My father turns to look me in the eyes. “Well. I was going to let it be a surprise. But everyone else knows, so.” He shrugs. “Elizabeth is being given to Jack and Leela. It’s for the best. Leela is very self-aware and confident. She will control her. And Jack… well, he’s the next in line. So he has to have a Maiden. At least, at first.”
“Whoa. What the fuck are you talking about? Did you have a Maiden?”
“Of course. That was your mother.”
Whoa. OK. Breathe, Cooper. “Then who… who was your wife?”
“She died early. Shortly after Jack was born.”
“OK.” I take a deep breath and shake my head. “I don’t think I need to know any more.” This is not a lie, either. I’m so not going to be here next year. And neither are Cadee and Isabella. We’re done. One hundred percent getting the fuck out of Dodge. This whole place is crazy.
“Well.” My father stands up. “Good. Then we’re finished here. I’m sure we’ll have another talk soon. But you’re right. That’s enough for one day.” Then he looks down at me with a smile. “Take your time here, Cooper. Relax. Enjoy the steam. There’s a car outside waiting for you when you’re ready to leave. You’ll be taken home to get dressed. Your suit has been placed in your room. Cadee and Isabella will be dropped off at the High Court College west gate at eight PM. Don’t be late.”
“That’s it?”
He shrugs. “Have a nice time at homecoming. An escort will find you when it’s time to go to the tomb.”
Then he bows a little, turns on his heel, and walks off.
And even though I don’t particularly care for steam rooms, I stay there for quite some time. Trying to wrap my head around my life.
It’s a shit show from all angles.
But at the same time, what I’ve learned today is interesting.
Maybe even slightly… sexy.
And, if I’m being completely honest, the mysteries that surround the High Court alumni are even a little bit alluring.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - CADEE
“I’m sorry.” I laugh at Isabella. “Did you just say… sister-wife?”
“I just found out this morning. I mean, I knew. I had an idea, at least. We girls talk, don’t we?” She looks at Sophie and Elexa, and they both do some combination of a shrug and a nod. “We all know what we’re getting into. And normally, you would as well. But you’ve been sheltered for reasons no one is really sure about. I have to admit, I really thought I was going to get stuck with Mona, so you’re a total step up and I feel so much better about it.”
“Wait.” My head is like… spinning. “We’re both marrying Cooper?”
“No.” Isabella laughs. “That’s illegal. I’m going to marry him. You’re going to be our Maiden.”
I have a vision of The Handmaid’s Tale. Isabella lying down in the middle of a large canopy bed, me between her legs, my own spreadeagle and Cooper coming at me with a hard cock.
I laugh unexpectedly.
Cooper promised me he wasn’t going to marry her. So I just need to shut my mouth and play along. Because this whole scenario could go two ways.
One. We’re all lying. All of us. And everything these girls are telling me is part of Dante’s plan. And if that’s the case, I don’t need to worry about this because none of it is going to matter in the end.
Two. Dante’s plan has fallen apart and no one is actually playing that angle anymore. And if this is the case, then I really need to shut the fuck up, because I’m the only one in this room who is still on board. And there might be cameras in here.
It takes a lot of self-control not to check all the corners for cameras.
I finally find my voice. “Your Maiden, Isabella? What does that mean, exactly?”
“You fuck him.” She shrugs. “You live with us. You are ours. But you’re not legally tied to us in any way.”
“OK. So I’m his concubine.”
“I like that word,” Sophie says. “Sounds very… I don’t know. Imperial court. ‘Mistress’ is so…” She wrinkles her nose. “Well, one step up from ‘call girl,’ am I right?”
“Sure, Sophie.” I smile at her. “We could do worse than ‘concubine.’”
“Well, you’re taking this well,” Elexa says.
“Cooper loves me, Elexa. Not Isabella.”
“Hey.” Isabella points at me. “Don’t be a bitch, Cadee. He and I have been partners for more than three years now. He loves me in his own way.”
“But she’s right,” Sophie quips. “Why should she worry about you? You’re into girls.”
Isabella slaps Sophie across the face so hard, the smack echoes throughout the room for three whole seconds. And then there is a bright pink hand mark on her cheek.
“Jesus Christ, Isabelle!” I stand up in my tub, then carefully get out and walk over to Sophie and put my arm around her as she starts to cry.
Isabella seethes. “You better watch your mouth, Sophie Bettington. I’m not joking. Spread any more rumors about me, and I will make your life miserable. Now get my towel and dry me off.” Sophie pushes me away and scurries over to the towels. But Isabella is looking at Elexa now. “Do you have a problem with my punishments, Elexa?”
Isabella, in this moment, is the personification of the word ‘regal.’ She was born to be the Queen. Because she stands before us with her shoulders straight and her head tipped up high. Naked, like the rest of us. Yet utterly different from us at the same time.
And now Sophie’s weak personality makes sense.
She was born to be the Maiden.
Second best. Just like me.
So that’s what the word ‘legacy’ means. It’s got nothing to do with my parents going to school at High Court. It’s… breeding.
Just like Dane said. You were bred for me.
Except he’s dead now, so I was given to Cooper.
And Elexa’s personality makes sense too.
She’s one of them. Not one of us.
Elexa shrugs. “Hey, you’re the Cygnet, right? Maybe one day I will have a problem with you slapping my Maiden. When she’s really mine. But today, fuck it.”
“Good,” Isabella says, smiling. Then Sophie is there with a towel, gently rubbing it up and down Isabella’s body to dry her off.
“Get back in the tub,” Elexa commands.
And I suddenly wonder if she’s allowed to talk to me that way. I mean, I get it. I’m living on the top floor of the dorm due to a technicality. But I’m not the Fugling anymore. So I snap at her. “Don’t talk to me like that, you wench.”
Isabella laughs. Sophie frowns and looks around nervously.
Elexa grits her teeth and clenches her fists. “You’re nobody, Cadee. They can put you up in that tower and dress you all pretty to make you think that you’re special, but you’re not. And if I were you, I’d enjoy this year to the fullest. Because when next year comes around, there will be a new Queen living in your room.”
“That’s not even true. The Chairman said I could stay there until I graduate.”