Prince Kain ran his fingers through his hair. He was losing his mind and was not even ready to look for it. His father was sick at the moment. He needed to inherit his father's business empire traditionally before taking over it. The royal fashion house especially. How was he supposed to do that when he was yet to find a mate?
Hell, he was trapped in his human body. He couldn't even shapeshift into his own shadow to save his life. In his own generation, he was supposed to love his mate. But he was cursed. Thinking about it made him mad, so he looked at the glass panes of his father's office instead.
His office gave him a beautiful view of the fashion house outside. Too bad all of it wouldn't be his in a few months to come. He was the only son, the only child. Why had his bloodline chosen him? What was a wolf without a mate? His bloodline would be erased and blown off like ashes. He was the only thread on which the Zander's bloodline was hanging on. If he didn't lift the curse soon, the thread would snap, and that would be the tragic end of the Zander's bloodline. That witch, the enchantress...he thought.
He was going to meet the elders and ask them what they knew about the enchantress. He knew the witch was alive, somewhere.
"I didn't think you would come back. You were so confident about your decision yesterday." Esmeralda rolled her eyes at her mother's remark.
"I'm here because of your threats. Mother, you're ruining my life. I don't have a man by my side because of you." Esmeralda said bitterly.
"It's a simple thing to do. You could become the next enchantress after I'm gone."
"I told you before, I don't want to have anything to do with your magic. You threatened to ruin my life yesterday. Would you do that to your own daughter?" Esmeralda was hoping.
"No, but if she gets in my way, maybe yes. Esmeralda, what I'm asking you to do is simple. I'll get you a job in the royal fashion house, you get to work as his personal assistant and the rest is history." Her mother's eyes twinkled with excitement as she spoke.
"I don't understand the rest. What would I do when I start working with him?" Esmeralda asked, not liking her mother's plan at all.
"You charm him into taking you to bed and you get his semen for me." Esmeralda nearly choked on her own saliva.
"Semen? Mother, are you out of your mind? You don't care about what the implications could mean for me? For you? For us? The Mondes breed cannot mate with any wolf bloodline." Her mother snorted.
"It doesn't mean anything heinous. Besides, he'll die after."
Esmeralda rose from her chair and paced around her mother's chamber.
"You've been planning this for a long while now, haven't you? You're sending me to enter a sexual covenant with the prince?"
"Stop this, Esmeralda! If we're not fast enough, he'll break the curse somehow, and he'll form a pack that will hunt us down."
"Sorry, hunt you down. I'm not the one who cursed him."
"But you're the one who walks up and down the streets and highways of Havana unarmed. Who'll die first?" Esmeralda digested her mother's question.
"What makes you think he'll hunt you after? He hasn't made any move since."
"Ignorant child! He is still finding his balance and searching for his mate. Once he breaks the curse, he'll find a mate and form a pack. Do you get the logic now?"
"There's nothing logical about what you've just said."
"It will be when I visit my wrath on you. You have two days to decide where you stand. The Mondes breed is depending on you for sustainment. I will invite your sisters over too. Two days, Esmeralda. If you fail to give me the response I need, you will know no peace. I will devout my time torturing you and making your life miserable."
Esmeralda shuddered at her mother's words. Her mother had soaked her feet in hot water in the tub one night after she dozed off during meditation hour. Almost eighteen years ago and she had not forgotten the incident. She couldn't forget the painful sight of her skin bloating and peeling off. Once, her mother had burnt the under of her feet with fire. Her mother was ruthless, which was a side of her only Esmeralda saw. The rest of her sisters were pompous women who would have taken up the offer without thinking. Her sisters were terribly scared of their mother, they would do anything to avoid being on the receiving side of her wrath.
"Isn't the semen thing going too far? Anything apart from sleeping with the prince."
"I only want one of two ready answers."
Esmeralda was torn. This wasn't what she wanted for herself. But the enchantress was like a tight rope on her neck. The earlier she freed herself out of her grip, the better her life would become.
"I'll think about it, but I'm not promising a positive response. It hurts that my own mother is ready to put my life on the table to get what she wants." Her mother rose from her chair in anger.
"I'm doing everything I can to sustain our bloodline. I have to leave a formidable legacy for you. A legacy that no one can tamper with." Her nose flared as she spoke. Esmeralda kept her calm, but still proceeded to talk.
"Sustaining our bloodline at the expense of the Zander's bloodline? You think history will forgive you for it? You'll be the villain in the story." Her mother walked briskly across the room to stand before Esmeralda. Esmeralda shrank back on her chair.
"I'm not the villain, Esmeralda. I'm taking my own pound of flesh. Do you know what would happen if the curse is lifted?"
"I'm not interested in whatever you think would happen. I only want to understand the feud you have with the Zander's bloodline. Why are you even living in the outskirts of Havana even? Are you in an exile of some sort? You're sending me on a dangerous mission with a banana stalk instead of a sword."
"There is nothing to understand." Esmeralda saw a flicker of guilt on her mother's face.
"If there is nothing to understand, why am I confused?"
A thick cloud of silence engulfed her mother's wide chamber. When Esmeralda was little, her mother had described the chamber as out of bounds. When she came of age, her mother started inviting her on subsequent occasions to the chamber. Her mother had been grooming her to become the next enchantress. After almost ten years of grooming, Esmeralda realized it was not her calling.
"You're confused because I spent almost ten years grooming you and you didn't pay any attention. I wasted ten years on you. I taught you everything you needed to know about the Mondes magic, and you didn't learn. I should have picked Greta." Greta, her eldest sister lived downtown Aleshore, not far from Rudolph, where Esmeralda lived. Greta was the replica of their mother. Selfish, witty and always cooking up something up her head.
Greta was the most talkative too. If you ever saw her quiet, that would be because she was cooking a dangerous plan up her head. Margot was next. She was cunning, never straight with the people she worked with. She used and discarded people like one would do to tissue.
Then there was Esmeralda. The last of the three girls. The fierce girl with the calculating spirit. She was like water, blending with whatever situation you put her in. Unlike her sisters, she had some conscience.
"You would have picked Greta because she always knew how to scheme brilliant blueprints. Tell me the truth about the prince and I'll do whatever you want."
"There's no truth to tell you. If you back out of this, I'll disown you. I chose you because you wouldn't betray me. I can't trust Greta and Margot enough to carry out this task. You have two days to give me an answer. If you don't do this for me, I'll disown you, Esmeralda. Don't push me to the point where I'll snap."
With this, she turned on her heels, heading out of her chamber.
Her mother was threatening to disown her now. If her mother disowned her, she would be left out in the open for the whole of Romania to devour. People stayed out of her way to avoid incurring the wrath of the enchantress. She wouldn't be able to survive on her own without her mother's protection.
There was nothing to think about. If she was going to survive as a Gypsy in the turbulent modern times, she had to follow her mother's plan. The problem was, playing her cards right so the plan wouldn't backfire on her. Getting the prince's semen irritated her. She nearly puked at the thought of it.