Bride of the Moso Prince Read Online Free PDF Page A

if…”
                  He lifted her off the seat and swept her in his arms.
                  “Put me down! I can walk!” She screamed, kicked her legs, and beat his arm with her fists.
                  But it was useless. That man’s grasps were firm and his arms were made of steel.               She felt like a helpless kitten in a hawk’s talons.
                  He deposited her at the entrance of the cave and took off her wet jacket.
                  “Now, Snow, be a good girl and wait for me right here.” He patted on her head as if she was a pet dog.
                  She glared at him “Sure, Prince!”
                  He grinned. When he was running back to the road she realized a subtle allusion: Prince and Snow…white?
                  He parked the bike under a big pine tree, and covered the suitcases with the jacket. Then he held her hand and led her into the cave.
                  There were tree branches scattering on the floor and in the center of the cave was the remnant of a fire.
                  “Good, someone has been here not long before.” He went to the fire and added branches to it. After a few blows, the flames burned fiercely.
                  “It’s a rest station,” he explained as he was making the fire. “Not long before the only transportation tools were our own legs. And it took at least half a day to get to town from the villages. So we made use of the caves along the way.”
                  Still resentful about being forced into the cave, she muttered, “What kind of a rest station is it? Doesn’t even have a chair.”
                  “Chair?” He laughed as if the suggestion was absurd. “Chairs are not part of our culture.”
                  "You must be kidding." She looked at him skeptically.
                  But Nobul looked serious when he said, "No I'm not. We sit on the floor, just like the Japanese." While saying, he sat down cross-legged on the floor matted with pine needles , and tapped on the space next to him, beckoning her to join him.
                  Oh my god, she gasped. She hadn’t expected such primitive conditions. Poor Charlene, how she must have suffered! And why didn't she tell her?
                    Without a consideration she blurted out, “A fatherless and chair - less society?”
                  His smiled vanished quickly. “What did you say?”
                  Feeling the threat in his eyes, she wavered, “A society without fathers, that’s what Moso is called.”
                  “That’s bullshit created by the media. And don’t ever say that again .”
                  She regretted her sarcastic remark but she argued nonetheless. “Isn’t it what walking marriage is about? A free relationship. Men seek women for pleasure and children do not grow up with their fathers?”
                  “No, that's not what it is . And there are fathers.” The shadows in his eyes became darker.
                  That look made her curious.   She had a feeling that she had touched a sore spot of this man. But she went on. “Of course, if a father i s someone merely begets a child ."
                  He didn't respond, but stared at her silently without a smile.
                  Oh my god, she had definitely hurt his feelings. Sharon began to regret her comments and added quickly. "Well, whatever it is, you have the envy of many. The Han man who sat next to me on the bus today said so … ”
                  He seized her hand suddenly , “You have no right to judge my culture.”
                  “I’m not judging it!” she said while trying to break free, and when he let go of her hand she said, “But if I were to