He likes redheads, like myself. So I was chosen for the job. I’m an undercover spy, and I’m going to kick his butt. I follow my instructions: “show up at the bar, wait for a man to approach you.” And so a man approaches me.
“Fine evening for a walk, isn’t it?” He says, his voice velvety, almost oily, like a snake.
“It…it is…” I respond.
“Are you… looking for… opportunity?” He sounds so self-assured, like he knows exactly how this is going to play out.
He’s not wrong, no. This is going to play out exactly the way he wants it to — up to a certain point.
Then, it’s going to play out the wayIwant it to.
Or so I think. But things don’t exactly proceed according to plan
“Do you know where you are?” he asks.
I shake my head. The fear in my eyes isn’t hard to fake. I’ve walked into a situation that I can’t get out of, The League can’t help me now. I am on my own, for better or worse.
“King Miron has three nephews,” he says.
I go cold. I’d heard of his nephews. War-hardened brothers — cold, calculating, maybe even cruel.
“The king has decreed that the boys need a woman.” “Due to political allegiances right now, you can imagine, there aren’t many fine breeding stock women available “He’s instructed me to find someone with fine breeding potential.” “A pretty girl with good qualities who isn’t too simple, to bear them children.”
“Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
I nod and bite my lower lip.
“I expect you to bathe, and to look at your closet to select something suitable for your introduction to the boys.”
I feel my hands go numb. I’m tired. So tired. I’ve failed The League. I’m not even at the king’s residence. I’m with his three nephews, to be used and probably tossed aside later.
