Loving the Necromancer's daughter

Chapter 4

After what feels like an eternity of eating and making nice, the dessert arrives. She almost breathes a sigh of relief at the thought that this horrible evening is coming to a close when she looks at yet another dish Dremon ordered for her.

The chocolate box on her plate is covered with a small pink bow. She looks up at him and then at their parents who are all looking at her with anticipation.

“NO!” She shouts, jumping up so fast that the chair goes flying behind her as she storms off to the bathroom.

How could her father do this to her?! Humiliate her in front of everyone! If she had known that this was all planned so that Dremon could ask her to marry him, she would never have come!

She hears the door open and rolls her eyes.

“Arora, please come back to the table. You are only making things worse for yourself.” His smooth voice is filled with amusement, and she feels like punching him in the face.

Ripping open the stall door, she walks over to the basin and glares at his perfectly square shoulders behind her.

“I don’t think so. I said no. You can’t force me to marry you! I haven’t even finished my studies. My father will never agree to this!”

“Oh, but he already has, and I’m not asking. This evening was simply to make it special when I put your ring on your finger. You will be my wife.” He grabs her by her shoulders, turning her around to look at him.

His eyes flash in anger, and for a split second, she is scared of what he might do.

“You can finish your year at university if you behave. Now be a good girl, wear your ring and smile. Our parents are waiting for us.” He slips the enormous black diamond on her finger, and she nearly swallows her tongue, gasping at the sight of it.

It’s the one she has a picture of in her room! The ring she designed…

“Yes, I had your brother grab the design from your room. See, I’m not such a monster.” He slides his arm around her waist and guides her out of the bathroom.

How the hell is she going to live a life with a husband that is not going to allow her to live the way she wants! And all that with the approval of her father who was supposed to protect and love her!

Dremon pulls the chair out for her again, and she sits down not wanting to look at any of them. Her father betrayed her! He gave her away as if she was worth nothing to him! She knows she made mistakes, and she has been trying her best to drive him insane all her life, but she never in her wildest dreams thought he would be this cruel.

They bring champagne to the table and everyone celebrates except for her. When Dremon hands her a glass, she refuses to take it at first. Then he lifts her chin with his forefinger and the look in his eyes tells her to take the glass.

What is it about him that makes her do things she doesn’t want to?!

After dinner, their parents drive home in a separate limo. Their car takes a different route, and she is about to shout for help when he puts his hand on her leg.

“I have a surprise for you.” They pull up into a warehouse where bright lights are flashing and all their friends from school are hanging around.

He planned an after-party with their friends to announce their engagement! Great! Now the entire world is going to know, and every single female that didn’t hate her before is going to hate her now.

He holds out his hand, and when she climbs out of the car, there is a pink carpet put out that leads up to a small stage. The loud music is stopped, and some silly love song starts to play as he guides her down the carpet and onto the stage.

It all feels like a horrible nightmare! He takes the mike and tells everyone the joyous news and more champagne flows as even Tricia comes to congratulate her. Dremon doesn’t let her out of his sight for a second, and she slowly starts to feel claustrophobic. The bright lights make her nauseous, and the next moment everything goes dark.

***

With his arm around her waist, Dremon catches her in time before she can fall. First, he thinks that she’s faking it, but when he checks her, he realizes that she has indeed fainted.

He picks her up bridal style and carries her back to the car. It’s the second time he has to carry her, and he realizes that she hardly weighs anything! Could something be going on in her life that he doesn’t know about?

Is she harming herself that she weighs hardly anything and has now fainted?!

Barking instructions, he slides into the car, keeping her on his lap. This is not how he wanted their evening to end, but now it can’t be helped. Maybe it was all too much for her to take in at once.

He just wanted all the publicity over with. He wanted the side pieces to realize that Arora is now by his side, and nothing is going to change that.

His parents made it clear that if he didn’t stick to the agreement, there would be severe consequences, and now he has gone and made her sick!

She moans softly, and he strokes her cheek with his free hand.

“We are on our way home. Do you need some water?” Her eyes flutter open, and she slaps him before moving over to the other seat.

“I’m fine! What happened?” She looks furious, and it’s the one look he has grown to find incredibly sexy.

“You fainted… Ever the lady, but you still fainted. How are you feeling now?”

“I told you I was fine! Just take me home!”

