Free The Warrior Elf by Mackenzie Morgan Page A

Kevin turned the key and left for Jana’s front yard.
    Even though she was a bit unsteady from the energy field, Doreen drew herself up straight, staggered up the front steps, jerked the door open, walked in, and slammed it shut behind her, all without saying one word.
    Kevin raised his eyebrows at Rigel, but Rigel tilted his head towards the key and left his hand on Kevin’s arm.
    After they were back in Kevin’s office with Chris, Rigel grinned. “That girl has spunk.”
    “I think I might call it something else,” Kevin said. “I take it the wedding’s off?”
    Rigel nodded. “But she’s the one who called it off.”
    “Why? What happened?” Kevin sat down at his desk.
    “Have you ever met Jared?”
    Kevin shook his head. “Never heard of him before Doreen.”
    “From what the blacksmith said, Jared’s family lived in a small settlement while he was growing up. His father owned a small fishing boat and took his catch to Bushwell to sell to the owner of the fish market. When his father died, Jared took over and started doing the same thing, but it didn’t take him long to figure out he could make more money by selling his fish himself, so he set up a market of his own. Before long, he bought out the other market. Then he bought out the dry goods store and hired the man who’d owned it to run it.”
    “Sounds like good husband material,” Kevin said. “So what happened?”
    Rigel told them about Jared’s arrangement with his mother and sisters.
    “So he was expecting Doreen to take over the work of three women?” Chris asked.
    When Rigel nodded, Kevin laughed. “Bet that didn’t go over well,”
    “It gets better,” Rigel said. “Jared told Doreen the contract obligated her to have three children within the first five years of marriage.”
    Alek let out a low whistle and Kevin shook his head. “Is he crazy?”
    Rigel laughed. “In my opinion, yes.”
    “I bet Doreen had a fit,” Chris said with a chuckle.
    “Not really. She didn’t cry or even yell, but she did tell him she wouldn’t marry him if he was the last man on Terah.”
    “What did he say to that?” Kevin asked.
    “Not much really. He told her it was her decision, but if she turned him down now, there would be no further discussion. But his mother wasn’t willing to let it go. She jumped up and started yelling at Doreen, saying if she didn’t agree to the marriage, they’d go to the district minister and get him to force her to marry Jared, that they had a contract.” Rigel glanced over at Kevin. “That’s when your name came into it. Doreen told Jared’s mother she’d already spoken with you and you’d assured her no one would be forced into any marriage, and she felt sure your word would overrule that of a district minister.”
    Kevin laughed. “I did say that, but only because she wanted me to order Jared to marry her.”
    “So why was she so angry if she’s the one who called it off?” Alek asked. “She looked ready for a fight when we got there.”
    “She’s convinced Jared and his business manager lied to both her and her father. She’s also none too pleased he’s taken the four boats. She was under the impression the contract said her father was giving Jared two boats as Doreen’s contribution to the marriage, but the other two were supposed to stay with her father. She’s not sure whether Jared changed the contract after her father was killed or if he just took them since there was no one to stop him, but she wants the boats back. I told her I doubted she’d be able to get them all back. She might be able to get two of them if the contract specified two and she could prove the other two belonged to her father, but since Jared offered to marry her and she’s the one who called it off, there wasn’t much way she’d get the two her father promised him in the contract. That’s what we were talking about when you got there.”
    Kevin nodded. “I doubt we can get any of them back for her at this