He turned to me and handed the scroll over.
I snatched it a little too quickly and unrolled the scroll, walking over to Tavlor for confirmation.
Tavlor did a quick screen and said to my father, “This is only Ava’s, Matlock. You will need one also.”
My father’s back straightened. “Do I need one?” He tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes. “Against myself?”
I couldn’t see his face, but from the look on the Council, he was angry.
“We will... organize something for you. For all future reference,” Thomas said in a hurry.
I wanted to laugh, but I knew I shouldn’t.
Thomas leaned forward, as though he couldn’t wait to ask once again.
“So, what is Ava’s decision?” he pressed. His eyes rested on me, joy dancing in them.
I wanted to punch him in the face, if only to feel the joy for myself.
My father turned around and looked at me. Then he smiled, as though he was taking the moment to enjoy torturing them.
I smiled back. How could I not?
Then he turned back around and said, “Ava hasn’t decided either way, and as she has at least six months before the scheduled wedding, we believe asking for a three-day thinking period is reasonable.”
I agree!
I let out a breath in a way that ensured they wouldn’t hear it.
Charity rushed forward, through the crowd until she was standing next to Thomas.
I bit down on my lip so I didn’t smirk. I knew that cow couldn’t stay in the background for long.
“A thinking period? What the hell does that mean, Matlock?” she spat. She shook her head. “You have got to be kidding me. A thinking period? To think about what, exactly? Your options are before you. You should be lucky we’ve been so considerate thus far!”
Considerate?
My father seemed to get taller as he bristled, his spine straightening. “It means exactly what I said,” he snapped. “My daughter has had enough shit thrown at her in the past month to last a lifetime, and I won’t have you forcing her into a life, and a marriage, that she doesn’t want.”
Charity crossed her arms over her chest, leaned back, and grinned as though she’d won. “Then she must relinquish the rights to be your heir, and we will choose the next successor.”
From the way they were saying it...they already had.
Chapter 10.
WHO COULD IT BE?
It had to be a male, of course. Maybe it was the guy they wanted me to marry?
I shouldn’t care who it was because, in the end, it wasn’t Tavlor. He was the only person who meant the world to me, the only one I wanted to settle down with and have a family with. If it wasn’t him, what did I care?
What would the Council’s chosen champion be like? Malleable and weak? Or super confident and have a supremacy complex?
A lapdog, who wanted nothing more than to make the Council happy, no matter what the cost?
I shuddered at the idea of being married to either sort of man. Any man that wasn’t Tavlor wasn’t good enough for me, in my book.
“My daughter,” my father said again and this time I couldn’t stop the smile that sprung to my face. It truly sounded like he was enjoying using the word. To be able to use it freely around this sort of company. He wasn’t ashamed. He didn’t hesitate. It was everything I’d longed to hear.