Read Online Bride by Command by Linda Winstead Jones - Free Book Online Page A

when his hostess insisted that he delay his departure to attend this gathering he so obviously did not wish to attend. To Danya’s eyes, he looked quite young to be deputy minister of anything. She’d always pictured ministers and deputies as old and either very thin or too well fed. This official escort was neither.
    He did look slightly perturbed now, and she could not blame him. Rodric had a boring habit of telling the same stories over and over again, and Althea had a sharp and grating laugh.
    The deputy minister of something could not be more irritated than Danya was. Her unsuspecting mother had put her directly across from the newest member of the family, Vida’s husband, Ennis. If Ennis were seated anywhere else at the table, Danya would be able to completely ignore him. Instead, every time she lifted her head, she caught him staring at her. More than once she’d almost choked on her food, so now she only pushed it around on the plate, in order to stave off another embarrassment.
    Why did he have to be here? Why, why, why? She should’ve refused the request for this one last gathering, but knowing that it was truly the last, she had been unable to deprive her mother. The matriarch of this house did so love having all her girls together.
    Danya was certain her mother would get along well after she was gone. There were grandchildren to dote upon and grown daughters with whom she could share her wisdom of nearly sixty years. Her husband was tipsy only in the evening, so it wasn’t as if she’d be without companionship. She would thrive when all her girls were on their own, each busy with her own familiy.
    Everyone chattered, and as the night progressed, the volume grew unbearable. The four married sisters were all excited about Danya’s opportunity, as if they themselves were the ones who had been chosen. Even Vida, naive, ignorant Vida, smiled happily and wished her youngest sister the best. The talk turned to shoes and gowns and jewels, naturally. What other concerns would an empress have?
    Ennis remained silent, though he did raise his glass to her once, when their eyes inadvertently met.
    Danya tried to keep her face impassive; she attempted to participate at least minimally in the conversations around her, even when she gave them only half an ear. Soon the noise was too much to bear. Her facade was crumbling, it was about to fall away. She needed a moment, just a moment, to gather her wits, to shake off the pain and put on her prettiest and happiest face once again. She excused herself and left the table at an acceptable pace, running toward the doors which would open into the night only when she was out of sight of the others. A deep breath of air, a quiet moment, and she would be composed once more. An empress would need to be able to compose herself, no matter what the circumstances.
    She could not imagine that there would be anything more trying than this, even when she was empress. Political intrigue would pale in comparison to her tumultuous life thus far.
    Outdoors, all was silent and peaceful. The air on her face was wonderfully cool. Danya closed her eyes and took a deep breath and thought of Arthes. She imagined the wonder of the palace she had never seen and all the luxuries she would know when it was her home. She thought of escape, of forgetting the past, of starting anew in a finer, better place.
    “I have never seen you look more beautiful.”
    Danya’s eyes snapped open at the sound of that soft, deep, seductive voice. Ennis stood not two feet away, an empty smile she knew too well on his pretty face.
    “What are you doing here?” she snapped.
    “I have come to verify the safety and comfort of my favorite sister-in-law, who is soon to be empress.”
    “There is no guarantee that the emperor will choose me.”
    “How could he not?”
    You didn’t. The heartbreaking words she did not dare to say aloud shot through her brain in an oddly painful way. “You should return to your wife,”