by S. K Munt
I nodded, for I would. I would hate him again after, but I had no choice to go to him with a heart full of gratitude. Even the fact that he was surprising me now by bringing up our little ‘deal’ was proof enough that the longer I stayed in Eden, the stupider I was getting. It wasn’t a shocking revelation at all- I should have seen it coming!
‘Yes, your highness,’ I looked up into his eyes and he wiped one of my tears away. The idea of acting supportively toward Ora, while intending to go to bed with the man she wanted behind her back made me feel heartsick, but what else could I do? I didn’t have a say in whether I was released or not- this was a decision made by royal decree! It wasn’t like I could go: ‘Actually, you know what? I’d like to stay on the slight chance that your mother will get me out of here in a few months anyway, but thanks,’ because now not only was my potential freedom on the line, but Kohl’s and thirteen others too. ‘I will.’
And then you will be free to pursue Ora, and release me from this place!
Karol’s smile could have melted the north, but it did not me. And when I turned back to the other Companions and saw Kelia backing away tearfully, looking nothing but shattered, I felt the cold in my bones for the first time in my life and turned just in time to see the golden man grin and melt back into the Wildwoods, to wait. Sighing, I plucked the feather from my hair, and let it fall to the ground so that Karol’s boot might crush it.
*
As Karol had predicted, I was absolutely besieged by strange, rich-looking men the moment that the applause began to die down, but he did not take his hand from my back and used the other to hold them at arm’s length.
‘I’m sure that Miss Whittaker is gratified by your enthusiasm, gentlemen,’ he said coyly, while my back muscles tensed against his touch. ‘But let’s not scare her back into the harem. Besides… I think there are one or two Arcadian officials who reserve the right to speak to her first.’ He nodded over their heads and we all followed his gaze to see Elijah striding down the common toward us with Kohén at his side. Kohén was clearly spitting hard words into his father’s ear- the kind that made Elijah grimace but nod, and behind them, Kohl was jogging toward me with a wet, delighted face with Atticus and his mother ambling along behind him in an attempt to keep up.
Oh my god! What am I going to say to any of them?
‘Bull!’ Elbert Yael exclaimed, barging thorough everyone to grasp my hand. ‘You just released her, so may the best kingdom win!’
‘She is still ours until Sunday, Elbert,’ Karol pointed out jovially, wrapping his arm around my waist to hold me out of the other king’s clutch and damn me, but I was grateful for it. ‘But I agree, it’s her choice. Larkin… would you prefer to hear what my father has to say, before you speak with anyone else?’
‘I… um… yes,’ I said, nodding gently.
‘Miss Whittaker!’ a man I didn’t recognise called out, shouldering his way through and taking off his top hat. ‘Is it true that you are an orphan, and will need to live wherever you decide to work, from here until you are twenty-one? Because I have a boarding room in a plantation house available right now, if it’s a farming apprenticeship that you’re after!’
I blinked, then my stomach clenched as I realised that yes, that was right. The other liberated Given were going to have houses and families to return to, but I was going to be homeless until other arrangements could be made. Yeah, my adopted father was still alive (and as far as everyone knew- he was my biological father), but he was living with my brother who wanted nothing to do with me. Perhaps that would change once news spread that I’d transitioned from dirt to diamond, but my desire to call any of them my family again would not now that they’d proved that I had ever qualified as dirt to them. So yes… I would need to find somewhere to live.
But before I could confirm that, I saw Kohén come to a screeching halt on the edge of the crowd and look around furtively for a way to push through, and my heart broke for the desolation on his face. I had a family- and one of them was in pain. So I nodded in response to the man’s question, but stepped toward Kohén, trying to catch his eye instead of looking at the man who’d spoken. ‘Um… what is it you grow?’
‘Sugar cane,’ the man tried to jostle his way through to me. ‘And corn!’
‘Back off, Hamlet,’ Elbert growled and I blinked- Hamlet McPhee was the Marquees of St Miguel, where my sister lived! Where Martya had counted on going! ‘She doesn’t need an apprenticeship or sugar cane- she needs land of her own to raise cotton on!’
