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I

The last person I expected to see as I walked back home after our adventure with the goblins blacksmiths was the man I was about to marry.

"Meriel. What are you doing here?"

"We were supposed to meet today for a stroll on the park. I stood there for a whole hour waiting for you, meanwhile you do what... You go out shopping with your half-breed maid? Come on, that's all you have to say?"

Flustered, I leaned forward to drop a quick kiss on his hand. It felt unfamiliar, too soft after these last days.

"Sorry, we must have lost the track of time."

"We have some serious business to discuss, but first..." He bent his head and, with lots of preamble and ceremony, kissed me chastely on the lips.

It was the most intimate kiss we'd ever shared, something absolutely boring that made me shiver thinking about our honeymoon.

"I'm sorry," he said, releasing me. "It seems you haven't brushed your mouth yet."

He led me inside the house where our families expected us for our engagement ball. The place was a shining beacon in the night, all the lights were

Fear, rapid and cold, gripped at my heart when I thought about having to socialize with some of the most prominent families in the entire kingdom while I felt the constant weight of the goblin's piercings in my flesh, the still warm seed of the goblins inside of me.

Over the past months, I'd convinced myself that my marriage would be a calm, steady, business-like affair, never once considering what it might mean to be Meriel's wife in truth. We had barely started it and I was already ready to drink myself into a stupor to endure his inane blabbering.

Meriel was pretty, for an elf, his delicate and gracious features would have enchanted many other ladies and even a couple of gentlemen, but for me he looked simply boring and unremarkable. I craved the wild, dangerous beauty of the orcs and other bestial species. Not for the first time, I wondered what I could do to escape this marriage.

"So, what did you bought with your maid?" he asked, as he guided me into the ballroom.

Still unsettled, I had to fight to keep her voice calm. "She took me to buy some new jewelry."

"That's a waste, Celeste. When you become my wife, I'll make sure you have the best jewels that money can buy!"

"You flatter me, dear," I wished for no other jewels than the piercings in my body, with every step I felt them pressed against my dress, the crude metal pressed against my soft skin. "But I enjoy going on long walks with Elena, she always seems to know the best places to drink tea or to buy fine fabric."

Or bars where she sold my virginity to an orc for a couple of gold coins.

He shrugged, "I wanted to talk to you about your maid, I know you two seem terribly close, but she needs to go. I'm sorry, but we can't have a half-breed in my household, can you imagine the gossip? What would our neighbors think?"

"No." I sighed deeply. "I completely understand."

"Do you?"

Picking up the edge in his tone, I turned and glared at him just as we walked hand in hand into the great ballroom, for a moment I was blinded by the sudden illumination over us the and booming voice of the announcer proclaiming our names, quickly followed by claps from everyone present. My free hand curled into a fist.

"I have some people I need to talk with," he made a small curtsy. "Later we have more business to discuss, other changes you need to enact if our marriage is to succeed."

It was a slap. I stood there, almost paralyzed for a moment, glancing at him.

"Dear Celeste!" The shrill voice brought me back to reality, I turned to see Shalia coming to greet me with a big smile in her lips. "Such a joyful occasion, oh you must be so happy!"

Shalia was two years my senior and she still hadn't found a suitable husband, there was nothing physically wrong with her, even if she looked a tad bland, for an elf at least, her golden hair, pure blue eyes, and pale skin were what anyone would picture when you mentioned an elf, but her family had been plagued with failure after failure of such proportions that even the most nonbelieving amongst us believed them to be utterly and completely cursed.

Shalia did everything she could to remain optimistic in face of every disaster that assaulted her family, from death to bankruptcy she simply kept trying to smile and pretend things would be better soon, it had gone from jovial to annoying quickly.

"Why don't we go for refreshments, dear?" My wish was for the strong wine Elena carried, but the sweet and weak wine they served here would have to do. Most people avoided Shalia, which served perfectly for me and gave me some companionship to drink myself numb, and she certainly looked like she needed a drink most of all. We drunk together for a couple hours, me taking glass after glass of wine in quick succession while she was barely in her third glass.

Her smile blazed anew as I called to sit with me for the dinner. "This is simply incredible, the wine your family chose is delicious! Your mother has outdone herself with the preparations, it's simply too much!"

"It's boring."

"I can't believe you would say that, I can only dream of one day having such a party for my marriage."

"Maybe if you stop lying to yourself you will finally be happy," I pointed an accusatory finger to her chest. "What are you going to do?"

"Do?" She was still reeling from the implications of my first sentence.

"You are not getting married, not tomorrow, not next month, never! So, if you're intending on becoming the mistress to some low noble, you sure as hell better start now."

Shalia took a shuddering breath and let it out again. "How can you say that? Don't you throw that in my face! You are not content to simply have your special day, you also need to make me feel miserable?"

She was on the verge of tears now, thankfully we were too far away from anyone else for it to be easily perceived. "Answer the damn question. Do you want to be a mistress or not?"

In truth, she didn't really have a choice. If she backed out, she'd lose her last fragile grip on the fantasy that she one day would be a respectable and dutiful elven lady.

"I want to marry..."

I snorted. "You may have had this kind of choice before, but you sure as hell don't have it now," I stated as an undeniable fact.

"I'll be a mistress," she resigned.

"Good girl," I said.

"My maid will bring you everything you need by tomorrow morning," I said with a calm smile, cleaning her tears with my handkerchief. "Smile, dear, you just got yourself a best friend."

For once in her life, Shalia was silent. I took her hand and, with a jovial smile, took her to mingle with the other guests. A small part of me wanted to say I was sorry, to tell her it had been nothing but a silly joke, but I had to admit I was having way too much fun with the way she looked at me and followed me everywhere, almost scared, but also excited.

"Why you are not eating?" I asked as they began serving the first meal and she had been mostly pushing food around with her fork.

"I'm just not hungry," she lied badly.

"You better eat, no one will want a skinny slut," I whispered in her ear.

She bit her lower lip. "No."

She took a big bite of her food this time.

"Good girl," I said. "I want you to be a happy and well fucked. I want you to live like a slut, take any male that will accept you, even get pregnant at some point! It'll be so much fun!" I made sure she heard the determination in my voice.

Shalia nodded, I saw in her eyes she was unable to stop thinking, the idea had insinuated itself in her mind, touched deep into her soul and took control. The thought threatened to reawaken her earlier panic but she forced it down.

"Hey, look, my fiancé is calling," I waved to Meriel. "I'll be right back, my little slut!"