answer to all our prayers.”
Harlow closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose. So that was it. The truth ignited in her mind like dragon fire. Her parents weren’t as worried about this as she was because they assumed that she’d be engaged to Adradys before Flavius had time to foreclose on the property. They wouldn’t have to hock anything or tighten any belts. As far as they were concerned, all they had to do was delay total economic catastrophe for a few days.
Goddess, she had to end this. She had to end this now! “I’m not marrying Adradys,” she blurted. “I will never marry Adradys. The answer is no. Never. Not negotiable. I’m giving him back his ring as soon as possible.”
Her parents gasped in unison. Lemetria held her hands out toward her, all color draining from her face. “Harlow, what are you saying? Have you lost your mind? Do you know what this marriage could do for us? Think about someone other than yourself!”
Her vision washed red, and her teeth clenched to the point of pain. She raised her chin into the air before answering in a low, steady voice. “The only person I should think about when considering a marriage proposal is me! I’m the one who’d have to sleep next to that rank and pompous slimeball every night. I’m the one who’d be expected to bear his children. ‘Serve me, Harlow. I can’t possibly fill my own bowl!’” she said in falsetto. “The man runs a doormaking company and doesn’t have a single callus or splinter on his perfectly manicured fingers.”
Her father grunted. “I have noticed that. What a poser.”
“Exactly.” She pointed at her dad. “He’s a soft, spineless clown, and I will never marry him. You cannot force me. Under the new regime, it’s against the law. If you try, I’ll leave. I’ve already found a place. I will leave tomorrow if I have to.” It was an empty threat. She didn’t think she had the money to leave. Still, it needed to be said.
Her mother clutched the base of her throat. “You don’t mean that! You’ve made plans to leave? Why? Where will you go?”
Harlow crossed her arms. The truth was like a river now whose dam she had destroyed. Words gushed out of her, pressurized from being held back for too long. “I’m tired of working my ass off to support you. You’re both full-grown dragons. Dad, you started your company from nothing. What’s stopping you from doing it again? And Mom, if you got off your barstool long enough, maybe you could find a job at one of those dress stores you frequent. You’ve always had an eye for fashion, and you know everyone in the kingdom with money. Why not use that to your advantage? I’ve been the only one earning anything to support us this past year, and what do I get for it? You want to marry me off to a man you and Dad can’t even stand.”
“Oh, Lemetria, I knew this was a mistake. She doesn’t like the man. Not even a little.” Darium stuffed himself into his armchair and buried his face in his hand.
“How were we to know?” Lemetria groused. “When he sent the falcon to say he’d seen her at the pits and wanted to join us for dinner, I assumed the two had a connection! It said you sat with him, Harlow. You talked.”
Harlow flung her hands down by her sides. “The only connection I had with that dragon was a few conversations where I suggested he’d be lucky to hire Dad for his second-rate door company. That’s why I thought he’d come. And he had the audacity to give us that stupid excuse about his business’s reputation.” She made a gagging sound.
“He’s absolutely wretched,” Darium snarled.
“But very rich,” Lemetria offered.
Harlow and her father stared her mother down.
“Fine, you won’t be marrying the asshole.” Lemetria sagged into the chair across from her father.
“Thank you,” Harlow said.
“There’s only one problem,” Darium muttered, leaning back to stare at the ceiling.
Harlow laughed. “Only one?”
“A big one.” Her father scrubbed his face with his hands. “What happened tonight is just the start. Without his money to bail us out, we’re doomed.”
“Exactly how bad is it?”
Her father frowned and glanced away. “Even if your mother sold every last piece of jewelry in that bag for top dollar, it wouldn’t be enough to pay off what we owe.”
Harlow’s eyes widened. Her gaze darted between her parents, and panic gripped her shoulders. For a moment, she was tempted to flee the sinking ship. Their debt was not technically hers. She could leave, work hard, live simply. She could let them fail. But even as she considered it, she knew it was out of the question. As difficult as her parents could be, she loved them. Harlow was no whelp, but she’d lived under the shelter of their wealth for hundreds of years. Her father’s prosperity had been her prosperity for most of her life, and he’d never begrudged her a single thing.
Never in all those years had her parents tried to force her to marry or to move out on her own despite her advanced age. Before they’d lost everything, her parents had never asked her to pay for anything, never expected her to contribute in any way. Even now, when they were desperate, they accepted her decision not to marry Adradys. There were no ultimatums. In fact, both of her parents looked at her with only love.
In her heart, she knew without a doubt that Lemetria and Darium were not lazy. Darium had started his doormaking business from nothing, and Lemetria had helped him grow it. And they weren’t cruel people. They never actually supported Eleanor’s regime.
