Love's most powerful weapon

"What the hell did you just say?" I asked my father as he looked up at me from his large oak chair.

"Watch your language, and I said you're officially engaged to be married."

His words sliced into my chest like a serrated blade. He had to be joking. We hadn't even begun talking about my marital plans yet. There was no way he would've decided, not only when I was getting married, but who I was marrying, and completely leaving me out of the discussion.

"I refuse. You can't force me to marry a stranger."

My father crossed his arms and sighed. The wrinkles around his gray eyes, my eyes, deepened.

"Teresa, I understand that this is sudden-"

"Sudden, no, this is far worse than sudden. You traded me off, for what, land, money?"

I clenched my fists as I stood my ground.

"I didn't trade you! I made a decision, as the chief of this village, that will benefit the most people. As my oldest daughter, and heir to this chiefdom, you need to understand that."

There it was, the princess card. Every Time he made a decision that I or my younger sister, Bella didn't like, he played it. This time that shit wasn't gonna fly, though. He had gone too far.

"Oh, poor you. You had to make a hard choice. Well, I have to live with that fuc-"

"Language!"

His voice boomed as he lost his composure and jumped to his feet. I did my best to remain still as he stomped towards me. His massive feet thudded hard against the ground with each step he took. A ripple of ice moved down my back and down into my legs as he stared down at me. At almost six feet tall, there weren't many people that made me feel small, but my father was almost a foot taller and 150 pounds heavier, at least.

"Now, listen carefully. The chief you are engaged to is young, only a few years your senior. He's not some old man who's pocket I'm trying to get into. I would never do that to you."

His voice had softened, but I knew better than to speak up or move when he was this close to me. We had done this dance before, just not about something like marriage.

"The issue with the boy is that he's wild. His village is expanding rapidly and they move in ways that make the other villages, ours included, nervous."

So he was the chief of a village full of savages and now I would be their chiefess. Queen of the savages, how could I be so lucky?

"This guy does what he wants, to whom he wants, when he wants. By marrying him, you are shielding this village from whatever compulsive ideas he may have about expansion. It's a raw deal, but it was either you or Bella."

He walked back to his chair and sat down. His face dropped to the floor as soon as he did. I knew it was a hard decision that he had to make. I just hated that I had to bear the weight of it. I also knew, though, that I wasn't forcing my fifteen-year-old sister to do it instead.

"Fine, I'll do it. But if this guy has an untimely accident and I inherit a village, I just might invade this place."

"I knew I could count on you. You inherited all of my best qualities."

By his best qualities, he must've meant my stature, gray eyes, and almond colored skin. My long straight auburn hair was from my mother. It was the only thing I remembered about her. She died giving birth to Bella. Now here I was fifteen years later, about to give my life for her as well. I spent the rest of that night in my bedroom packing my belongings.

As I sat on my bed and tried to figure out which hairbrush to take with me, Bella walked in and sat down beside me. She didn't speak to me. Her lilac scented perfume dominated the air around us. She silently watched me for about an hour before getting up and wrapping her arms around me. It caught me off guard at first, so I just held still until she pulled away. As she quickly walked away, I caught a glimpse of what I could've sworn was a shiny streak on her ebony skin. She moved too fast for me to see clearly, though.

As my father said, a scrawny guy with spiky black hair pulled up to our home the next afternoon to collect me. He didn't seem like any kind of threat. There must be more to him than met the eye for my father to marry me off to him. The carriage he drove was so old I wasn't sure it would survive the return trip. Black banners with red skulls blew proudly in the wind above it. Yep, this guy was definitely a savage.

"Hello my queen,"

The little man greeted me with a bow as he held open the door for me to climb in. At least he knew how to pretend civility. My father and younger sister watched me depart from the door of our home. Neither of them said or did anything as the guy helped me up into the carriage and closed the door behind me. I watched them walk back into the house as he started down the dirt road away from our property. Now it was just me and Spiky Head. There was a small partition window that separated me from him. I slid it open, not really wanting to spend the entire trip alone in a tiny box.

"How long is this trip going to take?"

"Trying to find out how much longer you're gonna be a free woman?"

His tone was oddly playful. I smiled at his question. Of course, that was the reason I was asking. I wasn't about to admit that to him, though. The last thing I needed was to make my life harder by admitting I didn't like the idea of being his wife. Then the strangest thought hit me. At some point, I was going to have to sleep with this guy. While he was cute, I just felt like I would be a bit much for him to handle. Would he even be able to reach it? I held in a laugh as I thought about him staring up at me, trying to figure out what to do with all of me.

"It's about a three-hour trip, unless we need to stop to get you anything. How are you, by the way?"

His question surprised me. Did he actually care, or was this an attempt to lower my guard so I would be more pliable? I waited a few seconds before answering to see if he would demand an answer. He just quietly waited for a response, though.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"Oh, it's no problem. If you want or need anything, just let me know."

I leaned back and relaxed a little. If this guy was actually going to make an effort to make me happy, then maybe marrying him wouldn't be so bad. Even if I did crush him the first time we had sex. I decided to get to know him a little, and get a better idea if this was really who he was, or just an act.

"You seem pretty young. How did you become a chief so early?"

His laughter shocked me.

"You think I'm the chief? Wait, did you think I was your new husband?"

He laughed some more but then he mumbled, "only in my dreams."

I felt my face heat up at his remark. The fact that he lowered his voice told me that he didn't want me to hear it. For some reason, his thinking of me as an unattainable dream heated my blood. I felt slightly disappointed that he wasn't my husband.

"So, who are you then?"

"Oh me, I'm just a thankful servant. I needed a place to stay a few years ago, and Chief Kato gave me that. I've been doing whatever I can to repay him ever since."

It sounded like this Kato character was into exploiting people that needed something from him. That seemed like the kind of guy that would demand your oldest daughter as payment or raid your village. I wanted to know more about my driver for now.

"So, what is your name?"

"I'm Simeon, but obviously you don't have to remember that."

Did he say that because he assumed I would forget his name, or was his self esteem really that low? I didn't know the answer, but I suddenly wanted to touch his hair.

"You know what Simeon, from now on I'm just gonna call you Spiky Head,"

The carriage jolted to a sudden stop.

"Well, my queen, you may not be calling me that for long since we're surrounded by bandits."