“No, Papa,” I said finally,wearily.“I was Chosen. And they respect that. They respectme.”
“They wouldn’t if they knew,” he said darkly, throwing the words like a slap at my face.
43. If Only They Knew
SOUNDTRACK:Weakby Grace Blue
~ BREN ~
I was so staggered, so shocked, at first no words came. My father thought I was listening, and he stepped closer. “You don’t have to lie for them, Bren,” he muttered. “I know they want us to believe that, but you don’t have to lie. I came here to tell you that you can come home. I shouldn’t have said the things I said. I was shocked and afraid. But I can see what’s happened. Your mother raised you for such sweetness and honor, you have been deceived. That isn’t your fault. I know your options are limited now, but I will watch over you, and you’re strong enough to take the farm when we’re gone—”
“Father, hear me. I amnotlying.” I was done arguing with him. “I’m a Furyknight. Trained, tested, and pinned.Exactlylike Ruin was.”
But my father just shook his head, his upper lip curling back. “I knew he was here.”
It was like speaking with a wall. A blunt,unlistening wall. I dropped my face in my hands to gather my wits, because I refused to stand here batting away his accusations.
I sucked in a breath and raised my chin, pinning my father with a gaze as sharp as any blade. “Ruin isnothere,” I said through my teeth. “I won’t repeat it. No one is lying to you. I was Chosen after he left, and I’m glad he’s gone. Hehurtme. I didn’t choose the things that happened—you should have known that. You should have seen that at the time. You should have offered to protect methen—”
“You told me you loved him,” he said pointedly.
Sickened, I nodded. “And I did. But he lied to me. I no longer care for him in any measure. I’m—”
“She’s someone you should be very proud to call your daughter.” Donavyn growled as my father opened his mouth, clearly prepared to take another shot at me. I turned to plead with him not to give in to violence. But he stood without the others holding him, his arms folded, his eyes glinting with righteous rage. “And she’s being far more gracious with you than I would be.”
Father bristled, but I jumped in.
“Papa, this isGeneralDonavyn Arsen. He is—”
“I’m far more than her Commanding Officer. I am hermate.Our dragons are bonded, and so are we,” Donavyn said bluntly. I wasn’t the only one who gasped. I prayed the door was closed tightly and we had no eavesdroppers outside.
“What doesthatmean?” my father asked suspiciously.
Donavyn stepped up to my side. “It means your daughter is the most precious thing in this world to me, and while I am grateful to you for bringing her into this world and raising her, Sir, you will answer for the rejection and abuse—”
“Abuse?! I neverabused—!”
I opened my mouth, but Donavyn shot me a look like he knew what I’d say, and bristled, leaning closer to my father.
He stood over him by inches, and inches broader, too. “You should be grateful your daughter is a woman of grace. Had I learned of your offenses towards her when she first arrived, I would have dragged you before a magistrate.”
My father flinched, but then his eyes narrowed. “Wait… hermate?So, you two are… well, ofcourse. Did you at least have the decency to marry her?”
Donavyn went still and my father’s malicious smile rose.
“Of course you didn’t. Men of honor, my ballsack. This is only more proof that the Furyknight men are immoral.” Then he turned to me. “So, you’ve left Ruin to take up with thisrogue,and the rest of them too, I suppose? Is that what you—”
Donavyn’s hand shot out. The men behind us rushed forward, but they were too late.
Donavyn grasped my father by the throat and stormed him backwards, straight into the wall, with such force that my father’s eyes glazed for a moment. Then Donavyn shoved him a second time, knocking his head against the panel, before leaning right into my father’s ear. “You will shut your filthy mouth, or I will strangle you and call it judgment,” he growled.
“Donavyn, don’t!”
But Donavyn didn’t even look at me, just kept talking in a low, seething voice, through his teeth, while my father clawed at his grip on his throat.
“I will give you one, final chance to address your daughter with the love and care that she deserves. And if you do not, I will—”
“Please don’t hurt him.Please.”