‘Are you going to continue to work as a courtesan?’ another man asked, and his voice was as oily as his skin and hair. He looked me up and down with beady eyes and turned to Karol. ‘One million for her, if she will.’
A million dollars?! Is he insane?!
‘I am not selling her, Benson so direct your offers to her not me, and please- keep them professional. Miss Whittaker is not a courtesan- see how she is unadorned?’ Karol said loudly, and I was relieved that he was speaking for me on THAT particular subject even though I HATED the way every man present dropped their gaze to search my flesh for signs of gold and lingered on what was there. ‘That is because she has been a Companion to Prince Kohén as a friend alone. If she had been claimed by him for that purpose, I would not be legally able to break her contract- that would be my brother’s prerogative to dismiss her then, and my father’s position to approve it.’
Note to self: No sex with Kohén before Sunday!
‘Is Prince Kohén a homosexual then?’ another man asked, raking me over with his eyes and I shivered on the inside, writing off him and the oily man immediately.
Karol laughed. ‘No- he simply has an eye for diamonds too.’ He cleared his throat as I blushed madly, wanting to poke my tongue out at the handful of dukes, barons and kings who walked away, losing interest in my ‘intellect’ in the light of such a virginal development. ‘So please, bear that in mind when you make your offers gentlemen. Not just to be gentleman, but because this one has quite a temper and is liable to kick you in the shins if she does not like the way you word your propositions.’
‘Oh…’ the oily man scratched his head, then looked back to Karol. ‘Will she accept a dowry then?’
‘Because whore… wife… they’re pretty much the same thing?’ I asked coldly, speaking before Karol could, and a few of the men exclaimed amused glances while Benson scowled. I knew who he was now- Benson Etcher, Lord of one of the Asiana provinces. ‘No,’ I made sure that I had everyone’s attention by raising my hand. ‘I am a virgin but I am still an infertile one, so I cannot be joined at all, or married until I am thirty.’ My eyes lifted to Karol’s. ‘Ugh... right?’
‘Technically, yes,’ he said. ‘For now.’
I recoiled from his touch again, and I understood. For now I could be married for love to another commoner, but once he was done with me, I would be considered impure and banned from marrying within Arcadia at all. If I did wish to marry, I would have to move somewhere else where a lifelong commitment was all that was required to qualify me as a potential bride, not virginity.
‘Right then,’ I smiled back at the men nervously. ‘So… apprenticeship offers only, please.’
‘Larkin…’ Elbert stepped forward, blocking my escape. ‘Let me preface everybody else’s offer: Come to Yael with me this very Sunday, and I guarantee you two thousand acres, a plantation house, a cotton gin and forty employees!’
My mouth fell open, and there were a few grunts to communicate that he was not only mad, but also well prepared to out-bid him. ‘Two thousand acres?’
‘Goodness!’ Karol laughed and patted my shoulder. ‘That’s going to be hard to top!’
‘It is,’ Elbert’s round face split with his hairy smile as he used his arm to hug me to him and out of Karol’s grip, ‘so what do you say, that we save time and shake on this now?’
I lifted my head and locked eyes with Atticus. He was watching me closely, and the moment Elbert slung his arm over my shoulder, he
made an exasperated gesture and turned away, taking Kohl by the arm and dragging him to the side. While more offers smashed against me like waves against a rock, Atticus spoke furtively to Kohl, and I watched, fixated, as Kohl’s eyes began to widen and his mouth fell open. Atticus shot a few looks my way as he spoke, but he managed to grin at Kohl while his arms did the rest of the emotional dance for him, and when Kohl began to nod and reached for Atticus’s hand to shake it eagerly, he had tears streaming down his face and over a grin that made my heart burst into a million shooting stars. Then, Atticus waved off the hand and hugged him instead, and a tear rolled down MY cheek. Kohl had a father again, possibly even two, and I had done that.
I was not wicked, and Karol’s taking me didn’t have to define me, or alter how I felt about myself.