The tension between them is thick, and when the car pulls up outside her house, she jumps out, ready to leave him and this night behind, but he is fast and stops her, pulling her up tight against his body.

“What, no good night kiss for your fiancé?”

“NO! My father won’t allow that!” Her cheeks turn bright red, making a smile creep across his lips.

***

He is infuriating! How her father could agree to this, she will never know, but he simply has to change his mind, and she is planning on doing everything in her power to stop this marriage from going ahead.

Dremon leans in and his full lips touch hers. Her entire body goes stiff for a second and then melts against his.

TRAITOR! Her brain shouts at her body. He is the sexiest guy in school, and now he is pressed up against her. His soft coaxing kiss is making her lips want to respond, and when she finally does, it feels as if every nerve ending in her body is flooded by adrenaline.

Her skin turns into a burning, cold mess of goosebumps, and she feels slightly lightheaded when he lets go of her.

As he knew, she was about to faint again, only the gods know, but he picked her up and carried her to the front door. Her brother opens the door and is rambling on about congratulations when Dremon simply walks past him, up the stairs, and to her room.

He puts her down on the bed in a sitting position and takes off her shoes, before helping her to lie down.

“You are still recovering after the accident, and I pushed you too far tonight. I’m sorry. Rest now, and I will see you in the morning for school.” Before she can say anything, he has dropped another soft kiss on her lips and is out the door.

She sits upright at the sound of her brother’s voice.

“Congratulations, sis.” He is leaning against her door frame, smiling from ear to ear.

“Traitor! You knew!”

“Of course, I did. I had to arrange for that rock on your finger.”

She looks at the ring she has been dreaming of wearing for so many years, but now she doesn’t know if she wants it anymore.

“Why? Never mind! Get out! I don’t want to ever see your face again!” She grabs one of her shoes and throws it at the door where her brother ducks before disappearing.

Slamming her door shut, she makes her way to the bathroom. When she takes a look at herself in the mirror, she does look paler than normal.

Why on earth does she keep fainting? Deciding not to think about it anymore, she puts on her pyjamas and goes to bed. She should be able to avoid him to a certain extent at school, and then she will start to work on her plan to stop this damn marriage!

***

Dremon returns to the party and, as expected, one of his favourite girls gets ready to glue herself to his side.

“Did you forget why you are here?” He barks at her.

“But Dremon, she isn’t here?” She pouts, and he rolls his eyes.

“That doesn’t matter! She is my fiancé, and you aren’t! Get your skanky a*s away from me!”

His guard moves the girl to one side.

Dremon only returned to the party for one thing, and that’s to speak to Arora’s best friend. He has to find out a couple of things, and he has to get Tricia on his side if this is going to be a bearable marriage.

When he finds Tricia, he pulls her aside and orders them drinks to be brought to one of the VIP seating areas.

He wants to know why she is so unhealthy. How she’s been doing after the accident. Why she is so against an arranged marriage and, most importantly, why she is such a rebel.

“Why does she go against everything her dad tells her to do?”

“I don’t know if she would appreciate me telling you her deepest darkest secrets.” Tricia glares at him.

“Tricia, this marriage is going to happen whether she wants it or not. I would like to get to know her better, but she is being very difficult. I want to make her happy.”

He watches her friend as she studies him, before the wall bursts and a flow of information floods out of her.

“You can’t tell her that I told you! She will never forgive me!”

“I won’t, but I do need one last favour.” He grins.

***

Arora rushes into the dining room and is about to grab a piece of toast before rushing out when he is sitting at the table next to her dad!

“Sit down.” His voice is full of confidence and power, and she sits down.

“What are you doing here?” She squints her eyes.

“I came to pick you up. Why aren’t you eating breakfast?”

She looks from him to her father. How can her father allow this?!

“I’m late!”

“No, you aren’t. Your first class only starts in an hour.”

“I want to go to the library before class. Last night… Uhm, this event has put my studies behind by a lot, and now I have to catch up!” She decides to throw it in both their faces and frowns trying her best to look furious.

“I will speak to the dean. He can move the exam date. I mean, there are extenuating circumstances.”

She rolls her eyes.

“No! I don’t want special treatment. People are already going to talk; I don’t want them to talk more!”

She ignores his calls when she storms out of the dining room with her piece of toast in one hand and her books in the other, only to find his limo parked outside the front door.