Bands of the Unpaid Dowry

Chapter 5

Jace retracted his body from Millicent's in surprise when he felt that the statement that she made was one based on sincerity. He searched her eyes and found an earnest look in them as she watched him with a plea that he could not understand. She was not the kind of person who seemed eager to get married as the customs of the country had tied many down to.

"Hey, hey, hey. This must be a joke." He jumped back even more as if to place more distance between the woman and him. He was torn between giving into his carnal and primal temptations after the kiss they shared and just throwing her out for the absurd remark she had made just a moment ago.

"No. I'm very serious." Millicent looked as he began to pace all about the room in the available space that was not occupied by couches and decors. He stopped and looked at her with a seriousness that she had yet to notice in him.

" Look! I don't do marriages." Millicent grinned and Jace was taken aback by the look she had. She should have been disheartened but the look of hope that she was giving him right now made him think that he had met a crazy person. He had yet to analyze but it seemed that the people who lingered near close proximity to his cousin shared almost the same features with her- they were all sort of other worldly with their thoughts and demands.

"That works even better. Let's get married then."

"Did you turn deaf after you entered this place or am I dumb? I said I don't do marriages!" He all but shouted, stepping back a bit further from the woman whose curly and long silky hair had been tied at the back of her head, leaving the frame of her face visible and her bright face almost had him walking closer to hold her. But he resisted when he saw her mouth opening up to give a counter remark to what he had said.

"No, say no more. I'm leaving." He shook his head in frustration and turned to go to his room. But Millicent was fast enough to move to block his entry.

"Wait! Hear me out. What I mean is let's form a fake marriage alliance. It's not going to be real. I just need to get my mother's attention off me." She panted out after rushing out the words to Jace, who had stopped in his tracks when she had grabbed his upper arms in her rant. He squinted his eyes down at her in question.

"Why do you want to escape your mother?" Millicent sighed in relief and proceeded to explain matters to him. She saw the way he frowned when she spoke about the most recent incident in the unknown market land which gave her the confidence to add the dramatic effects she had learned in story telling from her mother.

"She's pressing me to get married and at this rate I think she'll force me into a marriage that is not of my choice."

"So, you want to plan a fake marriage?" At the question, Millicent bit her lip in anticipation of a rejection of her plan to Jace but she nodded regardless.

"Even though I know little about the culture here, I know something like that will not be easily approved." Jace frowned at the lady who was increasingly getting excited about an idea that seemed almost inconceivable. He was definitely not in agreement with the way her mother was treating her and the strange situation she had placed her daughter in was not what he would think a mother would do. But he was Jace and he avoided delving into family issues as much as possible.

"Who says she needs to witness the marriage? If we show her a certificate, all she can do is accept the marriage. They'll only want to force us into a traditional marriage to accept the validity of the marriage. We can delay that and never do it till I get a man I want and tell the truth." She paused to sit on one of the couches with a thoughtful look and a despondent heart at how absurd the story she was conjuring seemed even to her.

"If I'm not dead by then." She muttered half-heartedly. If her mother did not get to her first, her brothers without a doubt would have done the job by then. That was how fiercely protective their love for her was despite the usual sibling bickers.