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Ander took the bottle and drank deeply.
Together, they stood in silence a few moments before Ander finally spoke.
“I want you to go in my stead, Fadon.”
“For the Fealty.”
“Will you go?”
Fadon rubbed the back of his neck. “Only if you tell me why.” He looked at Ander then. The light caught his brother’s eyes, making them appear like endless pools of honey. Their father’s eyes. Mari and Fadon had inherited their mother’s eyes, black as pitch.
“You wouldn’t understand even if I could explain it,” Ander said with a harsh laugh. He looked lost, and with utter fascination, Fadon questioned whether or not his brother had been playing a role at court this whole time. The playboy, the reveler, a role that would be quite easy to pull off… if one had a serious reason.
That begged the question of why. What could possibly be his motive?
Fadon shook his head absently. No, his brother wasn’t the kind for machinations. He was clever, sure, but his immaturity in most matters made Fadon doubt that anything deeper was at play. Ander just wasn’t built that way.
Ander’s gaze fell on Fadon then and he smiled sadly. “Trying to put pieces together, I see.”
Fadon was so taken aback by this change in him, he couldn’t speak.
“Don’t ask me questions, Fadon. I have no answers.” He laughed again, like there was an inside joke only he knew. But it was a harsh sound. “The important thing, Brother, is that I trust you.” He sighed, and the sound struck Fadon in his soul.
“Ander, what—”
He cut him off. “Will you do it, bring the girl here?” asked Ander.
Fadon nodded. “Of course. What is this really about, Ander? Are you in… trouble?” If he was, Fadon would rather help him out of it than just leave him alone with whatever this was about. But something told him that Ander’s stubborn nature would hold true in this, either way.
Ander shook his head, looking back at the view outside. “Nothing I haven’t handled well enough on my own so far,” he mumbled. “Gather your men. Bring the girl here. By the gods, I’ll marry her and see it done.” He clapped Fadon on the back half-heartedly and walked out of the room, the bottle swinging from his hand.
Frowning, Fadon watched him go, completely at a loss as to what in Ongar’s name had happened to his brother.
Chapter 2
Sierra
“Oh, please come out from there, little fluff!” I wedged myself further inside the open space underneath the porch. The wooden foundation was in mid-rot due to age, pests, and lack of carpentry skills. My knees trapped my skirts, preventing me from moving any further than a foot toward the creature who was busy ignoring my efforts at trying to rescue it.
I dropped my head closer to the mineral-rich soil, shortening my shadow to allow in some daylight from behind me. I made out a poofy white tail. “There you are, you sneaky beast. Don’t you want to—ow!” I lurched forward, bumping my head on top of the cottage’s framework, my bottom smarting.
“Get out of there, Miss!” Lucinda called from behind me, making me wince. “Your mother will have my hide when she sees you covered in mud and cobwebs!”
I eyed the furry creature, who I could have sworn looked smug. “Fine,” I told it. “You win.” Then I carefully scrambled backwards on my hands and knees until I popped out from under the porch and sat back on my haunches. After my eyes adjusted to the bright daylight, I looked up into the stern face of my watcher.
Lucinda was only a few years older than I, at three and twenty. She had been my watcher for the last three years—my first, Tamis, had passed away in my fifteenth year. Lucinda wasn’t a bad watcher, but she didn’t have the cleverness that Tamis had. Hence my always thwarting her. The thin, brown-haired young woman was forever fretting over something I’d done, was doing, or about to do.
“You spanked me!” I said, rubbing my bottom.
“I did indeed. You have no business crawling under people’s homes, let alone crawling anywhere on the ground!” she admonished with a shake of her head. “And look at you, foolish girl, all dirty. What will come of you once you’ve your own household to run?”
Smiling, I stood up and shook the dirt off my dress the best I could. “Surely nothing as exciting as this, I’ll wager.”
Lucinda looked me up and down, then sighed. “What were you looking for, getting under Old Shawney’s shed?”
Taking her arm, I tucked my own in hers and pulled her away. “I spied a lambskin, a baby, and I was concerned for it.”
“Right. Of course you were.” She tugged me to the right, avoiding a puddle. “Mind your step, miss.”
