Author's Preface
Sora gave me one of her uh-oh looks as she raised one eyebrow at me, “What are you plotting?”
I grinned and leaned closer, “Nothing too devious. I’ve got a new idea. Much better than the options. And much more fun.”
“…Which is?”
The smirk I held in that moment promised brilliance and disaster all at once. “ Sabotage. Make him hate me so much he calls off the wedding himself.”
Her eyes went wide, half hopeful, half terrified, but the terrified part clearly won over. “Absolutely not. It could work, sure, but the latter possibility will be you sentenced to execution!”
“Well, that’s the more likely possibility if I try to escape as well.”
Sora opened her mouth like she wanted to argue, but no words came out. I won. She finally spoke up after a moment, “And what if it doesn’t work? Then you’ll marry him? Again, not the worst idea, you’ll be set for the rest of your life,”
I opened my mouth to disagree, but Sora spoke over me, cutting me off, “Think about it, Vee, no more running, no more fighting, no more struggling to survive. ”
I couldn’t say she was completely wrong. Practically speaking, she was right. I don’t know what possessed Darian to choose me to marry, but I had been given this chance. If I took it, I wouldn’t have to sweat blood for the rest of my life. I was almost tempted to just give in to this possibility for a moment when an image of my parents flashed before my eyes. It was brief, there for only a short moment, but it meant everything.
Despite my rough exterior and not-so-noble profession, I was a hopeless romantic. A careful hopeless romantic. Before life pushed me onto the streets, I grew up in a loving home with parents who made me believe in love. The epic kind. The kind that people read about in fairy tales. There’s always your kind of person out there. My mother used to tell me, while she smiled at my father the way only someone utterly, surely in love could manage. Growing up, I dreamed of having what they had with my own kind of person out there. And then there was the incident that shaped the Vidalia today. The careful hopeless romantic.
“I know, Sora,” I gulped, my voice was low, “I know, but you know I can’t do it. Not this. I don’t think my parents would’ve approved of this either.”
For a moment, Sora looked in my eyes, really looked, and then pulled me into a crushing, apologetic hug. “I‘m sorry I forgot. I forgot just surviving wasn’t the point,”
“It’s living.” I finish for her.
“Finding your kind of person.” She pulled back from the hug, giving me a dazzling smile. Sora had known me for the better part of my life. She knew everything about me. As someone once said, nothing shapes a bond like growing up together, abandoned on the streets.
“So sabotage it is,” She smirked, wicked delight bubbling out. “Step one: figure out what drives him crazy. Push his buttons until he regrets ever choosing you as his bride. Oh, and make sure we don’t get beheaded.”
“We?” I gave her a pointed look, but she just shrugged, “You aren’t getting rid of me in the afterlife either, Vee.”
If I did do crying, then I would’ve cried. So instead, I just tackled Sora onto the bed into a bear hug. “ You’re my kind of person, Sora.”
She laughed but tapped my arm repeatedly as I accidentally throttled her. Oops. “ I know,” she lifted her head with a smug expression, “Boys are overrated anyway.”