His Absolute Insistence: A Scandalous Billionaire Love Story (Jessika, #2) (17 page)

She tried to ignore them, she really did.  She wanted to be happy.  Solace put on a front, smiling and humming to herself whenever anyone else was around, because she wanted to show them that she was just like anyone else.  She wouldn't get angry or be upset or disappoint anyone or give them any reason to dislike her.

But still, they hated her. 

They hated her when she was younger and when she grew up.  When she was fourteen, a traveling man came into town and treated her nicely for the first time in her life, but only for a little while.  In the evening when the man rented a room at the inn, she helped him and tended to his needs, cleaning his dusty clothes and doing a bit of mending in exchange for a warm place to stay that night.  Later, he left for an hour to take a walk around town.  When he returned he looked at her with a blank expression on his face and asked her to leave.

She still remembered it, his eyes lacking focus and his mouth slightly agape, not staring at her but through her.  "Leave," he said.  "Please, I don't want any trouble."

He did give her a silver coin, though.  She kept it with her all this time, even now, seven years later.  For some reason it seemed too precious to spend, as if it was something of a keepsake, a special memory.  She begged and pleaded with the blacksmith to poke a hole through it (which he did in exchange for a week of hard labor).  Then she scrounged and saved up for two weeks, performing arduous tasks for a fraction of their worth, so she could buy a leather cord from the tanner.  It would have only taken her one week, but the man refused to sell anything to her for less than double its regular cost.

It didn't matter, though.  Solace owned a necklace now, made from fine leather with the silver coin as a pendant.  She wore it everywhere and refused to part with it.  People offered her this or that in attempts to get her to sell it, but she refused them.  Some even acted nice as a ruse, asking politely if they could see it, but she said no.

After that, some acted not so nice and she'd gained more than a few bruises, but it never went too far.

One man was nice to her after that, though.  Nice enough, at least.  He let her into the church basement, down to their library, where he let her borrow books in exchange for performing secretarial duties.  She organized shelves and helped him rewrite sections if necessary, or she delivered letters he needed sent.  He paid her fairly, too, except the church didn't have much money to spare.  Still, instead of coins, he let her sleep in the stables at night and borrow books, and he offered her dinner if the church had food to spare.  When it was too cold, he sometimes snuck her into the library where she could huddle in the corner beneath blankets and hope no one came in and saw her.  Mostly no one ever did, but if necessary she snuck through one of the basement windows and spent the night in the chill, wintry outdoors.

And that was enough.  A little kindness was enough for Solace, for always.  Just a bit to let her know that at least one person didn't absolutely despise her.  With that knowledge, she survived until the next day, over and over, and even if someone spat on her and called her rude names, she continued to smile and hum to herself.

"I
t's happening soon," Thomas said.  He was the little Miller boy, and on an errand from his parents to get his church pants stitched.  "That's what they say, at least.  Have you seen it before, Solace?"

"You shouldn't act too friendly with me," she said.  "Remember what happened last time?"

Thomas winced.  Once before, he'd helped Solace pick up some tatters of cloth she'd dropped on her way to the tailors and his parents had spanked him so hard for it that he couldn't sit for a week.  "Yeah, well, you won't tell anyone, will you?"

She laughed, a quiet, gentle titter.  "I won't, but if someone overhears..."

"I don't know why everyone hates you, anyways," Thomas said, growing bolder.  "You ain't never done nothing wrong, right?  Did you steal or do a crime or anything?  I think you're real nice, Solace, and you're always happy, so I don't get it."

"I'm not so useful," she said.  "I mess up a lot of things.  I try very hard, but trying isn't enough sometimes.  I do manage to get by and that's good enough for me for now, though.  Some day..."

"I'll marry you," Thomas said, all of a sudden.  "Then if anyone says something mean, I'll punch 'em!  Beat them up good so they never do it again."

Solace laughed.  "Will you?  I'm almost twice as old as you.  I don't think it'll work out."

"I'm turning twelve in a month," Thomas said, matter-of-factly.

"I'll bake you a cake."

