I saw fingers snap in front of my face. “Arienne, are you paying attention?”

I looked at my great-aunt, who was scowling at me. She looked like she was about to thump me with her fan.

“Of course.” I cleared my throat. “I heard every word.”

Shaking her head and mumbling something about the disrespectful youth of today, she turned back to her right and started talking to her best friend, a dowager countess who had a little problem hearing. While my great-aunt shouted into her ear, I looked around the ballroom. No sign of the host.

My great-aunt had insisted that I attend this soiree, because she knew that I had to find a mate soon. I had no desire to be here with Lord Georgius.

Two weeks ago, he sent me the first ornate bouquet of flowers. They'd been arriving every day since, and I dreaded seeing them every morning. The sickly sweet scent of all of those flowers lingered in my room, where my mother insisted on displaying the bouquets.

Other girls would have be ecstatic to receive flowers from such a wealthy and powerful man. I might have, too, if not for two things.

One, both of his wives had run away and told tales too horribly perverted to be believed. They had said that he kept them imprisoned before they escaped. They said that they had basically been dolls for him.

Two, he had a terrible reputation in the Draka community for taking what he wanted and apologizing later. As a member of the royal family, he had certain protections which meant that he couldn't be prosecuted like the rest of the nobility.

I didn't want to be his target. Not now. Not ever. But I knew that he had his eye on me. Now that I was mating age, he wanted me. I was just lucky that he hadn't sent an inquiry to my mother, asking to court me and naming betrothal terms.

I hoped that my mother would ask for my input, but I wasn't sure if she would. My mother believed that he always knew what was best for me, no matter what. I had to take matters into my own hands, which was why I was seated with the widows and gossips instead of taking a seat closer to the center.

"Oh, there's that handsome Lord Georgius. I haven't seen much of our host today." She waved her hand and called, "Over here, Lord Georgius."

I fought the impulse to cover my ears. My great-aunt's voice was extremely piercing. I guessed that he was handsome, but it was hard to be attracted to someone who so clearly needed to be taken down a peg or to.

After kissing all of our hands, he sat on my other side in an empty seat. "You look lovely tonight, ladies. Especially you, Arienne."

His eyes rested on the shadow of my cleavage.

"I find that ladies of mixed blood tend to be a little more beautiful than the rest, don't you agree?" I didn't know if he was complimenting me or insulting the people we were with.

"Arienne is the beauty of our family, everyone knows that. Why this little girl hasn't been married yet is beyond me."

"I'm barely old enough," I protested.

"Nonsense. When I was your age, I already had five offers sitting in front of my father. You're slow, Arienne." She sniffed. "If you don't do something, we'll take extreme measures."

"You may not have to." Lord Georgius was smiling into my cleavage again. "I think that something might happen soon. Very soon." His eyes met mine. He didn't care that I'd caught him staring at my boobs. "Would you care to dance?"

I looked at my dress. It was the proper attire for a girl who was ready to be married. Too bad that I had no desire to be with Lord Georgius.

"I think it's too hot," I apologized. "This material is just so thick. You know that we import it and it's so incredibly expensive. Beautiful, I think, but the weave doesn't allow much air through, I suppose." And then I knew what I should do. "Shame that we destroyed all the native textiles."

I sat back as my great-aunt jumped in. Her hobby was the history of the Yore. Despite being conquered by the Draka, vestiges of Yore monuments and Yore culture were all around us. Her friend shared her passion. They wouldn't shut up for hours now, talking about the fabric that had been made here before the conquest.

When Lord Georgius coughed and stood up, I sighed in relief. I knew that he was coming for me, but I had a temporary reprieve. Keeping an eye on his back as he made his way through the ballroom and spoke to other guests, I went out front to get into our hover-car.

I wouldn't be so lucky a second time. Since I was mixed blood but noble, I was in a weird in-between place between the Draka and Yore. Most full-blood Draka nobles didn't want to marry me. A Yore would never be good enough for me, according to my father. He'd fallen in love with my mother, of course, but he thought that she was the exception. Her family had been a lesser branch of Yore royalty in the days before the conquest. If my father had the slightest inkling that Lord Georgius wanted to marry me, I would be done. I just had to pray that I could figure out a permanent way to stall him.