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12| The Bride-To-Be II

He frowned and tensed. His mother may have a smaller figure but she had an imposing constitution that not even his father could fight against. One of the very reasons Mel's family had been spared.

Eustace shook her head, disappointed. "You, my boy, are the one who kept pushing and pushing and pushing this agreement from time to time. Promises to bring the poor girl over years back turned to 'we will do it the following week' or 'we will do it when she comes of age' until it got us to where we are now.

"She was supposed to have been here long before she was of age so she would have been raised in the proper way befitting of a Grime heir, but the moment your father passed away, you deemed it unnecessary, offering your selfish 'sympathy' for the woman to be closer to her family."

Bjorn's eyes narrowed at his mother's words, unable to deny the truth in them, but she didn't stop there. "Need I remind you how disappointed I was to learn of all the interactions you made the with Urn head nit once did you make mention of the union and you shunned the man the second instance he brought it up, how is any of that proper?!"

"I would have appreciated it if you had told me of what you were about to do—"

"What?" Eustace grumbled. "So you can push it off again? I don't believe you even have a choice in the matter after all the postponing you have done. Even if your father made that promise in an unsuitable state it doesn't change the fact that it has been set in stone and agreed upon… or do you really want to blame a woman who had no hand in any of this?"

"No." Bjorn straightened and sat down, resting an elbow on the armrest of the chair and placing his chin on his raised hand. Cocking his head slightly to the side, he regarded his mother. "I won't complain, but need I remind you that I also am affected by this."

"Says the man who doesn't get to leave his home," Eustace snapped and a gentle frown coursed Bjorn's features. As much as he hated it, she had a point. "That young woman felt so distraught about leaving, but she did it anyway. Imagine how it was so hard for me to tell her her parents wouldn't be attending the ceremony." She eyed him. "The ceremony, Bjorn. When will it be?"

He stared at her for a while before washing his hand absentmindedly. "I won't press any further, so whenever you see fit."

"Tomorrow night—"

"Too soon!"  Bjorn cut in with a worrying glance. "For her at least, she just arrived here. Push it till the week's end."

"That's—"

"That's just in three days," Bjorn mumbled. "That should give her enough time to be accustomed to our domain."

His mother narrowed her eyes at him.

"What?" he questioned.

"Nothing," she answered. "You're awfully compliant all of a sudden."

"While I am in no rush to marry, you gave me quite a scare when you left with one of my ships to bring her here during my absence. I didn't like it," he finished with a growl.

It had truly irritated him to learn of Mel's arrival, but he had been unnerved when he finally met her youthful countenance. She had appeared far too young for his liking. And she was so small. Along with her naive look, would she even have the strength or even be capable of handling some of the affairs of the clan?

The way she even carried herself… was she lacking in any pride?

"Still doesn't explain the fact that you withheld such information from the Urns," Eustace's words broke the train of his thoughts. His eyes flicked from the table to his mother as she kept talking, "If you wanted it postponed, you could have kept reminding them with the same ease you did with me. You can't speak of me doing such a thing behind your back when you deceived me all this time."

Bjorn grunted.

Eustace's face mellowed and she walked to the door. "I don't want to bring this up as you're a grown man and all… but Lori has moved on, it's time for you to do the same."

Bjorn's brows drew down in a hardened glare. "Do not mention her name," he warned, drawing out each word. "That was decades ago. She has no relevance in this issue."

Eustace sighed and opened the door slightly. "I hope that isn't the case," she said without looking at him and leaves the study, closing the door behind her.

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