Pregnant! By the Prince Read Online Free PDF Page A

they served it on a stick. It was warm.
    "Are you just going to stare at it?"
    A dare, I rushed and took a bite. Cherry, strawberry - sugar. Lots of sugar. My mouth was overwhelmed with sweetness that it went to sour, and back to sweetness again.
    It melted down my throat. "What the hell is this?" I just glared at the warm treat in front of me.
    "Yagor. Your taste buds aren't trained for it, but it's wonderful when you get used to it." He casually took a bit, letting it slide down his throat, no contortions on his face. "Maybe I was stretching when I was talking about no joys. I haven't found anything that touches Dolotovyan cooks. I might be biased."
    The sweetness lingered in my mouth. It was good, just absolutely overpowering. I opted to just carry it until I worked up the courage to take another bite. "God. It's sort of just smashing your tongue into a wall. I mean that in the best way possible."
    "Ha! I told you I had joys to show you."
    We kept walking.
    "Anything you see, you can have. Even if you have no carnal desires for me, I want you to return to America and tell them about us."
    "I guess this is the hospitality that the people take so much pride in?"
    "You'd think, but no. The tradition of hospitality is to offer a helping hand to those who need it. Bring them medicine. Feed and warm someone on the street. The tradition does not order them to buy things for others."
    "Just help them get by in a cold world."
    "Exactly. I do this for you, Beatrice, because you are something special."
    He stopped our procession. A scarf merchant was near. He looked up and down.
    "What is your favorite color?"
    "You don't have to."
    "I want to."
    "Really, I'm fine."
    "I asked you a question, Beatrice. Please honor me with an answer."
    Well if he's going to ask me my favorite color that way. "Alright, blue."
    He gave over more money, and in a single motion wrapped the scarf around my neck and face. "Your face looked so pale. You aren't used to to these temperatures. I want that wonderful rosy color back in your cheeks."
    A chuckle escaped my lips.
    "There it is. Now that scarf is worth ten thousand times the price."
    My face warmed up - not from the scarf, but instead an extreme case of blushing.
    Again, we continued on together. Down the icy roads, in which the scarf really did help.
    We left the marketplace, and were now on the outskirts of town. A field, lightly brushed with snow. Snow-capped trees were in the distance. A fox ran across. I broke away from Leon to take in the sights. The serenity of it all was beautiful. You couldn't go anywhere in America without being overwhelmed by noise and lights.
    A small farm house was also in the distance. Leon kept walking toward it. I chased to keep up with him.
    She was sitting quietly, churning butter. Leon smiled. "Tasha!" It was the end of what I was able to understand.
    They conversed a bit, the woman's voice low. She looked in her forties, and there was melancholy on her face. There was also a very dark blue spot surrounding her eye.
    I cringed, not being naive to what it meant.
    Leon gave her a hug, and took a container from her.
    He took my hand again, and led me away. "Tasha makes some of the best butter I've ever had. Given I can get things from anywhere in the country, it's safe to say she's the best, period."
    Leon spoke as if he wasn't aware.
    "So, she um, had something wrong with her eye."
    Leon stopped, his shoulders sinking. "I hoped you wouldn't have noticed that."
    "Her husband is beating her, isn't he?"
    "Logic dictates yes. She won't confess it to me, though."
    "You should go tell her she needs to leave him, for her own safety, and any kids they may have."
    "Divorce is illegal."
    "What do you mean?"
    "Dolotovya never modernized with the rest of the world. A marriage is forever, no matter what happens. You're on shaky ground even if you wish to remarry after your spouse's death."
    "They have to make an exception for that."
    "No. If Tasha made it public, they'd somehow