He Faked A Limp For Six Years To Avoid Marrying Me Chapter 06

He Faked A Limp For Six Years To Avoid Marrying Me Chapter 06

“Maren swore sisterhood vows with Elowen, and Pa has accepted her as his own child. Elowen’s younger than me, so she’s my sworn sister too. That makes you my brother-in-law, plain and simple.”

Every word I spoke held zero room for argument. Talen’s face drained of all color, his throat bobbing as he struggled to find a counterpoint. He stood mute, his face burning dark red with embarrassment and rage.

Elias stepped back into the fray to argue against my marriage.

“Even if no ancient law bans cross-clan unions, I hold the authority to write new clan rules as your head. I’m issuing a new edict this instant: no Hollow Creek women may wed outsiders, to protect our bloodline numbers.”

Confusion and bitter hatred welled up inside me. I’d never understood him, and I understood him even less now.

He’d always chosen Elowen over me, pushing me further away time and time again. Now he’d invent brand-new rules just to chain me to this hollow for the rest of my life. What did he hope to gain by locking me away forever?

My voice rose sharp with raw anger.

“You can make new rules, but I can break every single one of them.”

“You dare defy your own father, defy the laws handed down by our forefathers?” Elias’s eyes bulged wide with shock.

This marked the first time I’d openly, unapologetically challenged his authority as clan head.

“How can you accuse me of breaking ancestral law when you’ve broken it yourself countless times before?”

Elias opened his mouth to fire back, then clamped his jaw shut mid-sentence, unable to form a single defense. He knew exactly what I referenced, deep down.

I’d bottled all this resentment inside for years, never airing it publicly to preserve his reputation as clan leader. I wouldn’t hold back any longer.

“Years ago, you dragged the entire clan to the Bonding Oak after Talen and I carved our names into an iron medallion together. You screamed that even your own daughter couldn’t escape punishment for breaking the bonding tree law.”

“You locked me in the Clan Oath Hut for seven full days without food, all because of that medallion.”

I lifted a hand and pointed straight at Elowen’s neck, where her matching iron token glinted in the sunlight.

“But what about the medallion hanging around her throat?”

Every clansman’s gaze snapped toward Elowen’s chest.

Everyone in Hollow Creek knew the Bonding Oak tokens were only for pairs wed under clan rite. Her token bore Talen’s name carved right alongside hers. Their unwed bond mocked the punishment I’d endured alone.

Elowen’s face blanched pure white. She mumbled quiet denials, scurrying to hide behind Talen’s broad frame for protection.

“I accepted my punishment without complaint back then,” I continued, voice echoing across the entire clan gathering.

“But why do you bend every rule to shield an outsider from consequences? She broke the exact same law I did, yet you pretend her offense never happened at all.”

“They weren’t wed by clan rite when they hung their token on the oak branches!”

My shout carried every ounce of years of suppressed unfairness and grief.

Elias’s shoulders sagged heavy. He stared at the dirt at his feet, defeated.

“She’s an outsider from the city, the old oral clan laws don’t bind her. You’re my blood daughter, the rules were always written for you.”

A cold mocking laugh escaped my lips.

“Yet you spent months claiming Elowen was your daughter, same as me. That’s why you stripped me of my birthright to beat the hunt drum, handing every piece of what belonged to me straight to her hands.”

Including the fatherly love I’d spent my whole life craving.

I left that final sentence unspoken, heavy in the air between us.

Elias’s head hung low, no more fire left to argue his biased choices.

A murmur of realization spread through every watching clansman.

“I always wondered why Elowen held the drum honor instead of Shay,” one woman muttered. “The clan head abused his power to favor the town girl.”

“Our forefathers’ oral law states only the head’s blood daughter may beat the hunt drum. If Shay refused the duty, Maren should’ve taken it—never a random outsider.”

Maren finally stepped forward when her own name was spoken.

“I turned down the drum honor of my own free will and passed it to Elowen. Pa’s done nothing wrong, and Elowen’s innocent too.”

According to every person surrounding me, I remained the only one at fault.

Maren’s stare hardened on me, protective of Elowen hidden behind her back.

“You’d drag every single one of us down into misery just to soothe your own hurt pride, wouldn’t you?”

“Pa’s getting on in years. Do you want to strip him of his clan leadership just to get even?”

She spoke to me with the stern authority, ignoring all the years she’d abandoned me for Elowen’s sake.

I turned to face her fully.

“You still stand ready to shield her from every consequence.”

“She’s sweeter-spoken and softer than I am, so you treat her like your real sister, while I’m only ever Shay to you.”

“Is that why you took the hide ritual shawl I stitched for you all those years ago?”

and gave it straight to Elowen?”

Maren’s gaze darted away, unable to meet my eyes.

A hollow, tired smile tugged at my mouth.

“You remember every detail of that day just as clearly as I do, don’t you?”