I stepped out from under Elbert’s arm. ‘Thank you very much, Elbert, for your enthusiasm and support.’ I turned and saw Kohén shake loose a tearful Kelia as she tried to pull him back from the edge of the melee. ‘But I will not be moving to Yael. I…’ I stepped to the side, feeling a twinge in my chest as a frustrated-looking Kohén stepped back from the crowd and rubbed at his temples. ‘I can’t travel that far- I have a statue to watch over, and she belongs on a coast!’ Elbert’s mouth fell open, but I did not give him the chance to protest. Kohén was turning around to leave and I knew from the colour of his eyes that he was about to cry. ‘Kohén!’
The disillusioned-looking prince whipped back around, and yes, his eyes were bright blue, telling me that someone was about to get frazzled by his anguish and that I was the only person who could prevent that- by fighting back for him for once. ‘Kohén!’ I shouldered past Elbert and out of Karol’s grip. ‘Wait!’
‘Larkin?’ he wiped at his nose, and I pushed through the outer ring of the circle just as his father pushed his way in. Elijah reached for me, but I brushed his hand away.
‘Do not offer me anything,’ I said back to the king, and his face tightened with worry, so I smiled. ‘Not in this madness- it’s undignified for the king to partake in a bidding war with the masses. But we can sit down together later to discuss my future, if you still desire to?’
‘Yes! Yes I would like that, darling girl.’ He smiled, and his eyes were wet too and it was all I could do not to hug him then and there for showing me such affection. His eyes moved to Kohén. ‘Please, before he gets any more upset-’
‘I know.’ I turned and ran to Kohén, slowing my steps as I neared him, aware that the crowd had turned to watch me. Kelia had picked herself up off the grass and Maryah was leading her inside, giving her what looked like a severe talking to, but Kelia brushed our tutor off and stomped into Eden. The other Companions were standing in her way, and scattered like a flock of spooked birds as she stormed past, but no one followed her and my heart broke for her. Six weeks had lapsed since she’d given her virginity in Pacifica. Six weeks only had come between her and her own freedom. I could not blame her for being upset, and vowed to myself that I would go to her the second I could to offer her whatever comfort or forgiveness she required.
Sighing, I turned back to my friend and opened my arms. ‘My hugs are as free now, as they always have been, Kohén. Please… gift me with one of yours on this happy day? For it will not be one, if you do not rejoice with me.’
Kohén’s face contracted and he ran at me, crushing me to him. ‘How can I rejoice, when I am so terrified?’ he whispered, and I heard the tears in his voice. ‘I can’t believe he dumped that on me without a warning! Please… don’t leave me!’ he smoothed his hand down my hair and then crushed me tighter still, balling my curls in his fists as though he could possess me physically with his grip alone. ‘I love you-’ his voice cracked. ‘You are my world. If you move across the country-’
‘I couldn’t stray far, surely you must know that?’ I asked, holding him tightly. ‘You are my world too, Kohén!’
‘Thank God…’ Kohén cupped my face with his hands, looked me dead in the eye and whispered: ‘I’ve already ordered father to eclipse every offer that you get, okay? And he’s already said that Eden could remain your home, if that’s what you want.’
‘I will consider all of his offers thoroughly,’ I assured him, pulling back. ‘But I don’t think that I can go on living under the same roof with you, even as an apprentice farmer, Kohén.’ His face fell, but I shook my head. ‘I’d accept him putting a roof over my head on one of the off-site farms, yes, but not here. Not with…’ my eyes drifted toward the harem, but he caught my chin and forced me to look at him again.
‘I will release them!’ he vowed, and a shiver travelled down my spine. ‘All of them!’
Because I am worth more to you already now that I am free? You cannot deny the girl you love, what you denied the Companion who you claimed to love? No Kohén… no.
I shook my head. ‘What would that do, but punish all of us involved? As it stands, you cannot have me that way, and as you’ve said, you need to have someone...’ I swallowed and stepped back, taking both of his hands in mine and squeezing them. ‘Look, we have time to work it all out, all right? To talk it out. And I promise that I will discuss every offer that I have with you before I accept any of them.’ I glanced back over at Kohl, Atticus and the duchess. ‘But I must admit, Atticus made me a damned good one last night… one that’s going to be almost impossible to top.’ Kohén’s eyes lit up, but I hurried on before he could take credit for the offer, or assume that me moving to Pacifica equalled me fusing my life with his. ‘But I cannot hold land until I am eighteen, so I will have to decide what I am going to do for the next year, and if I will do it here, or in Pacifica.’
