The Kitten Has Claws

The Kitten Has Claws [Chapter 23]

"Sure," he grunted, continuing to punch, "I'm listening."

"Will you please stop and just listen to me?" She waited patiently for him to finish by crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot. Finn sighed and stepped away from the punching bag. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off, raising an arrogant eyebrow at Violet.

"What can I help you with, love?" he sneered.

Violet pushed down the anger and sorrow and glared at him. "You don't need to be such an asshole. I had every intention of telling you about Sage, but I didn't have the opportunity."

"Conveniently enough," he muttered.

"Stop it!" She cried, "Just hear me out. Then you can treat me however you want."

He scrutinized her carefully, as if looking for something that would help him come to a conclusion. "Fine," he muttered, "have at it."

She gave him a derisive look before starting her explanation. "When I turned thirteen, my father announced an arranged marriage between Sage and I. Sage's father is the general of our army and a very prominent man, so the marriage would be a huge affair. It is normal for royalty to have arranged marriages, so I thought nothing of it. Clover had one set up already, so I didn't protest. I know it seems silly, but the more time I spent with Sage, the more I realized that I had gotten lucky. I had a schoolgirl crush on him and worshiped the ground he walked on."

"What makes you think I want to hear this?" Finn growled. Good Lord he was already ready to rip the man apart just for existing, he didn't need any more reasons to add to his list.

"Shut up," she said shortly, "It'll all make sense in the end." Violet cleared her throat, "As I was saying, I looked up to Sage. I never had any reason to doubt my father before, so I trusted his decisions as well as Sage's. Shortly after that, when I was fifteen and Clover was seventeen, Clover's fiancé was killed in an accident. Because she is the oldest, she is expected to marry a prominent man of a different race. She had been set up with the younger prince of the Fae, but their contract was broken when he died.

"My father was disappointed, but kept an eye out for someone else to marry his daughter. He finally decided that she would marry Sage, instead of me, and I would marry a man of a different race. Both Sage and I protested, because we had finally gotten used to the idea of marrying each other. It was the first time I ever doubted my father's choices. Luckily he agreed to leave our marriage contract alone."

Violet clenched her teeth as the tears threatened to fall. It was hard talking about past wounds and old memories, but she had to do it for Finn's sake.

"Around this time I started growing into my pixie abilities. I was sixteen when I was able to use my wings for the first time. My father and the whole kingdom were horrified when my wings came out black as the night. No pixie has ever had black wings. Our wings are always colored according to our hair color. Since my hair is a dark purple, my wings were supposed to be too. But they weren't. They were colorless and therefore an abomination. My father, mother and my two sisters who followed along in their footsteps, shunned me. Even Sage was wary around me, unwilling to deal with my father's wrath.

"One night I got so angry with my father that he banished me. Heartbroken, but relieved, I ran away and eventually found Noelle and her friends. I figured that since I had been banished my marriage contract with Sage was broken. I never expected it to come about again. Sure, there was the chance that I might run across my family again, but I never expected my father to want me back. That's why I never told you. I didn't think it was important or something that would affect my life."

Violet clenched her fists and let out a frustrated growl, "But then, Clover and Basil showed up and from there it went downhill. I had no chance to warn you about Sage because Basil told my father where he was the next day."

She looked desperately at Finn, willing him to understand her situation, but he refused to look at her. "I'm so sorry, Finn."

"Is there no way to get out of the contract?" he asked hoarsely. He was horrified with the way her life had turned out, and angry that her father could be so callous. There had to be some way for her to get her independence back.

"No," she whispered, "Neither Sage nor I can break it. The only way to break it is if my father calls it off, or if one of us dies."

Finn looked pissed at that information but he didn't say anything. Instead, he started pacing thoughtfully. Violet watched him, amused, as he mumbled nonsense under his breath. Suddenly he froze in place, and, in a motion so fast, she barely had time to take in a breath, he was in front of her, gripping her arms painfully. He looked crazed and frankly, was scaring Violet.

"Finn," she said cautiously, "you're hurting me. What's going on?"

"I just had a sudden idea," he breathed excitedly. "Is there some way for me to break the contract without your knowledge?"

"What?" she asked, confused, "I don't know."

He rolled his eyes and sighed, "What I mean, is that if I know how to make it impossible for you to marry Sage without your knowledge, would that work, or would you still be punished?"

"Well if either one of us is ineligible to marry then the contract is broken," she said slowly. Violet gasped as it hit her, "Oh my god, you can't kill him! Please Finn, don't be stupid."

"I'm not going to kill him," he said exasperated, "I'm not stupid. But I do have a plan, I just can't tell you. Just trust me, alright?" He smiled tightly at her, begging her to trust him with his eyes.

She took a deep breath, and tore her eyes away from his bright gaze, "Alright, I'll trust you." Violet had little hope that anything would get her out of marrying Sage, but she would give Finn her trust. If it didn't work out in the end, at least he tried.

"Good," he grinned, "I need to talk to Raine, but I promise that everything will be okay." Finn leaned down and kissed her swiftly on the mouth. He pulled back and looked at her in wonder, before kissing her again, softly this time. "Trust me," he whispered one last time before leaving the room.

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