“He won't release anyone unless there is an advantage to it,” Nora said when the silence stretched. The chagrined silence. “No, he wanted to please you. If he merely wanted sex, he would have sent jewels or offered you a small favor.”
“I know every other female in the city would think it's an honor to fuck the Prince for a night,” I said, clenching my teeth. “I don't. I'm not his toy.”
“That would be the simplest outcome. If he wants you for more, we will make plans.”
“I'm not going to agree to date Renaud. That sentence doesn't even sound right.”
“Oh, you think you have a choice?” My aunt chuckled. “Sweet child. I told your mother she should warn you about what happens if you catch the eye of a High Lord, but she said you were too young to discuss such things. Maryonne was always optimistic.” Nora flicked her fingers. “She planned on protecting you from attention and assumed she would be around to do so. Shortsighted, as usual.”
“So this is some kind of advanced sex-education talk.” I was a little old for it. “That’s. . .great.” I shrugged. “I’ve already guessed a relationship with this kind of power differential wouldn’t be pretty. For me.”
“No, it likely won’t be, but you can mitigate the risk.” She stood and wandered around the room, her eyes going distant.
“Nora, focus.” If I let her travel down the path of wherever her thoughts were leading her, I'd probably lose her for the next couple of days.
She turned back to me, chuckling. “My mind will remain with you for a while yet. I will not go back to sleep. Experience is usually the best teacher, but short of that, the experience of others often suffices.”
Nora approached, cupping my face between her hands. “Lovely. The fire of humanity combined with the ethereal grace of the Fae. Your mother underestimated your allure, but again, you were young when she died.” Nora released my face slowly, turning away from me again.
“The safest option for you, and the one you should encourage when he summons you to dinner, is for Renaud to take you now and sate his desire.”
My core clenched. I threw myself off the bed and began pacing to hide my reaction.
She watched me. “If he does so, his interest will wane, and you may quietly retreat into the background and help your father establish this new peace in the city. And in a few years go on about your life. Travel, build your businesses here in Everenne.”
“And if he doesn't sleep with me on the first date? That would indicate a lack of interest.”
She snorted. “It means he wants more. Sex is simple and fleeting, sweet child. Becoming a lover or consort to the Prince is anything but. And if that is his intention, I fear you will never be able to retreat to the background of Everenne's politics. That is, of course, if you survive him.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I stopped pacing and crossed my arms over my chest. “Do High Lords kill their lovers when done with them?” I’d hoped my guess was wrong.
“Not on purpose. Most of the time. What's that one—ah. Chicken or the egg, which comes first? Ending an entanglement with a High Lord is rarely uncomplicated.”
. . .Well. Right. “I'll tell him no. No to a one-night stand. No to anything more.”
Nora sighed. “You aren't listening. We are not human, Aerinne. We don't subscribe to human sensibilities.”
I stiffened. “Rape is punishable by death.”
“Yes, but rape is an act of power—who has it and who does not. It's not considered rape when the fate of a House, or a city, rests on the temper of a High Lord fixated on someone of little consequence—it is considered prudence, for the Fae of lesser power.”
I grimaced, finding this conversation highly distasteful. She correctly interpreted my expression, of course.
“It is no different from human practices,” my great aunt said. “How many human women were forced into arranged marriages over the course of mortal history either loved or desired their mates?
There wasn’t much I could say to dispute her.
“Now let me educate you on what will happen if you exercise your right to tell him no.” She pinned me with a hard look. “And understand this is not mere conjecture, but what I lived.”
Nora paused, as if to ensure I was listening rather than arguing, then continued when I remained silent.
“If you tell him no after he has already descended past mere heat into a rut, he will come for you. Your family loves you, and your House holds you in honor.” She gave me a long, inscrutable look. “They'll fight knowing that they will be crushed under his heel—though you young ones don't have the memories I do. But they will fight. And they will die.”
I stared at her.
“Their deaths won't be pleasant. If you think the rage of a High Lord is frightening, then experience his coldness. After he kills your family for daring to keep you from him, you will either flee or fight back. If you fight back, he might be so far gone at that point that he perceives even you, the female he wants, as a threat. You could die, as horribly as your family.”
Her gaze wandered around the room as she meandered and picked up books or small objects, playing with them before setting them aside. I wondered if the tactile contact kept her focused.
