traits being eaten away by fury. I saw the look on some of my other brother’s faces and they’re just as enraged as he is.
My terrified mind is screaming at me to run home to Mother and make her reason with Father. But at the same time, my heart hurts knowing Father would kill her if she tried.
After what feels like an eternity, James speaks.
“We will walk these woods until we find a new home. There, we will rebuild our life and no one will speak of Mother or Father again,” James looks around at each of us with rigid severity in his stare. “To speak of them is to commit treason; the punishment for which is death.”
I look around at my brothers and watch as they all nod their heads toward James.
“Furthermore, from this day forward we take an oath to destroy any woman who comes into our path,” his eyes lock onto mine as he voices his declaration and the ice in his stare chills me to the bone, “by any means necessary.”
Chapter One
Jocelyn
Eighteen years later
“Jocelyn!”
The sound of Mother’s voice in my ears has me groaning with irritation.
“Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking all over for you,” she enters my room with a wide smile across her beautiful face.
I love her very much, but the only thing she and Father ever want to talk about is marrying me off to a family that we can benefit from. My family is the richest of all of the royal families we know. We have everything we could possibly need.
It's our duty to strengthen our ties with our allies and secure our family’s future.
Father’s voice rings out in my head.
“Good morning,” I reply with a small smile.
“You slept late today. I thought I would find you with your ladies in the parlor, but they said they haven’t seen you yet.”
“I’ve been tired lately.”
That’s a lie. The truth is, I haven’t been able to sleep more than an hour or two for a very long time.
For years, I’ve felt like something has been missing in my life; like I am incomplete. Like I don’t belong. I have no idea why. I can’t go anywhere without a small crowd of people surrounding me, yet I feel completely alone.
Then, last night as I was entering Mother’s quarters, I overheard her praying for her sons. I didn’t know what to think, other than she’d gone mad, just as Father had long ago.
“Are you feeling well?” Mother asks, as she places her hand on my forehead.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Wonderful! Come, we have a lot to discuss!”
Mother has been droning on for an hour about all of the suitors she has lined up for me to meet. My ladies are following us, ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ over each name that’s mentioned.
“He’s so dreamy,” they tell me.
“You’re so lucky,” they insist.
“While your father and I both agree that marrying the Duke of Beaufort would be the most advantageous match, ultimately the choice is yours. We will be by your side the entire evening. You won’t have to go through this alone.”
What she means is, they will be there to tell me which men to cast out and which to consider, no matter what my opinion is. I don’t know why we have to go through with the stupid ball, I already know that I will be married off to the Duke. They think they’re doing me a favor by letting me meet with all of these men, but my feelings don’t matter.
“Jocelyn?”
My thoughts are interrupted by Mother.
“Yes?”
“I asked if you had any questions.”
“Oh,” I say.
I do have a question. A question that has nothing to do with unwanted suitors and a ball. I’ve asked Mother before if she ever wanted more children. She dismissed my question quickly, and her and Father made me promise never to ask it again. I agreed, and never felt the need to bring it up after that. That is until I overheard Mother’s prayers last night.
“Is James my brother?”
Mother’s eyes fight to keep from going wide with surprise.
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She looks around at the group of us uncomfortably.
“And Benjamin? Louis? Harry? What about the other names you rattled off in your prayers last night? Do I have siblings?”
“Are you sure you aren’t feeling sick?” she places her hand on my forehead again, but I grab her arm and tear it away from me.
“Leave us!” I shout.
When my ladies have cleared the room, I speak again.
“I’m not feeling sick, Mother. Who