"No, actually, you won't."  A man entered the church stables where she was doing her mending and sneered at her.  "Take your pants and go, boy, before I tell your parents you were talking with this wretched whore."

"She's not a whore!" Thomas said.

The man, Levi, stared at Thomas for half a second before bringing his arm back and smacking the boy upside the head.

"No!" Solace said.  "It's true, Thomas.  I am.  That's why Father William lets me stay here in the stables.  I take care of the horses
very
well."  She nodded fast when Levi started to grin.  "Here are your pants," she said, handing them to Thomas.  "You're free to go now.  No charge, since I'm sure the mending isn't very good."

"But..."  Thomas took the pants from her, holding them in one shaky fist.

"No, nothing.  Out.  I'm done.  Go away now.  Go."  She shooed him towards the stable entrance, pushing him along the first step of the way.  Gentle, yet firm, until he continued on his own, walking off, quiet and confused.

Once Thomas was out of sight, Levi leered at her.  "I've heard that's why Father William keeps you around.  I'd love to see it sometime.  What do you say?  A copper for a show?  I'll give you two if it's good and you let the stallion mount you.  Maybe I'll even fuck you myself after, so you know what a real man's cock is like for once."

"The horses are out for the day," Solace said.  "Father William wouldn't allow it, either.  I can't, Levi."

The man scrunched up his brow, looking furious.  She knew he wanted to press the matter, to force her to fuck the beasts in front of him, except he wouldn't.  A good thing, too, since she'd never done it and never planned to, but Father William wouldn't allow Levi to force her into it, either.  In Glenwood, the word of the church was practically the law, so someone like Levi wouldn't go against a priest even if Father William was a senile old man.

"Fine," he said.  "For now.  Actually, maybe it's for the best, anyways.  Here.  This is for you."

He shoved a piece of rolled up parchment into her hands, grinning.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Read it," he said.  "Or should I read it for you?  I don't expect someone like you knows more than a few simple words.  Unroll it and I'll do that.  Be quick.  I don't have all day."

She stood up and unrolled the parchment, eying it over.  Of course she could read, but she didn't want Levi knowing that.  The townspeople already called her enough mean names, and she didn't want "witch" added to the lot.  If they found any excuse to tie rocks to her feet and drown her, they might take it.

He stepped behind her and pressed his body close to hers.  She could feel the hardness and length of his manhood beneath his clothes, pushing against her firm rear.  Leaning over her shoulder, breathing hard against her neck, he smacked one hand on her stomach while the other roamed across her breasts.  As he read aloud from the parchment, he fondled and groped her.

She tried to ignore him, reading along too to see if he would lie to her, but he wouldn't stop touching her.

"The Glenwood high council," he said, squeezing her left breast, "must soon send an eligible woman into the Forest of Sacrifice as a bride for the Demon King.  This is a tradition that has continued—"  He emphasized the last word by twisting her reluctantly hardened nipple.  "—for centuries and is necessary in order to retain peace with the monstrous host."

When Levi paused, focusing more on molesting her chest than on reading the parchment, Solace cleared her throat.  "What else?"

"Hold on, slut.  It's not like you have anywhere to go, do you?  Or are you excited for the horses to return?"

"No, but—"

"But what?" he asked, his voice harsh and demanding.  Without warning, he shoved her to the ground.  Not hard, but enough to startle her.  Her knees scraped against the rough, straw covered dirt and she dropped the parchment.  "You think you're too good for me, Solace?  Is that it?  You want to know what the rest of this parchment says, do you?  Here's what it says.  We're sending you as the damn bride for that sick demon fuck, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"I wasn't..."  She backed away, offering him a reticent smile.  "It's alright, Levi.  I just wanted to know."

"You know what it means to be his bride?  It's not some special wonderful marriage filled with love and happiness, Solace.  It's awful pain and hurt.  Every hundred years this happens, and the council knows it's awful, but they do it anyways.  What's one useless woman's pain compared to peace for the whole town?  Nothing, that's what.  The Demon King's going to fuck you raw and fill your belly with some monster baby.  Except it's not birth you go through, it's being eaten from the inside out.  That demonspawn's going to gnaw at your insides once it grows.  Slow at first, until it gets hungrier and hungrier, then it's going to pop out one day, eat right through your stomach, and devour the rest of you as its first meal.  What do you think of that?"