The crowd behind us hushed as he crushed me to him again. ‘It would gladden me if you went there,’ he said. ‘But you do know that if you go across the ocean, I will find a way to follow immediately, right?’
I did know that, and I knew it was going to cause both Kohl and Kohén a lot of distress, which was why part of me was thinking that the best thing I could do- for everybody- was to sign a contract with Atticus agreeing to accept Pacifica from him when I was twenty-one, but to serve out an apprenticeship on the mainland, somewhere close to Kohén but without being literally in his lap and assuredly on Kohl’s mind until then. Possibly even St Miguel, for it was still just a march under Arcadia’s jurisdiction, which meant that Elijah would profit indirectly by keeping me within Arcadian borders. Sugar cane wasn’t cotton, but it was a crop that they grew on Caldera Island already, so I could learn a lot that would benefit a Pacifican future. And who knew? Maybe Elijah would offer me land there, with Hamlet McPhee’s blessing, to try my hand at cotton on?
Besides- that was where Martya had been intending to go. Shouldn’t I honour her, by following in her footsteps, but making it across her finish line?
‘You talk to a man about a crown,’ I repeated, releasing his hands. ‘And I will talk to the same man about an island, and we will talk about what that means for our future when both are in our possession- and the ability to change rules, in yours.’
Kohén frowned. ‘Wait… what about what you said in Pacifica? About seeing other men? Surely you know that I won’t court anybody-’
‘Larkin?’ Kohl’s voice closed in on us, and when I turned, I saw that he was holding his mother’s hand and her, trying to get a grip on my gaze. He looked from his twin, to me, and then smiled curiously, though the worry in his eyes was clear. ‘When you get a minute, Atticus wants to talk to you.’ He held out his free hand. ‘And I would like to squeeze you until your head pops like a champagne cork!’ I grinned and turned to him, accepting his offer, and Kohl picked me up and bellowed out a: ‘Who’s the guardian angel now?!’ while spinning me in a whip of a circle.
‘Karol, actually!’ I giggled and he put me down as the duchess moved to Kohén and held him tightly. I wanted so badly to tell him about the fine print, which would see me gift my virginity to Karol by the end of the week, but I couldn’t. And who knew? If Karol intended to keep what we di
d behind his locked door, then maybe no one would ever have to know, and the repercussions for me would be minimal. Well, internal, at least- probably not minimal. The very thought of disrobing for his greedy gaze made me feel light-headed and ill, so I could only imagine how cheap and wrecked I would feel after. ‘Who would have thought it, huh?’
‘I did.’ Constance said, and when I glanced over to honour her smug smile with a nod of acknowledgement, I saw her pull Kohén into her arms. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered to him.
‘For what?’ he asked, still wiping the damp tear tracks from his face.
‘For giving me a daughter at last, by treating her like a princess, instead of a whore.’
I turned around in shock, and Kohl’s arms went limp, letting me go. I raced to the duchess and she wrapped her slender, soft arms around me and when I pulled back, a butterfly escaped from the palm of her hand. My breathing hitched in fear, but only I noticed how it had appeared out of thin air, and she smiled in a reassuring way.
‘You never know what someone’s capable of, hmm?’ she asked, and I laughed and hugged my mother again, hoping that she would love me as a mother, even if Karol’s plans for me quashed both Kohl and Kohén’s alternate plans for me.
Hoping that a princess didn’t need a prince charming, in order to have a happy ending.
31.
The feast began immediately following Karol’s speech, and the people shifted from one mass to form lines along the common, while I accepted congratulations from total strangers and chatted with Atticus.
As it turned out, one of the Islands that had been virtually destroyed by God’s wrath, Isthmus Isle, had recently been declared habitable again, and it was there that Kohén and the prime minister had sailed together that day in Pacifica, leaving Kohl behind, and the general had done that because there had been no natives there for Kohl to have to translate for.
‘It used to be called-’