“I would like to talk to Heidi before we go ahead with the arrangement,” their uncle Raymond spoke, “Aurelia if you could please take Nora and Ruth inside.” His wife gave him a small nod leading them to the backyard but not before giving Heidi a worried look.

Once they were gone, Raymond asked Heidi to take a seat in front of him. She had goosebumps all over her skin at the thought of her getting married so suddenly without any prior notice. Her brain had frozen after seeing her father agree to the suggestion of sending her in place of Nora. She knew that her family or stepfamily hadn’t taken an interest when it came to getting her married and maybe they had decided to let her live in the house serving them until the end as she did now.

Women of her age in and around the town had no right to refuse who their parents showed when it came to getting wed to a man. Most of the marriages were only for conveniences, either to increase their wealth or to showcase the wife or husband like a trophy. She had her own dreams, the freedom to choose and live the way she wanted but the current circumstance right now looked far from it.

Ready to voice her thoughts she opened her mouth to speak to only see her uncle raise his hand for her to stop.

“Heidi,” uncle Raymond began, “The Curtis’ family state is in your hands now. There is a reason why I want you to go in place of Nora instead of anyone else. As I have told this is not a mere proposal but a proposal to build trust between the north and the eastern empire. I am sure you understand how much that means.”

“Uncle, I am sure any woman would agree to marry into a high-class family. Please do reconsider-” Heidi said to only be cut off by him.

“I haven’t finished talking. It is a request from the Duke himself and he’s gone great lengths to get the council members to agree to it. It will serve our family well and the Duke has promised us with good-”

“If that is so why not send Nora? She’s more willing tha-”

Heidi felt her cheek resonate and her earring with the slap Raymond had placed on her cheek with the back of her hand. She could also feel a sting across her skin as the metallic ring he wore had scraped over her skin, forming a red line now.

“Speak again without permission and you would wish you hadn’t even made a sound,” said Raymond dusting his hand with his eyes narrowed at her.

The other two males who were in the room made no sign of protest seeing Raymond slap her. Raymond Curtis was a man who was well known in his family for being aggressive by character. Being the eldest in the Curtis family, he took control when it came to his family and its members. Daniel, her brother had inherited the same genes as his uncle.

“Now, where was I? Yes, this marriage is a truce to the council but truth is that it is an arrangement made by the Duke so that he can get the information on the high-class vampires in the land of Bonelake, especially the ones that have a direct relationship with the Lord there. In a span of a few days you will be expected to travel there to meet Lord Rune’s cousin who is a half vampire and a few weeks later you will be married. We would expect you to be well behaved with and avoid any trouble which would dishonor the family name.”

“No wonder,” she heard her father murmur with a faint smile, “Here I was thinking why you were keen on building a relationship with the night creatures.”

“So Heidi will be going there to get us inside details,” Daniel commented making his uncle nod.