Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Third, (and most worryingly) I was having a hard time enjoying my delicious dinner because I was so horribly thirsty. I swear I needed a drink between every single bite I took. After I had drained my first goblet of wine, Krynn had begun discretely refilling my glass with cold water. Which was a good thing, since at the rate I was drinking, I would have been extremely drunk by the time the main course—which was the potato and leak soup—arrived.
As it was, I was only tipsy, because of the single glass of wine, which made me feel perfectly comfortable talking back to Mordren when he complained about the soup.
“You ordered this slop?” he demanded, glaring at me from across the table as he gestured to the golden bowl in front of him.
“I most certainly did.” I took a bite myself and made a pleased humming sound in the back of my throat. “Mmm—delicious!”
“This is ridiculous!” Mordren raised his voice. “Servant! Where is the haunch of venison I ordered for the main course tonight? Has the chef burned it? How dare he send us this disgusting stuff instead?”
“You can stop shouting,” I said. “The venison is being eaten by the Lesser Fae, who are having their own banquet tonight. You see, I heard that my mother, the old Queen, used to give them parties and banquets on a regular basis, and now that I’m here and about to take the throne, I wanted to bring that tradition back.”
“You what?” Mordren demanded, his bluish-purple eyes going wide. “How dare you make such a decision without consulting me? I am the Lord Regent!”
“And I am the Princess and the rightful ruler of the Dark Fae,” I shot back. I was glad now for the strong wine I’d had—it was giving me courage. “I don’t need your advice on how to plan a dinner for my people. And since they’re getting a taste of prime venison, which you have every night, I thought it might be good for you to have a taste of what they eat every night. Which is something like this potato soup, since you decided they don’t get to eat meat anymore.”
“What?” Mordren’s eyebrows rose in apparent surprise. “How dare you give my fine venison to that rabble?” he demanded.
“That ‘rabble’ are the people who run this Palace!” I exclaimed. “They work hard and wait on you hand and foot. And instead of treating them with respect, you do everything you can to make their lives miserable and keep them ignorant!”
“Ignorant? Pray, Princess, whatever are you speaking of?” Lady Elgiana raised one elegant silver-white eyebrow at me, her expression coolly skeptical.
“I’m talking about the fact that Mordren has decided that the female children of the Lesser Fae no longer need to go to school,” I snapped. “He thinks it’s a waste of time since they’re only going to be ‘cleaning and mending and cooking for the rest of their lives.’” I looked directly at Mordren. “Those are your words. Do you deny you said them?”
“I most certainly do not,” he snarled. “Nor do I retract my words. Females—at least, Lesser Fae females—are too stupid for school. It’s a waste of resources to educate them.”
“How dare you make such a unilateral decision for a whole group of people you don’t even know?” I demanded. “Women are not second-class citizens and they are just as intelligent as men. A vagina and a brain are not mutually exclusive, you know!”
For a moment the whole High Table just sat there gaping at me. I guessed they weren’t used to feminist rants during dinner. Though honestly, people have the wrong idea about feminists. It’s not that we believe women are better than men—it’s that we believe we are equal to men and ought to have the same rights and opportunities in life. If that gets your britches in a knot, maybe you should stop and consider your world view.
As for why I was giving my opinion so loudly now, well—maybe I was trying to make up for lost time. It wasn’t lost on me that if I’d stood up for myself more in my marriage, it might not have ended the way it did. I had let Christopher walk all over me but I was damned if I would repeat my mistakes.
I thought that Mordren was going to shout at me some more and I could feel Sel and Krynn at my back, poised for action. They hadn’t gotten involved yet, but I knew they were waiting to jump in if things got ugly.
But to my surprise, the Lord Regent didn’t shout again. Instead, he took a deep breath and pasted an oily, obsequious smile on his face. Leaning across the table, he looked me directly in the eyes.
“My dear Princess, there’s no need for such histrionics,” he drawled. “You and I should be friends.”