Winter's Dance (#1 Ruthen Quartet)

Ch-35. Payne

He received many concerned looks from his comrades and he just nodded at them hoping he convinced them that he was fine.

"General Warddis."

He turned to look at Lady Shaiya standing.

She was wearing a yellow gown, which showed her cleavage. Her neck was choked with a four-layered golden necklace. Necklace? More or like a noose. Her brown hair was pinned up and her face was artfully made.

"What do you want?" he snapped. Why would they not just go away?

She seemed to be slightly taken aback by his behaviour but he cared less. It was her mistake to approach him when his mood was worse. Even his king left him in peace.

"I was hoping to discuss a proposal to you," she said, her eyes blinking fast.

His brows joined. "What kind of proposal?"

She gave him a secret smile. "I have a young daughter, you see, general. She is fertile and most compatible for you. She reached her womanhood. Her beauty is unparalleled. She would be kind to your daughter." She looked at Marina. "She would warm your bed, get rid of your stress and do her duties as your wife. She can bear your children. She can maintain a long conversation with a clever person. She can dance, sing and paint. She can..."

"What are you implying, woman?" he growled.

"I offer my daughter's hand in marriage to you." She finished with a coy smile.

He blinked, Marina squeezed his hand.

"How old is your daughter again?" he asked, barely able to breathe.

"She is there, Lord Warddis." Lady Shaiya pointed to a docile looking girl, timidly chatting with Lady Mae Cathale. Brown hair and a round face, filled with fear. He was looking at a child.

"How old is she?" he gritted his teeth.

"Thirteen," she said smugly.

"Just five years older than my daughter," he muttered to himself.

"What?" she asked.

"Bloody hell, woman!" he blazed. "What are you thinking? If she were a year or two younger, then she would be like my daughter! What a kind of matrimony is that?"

"You are capable of providing her food and shelter," she shrugged. "That is all that matters."

"Then even a foot soldier is paid enough to support his family, why not him?"

"Uh, you see," she started, but he held his hand to stop her from talking.

"You were talking to me as though you were going to sell your daughter to me. As though she was a thing, learn to respect that girl's feelings. See her face, Lady Shaiya! Look at that fear!" he said, his previous drowsiness fled away. "She is a child. How can you bargain with her?"

She remained silent.

Marina gave him the strength he needed. With his daughter by his side, he could conquer anything. She gave him that power.

"Even if your daughter was old enough for me," Payne said. "I will never marry her. I loved my wife true enough to let her go."

"Then why not your daughter?" she asked, looking more desperate. "Your daughter can marry my son, look there! He holds a rank in the army!"

His eyes found a twenty-year-old boy, jesting with his friends. He was nothing like his sister. Payne knew that boy. One of his Commanders said that boy would be a Colonel within a few years. But sadly he could not remember that boy's name.