Solace shivered.  It sounded awful, but it was just a story, right?  She didn't know much about the Demon King or the monstrous host, but she'd read a little about them in the church library books.  Every so often an ogre or a troll wandered into Glenwood and wanted to purchase something from the market, too.  All the townspeople quieted, trying to pretend they weren't scared, but it was so easy to see through their act.  Solace might have been scared, too, but the monsters looked so fascinating.  Once, except she probably imagined it, she even thought one smiled at her.  A crooked, wicked smile, but not altogether unpleasant.  A friendly gesture from a creature completely unused to friendliness.  Or that's what she wanted to think.

"If I want to take you right here and now, by force or what have you, I could, you know?" Levi said, ignoring her trembling.  "It's not like anyone cares, anyways.  If I raped you, so what?  They're sending you to the Demon King, so you're as good as dead already."

He loomed over her, pressing closer.  His boots crunched against the brittle straw with every step he took, ominous and dark.  He stared down at her, his expression a mix of taboo excitement and fierce anger.

"I think I'm gonna do it," he said.  "I'll fuck you so hard you won't have room in your belly for any demonspawn.  And you know what?  He'll just try all the harder, over and over, and you'll scream.  I'll listen for it, Solace.  When the wind blows on a quiet night, I'll listen for your screams coming from their wretched underground city and I'll smile."

"No," she said, smiling at him, trying to be happy.  Tears streamed down her cheeks and she shook her head.  "You don't mean that, Levi.  I'm so happy, though.  Really, I am.  I'm so happy that I can help Glenwood.  I'll gladly go to the Demon King for everyone.  I want to help."

"That's enough."

Father William walked into the stables.  Despite his need for a cane, he looked stately in his priest robes.  Straining to keep his back straight, he glanced over what was going on.

"Father," Levi said, regaining his usual self and losing his predatory leer.  "Sorry.  I was just delivering a message for Solace.  From the high council."

"I heard what you were doing," Father William said.  "Are you done?"

"Yes, Father."  Levi kicked at the parchment with the toe of his boot.  "Done and delivered.  Right, Solace?"

"Yes," Solace said.  "Thank you, Levi.  I appreciate it."

All of a sudden he changed again.  Levi turned on her, glared at her, and sneered.  "Don't thank me for nothing, you whore.  It wouldn't even be rape if I fucked you, because you'd like it.  I'm just not gonna do it because it'd be the same as fucking a corpse.  You're as good as dead now being the Demon King's bride."

Father William stared at the man, head low, silent.  Without another word, Levi stomped out of the stables and left.  Solace scurried up, brushing straw from her simple dress and getting to her feet.

"Father William, I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have... I don't know what came over me."

"Shush, child," the priest said.  "You always accept blame when it isn't yours to accept.  You've done it forever and I don't know how you can put up with it."

She shrugged.  "I can get better.  I can always be a better person.  It's not right to place blame on others when there's room for self-improvement."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you have to take the blame for everything, you know?"  Father William sighed and shook his head, then his eyes lit up and he grinned mischievously.  "Would you like a strawberry?  I just picked them.  There's a small bush nearby.  Only two were ripe, but I'm sure they're delicious."

"Oh no," she said.  "They're yours."

"Shut up and take the damn strawberry!"  He hobbled forward and held it out for her in the palm of his hand.

'Yes!" she yelped.  "Sorry!  Fine."  Stuffing the berry past her lips, she chewed it dutifully.

"How is it?" he asked, plopping the other strawberry into his mouth.  "Oh, my.  This is delightful."

"It's very good," she said with her mouth full.

It was better than good because it was the first thing she'd eaten all day, but she didn't want to tell him that.

"L
et me take a look at that," Father William said, snatching the parchment from her.  He scanned through the document quickly, muttering the words as he read.  "Well, yes.  Alright."

"Alright what?" Solace asked.

"It is what it is.  You're going to be a wife."

"To the Demon King?" she asked.  "Is he really as awful as Levi said?"