The Bride of the Immortal Read Online Free Page A

meant to support the immortal and even though he was unwilling to stop, he had grown tired of doing what had to be done, of betraying and using people. Adrijan sighed. As tempting as it was, there was no point in wallowing in self-pity.
    Finally he exited one of the corridors of Sunflower Garden, that had often been silent witnesses to his deeds and crossed the grand hall without haste, remembering his act of trickery.
    Of course he had already known which girl he would choose before his carriage had even passed the main gate. Adrijan had spent weeks on studying the profiles of the candidates. Although Mairin originally hadn’t been one of them he had added her to the list after he had visited her father. Mairin didn’t know that he had promised him to look after his daughter and naturally neither her father nor Mairin had known of the spies which he had placed all over his town to make his work easier for when it was time to find a new candidate. Adrijan had even been rewarded for his service. Mairin’s father hadn’t been aware of it, thinking that he had been the one at the receiving end, being granted a gift of God, but Adrijan couldn’t ignore the bitter truth that made him feel like one of life’s cruel ironies.
    A butler of Sunflower Garden opened the door for the immortal’s servant. Adrijan remembered walking through the same door ten years ago, guided by the headmistress, to choose Mairin from the crowd. The way she had been moving through the lines, it would’ve been impossible to locate her as quickly as needed from where he had been sitting, but the surveillance cameras in the celebration hall, his loyal staff in one of the secret rooms of Sunflower Garden and a small device attached to his ear had helped him with that. The magic of the modern world really made his life easier.
    “Sir? Is anything the matter, Sir?”
    Adrijan noticed that he had been standing in front of the open door, staring into the emptiness of the hall. He quickly put an apologetic smile on his face, shook his head and walked past the elegant man. There was still work to do.
     

 
    He sure had some nerve, showing up after ten years without as much as an apology and leaving without giving her a proper explanation. What was she supposed to make of that?
    Mairin tried to calm down. It was the immortal’s fault – not Father Adrijan’s. She was supposed to be grateful for being selected instead of furiously walking around in circles. Mairin had been lucky – there had been so many coincidences leading to that fateful day. When their father had died, Mairin, her older sister and her two younger brothers had been devastated. They had been left with almost nothing and after the funeral they had been counting the days until they would be thrown out of their home and taken to an orphanage. Renga, her older sister, had taken care of them as well as she could, but there were limits to what a seventeen year old girl could accomplish.
    Shortly after their father had passed away a woman had come to their house, claiming that she was a distant relative and that she was willing to take care of them under the condition that she, Mairin, not Renga, would take part in the gathering of the candidates for the selection of the immortal’s bride. Neither Renga nor Mairin had known the woman and at first the older sister had been very cautious around her, but with nothing left in the world there had been no other choice but to trust her. Renga had been especially worried about Mairin and to keep her from harm she had explained to her what could happen to girls who trusted too easily.
    Despite their worries, everything had turned out well for them. The woman’s house had been close to Sunflower Garden so that even the decision of where to apply had been an easy one. From the day she had been chosen, she had never heard from her siblings again and especially in the beginning she had missed Renga terribly. Her harsh goodbye had hurt her but after a