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“Meliora?” Mama screamed. A loud thud sounded from her bedroom. “Children, what’s wrong?”
“Enough!” Kirwan dragged her to the door. “You will be silent or I’ll spell your mouth shut.”
Meliora was not silent. She sobbed and wailed, fighting her father harder than she ever had. His mere presence, and the swirling cloud of disdain he brought with him, used to strike her quiet. Not that day. “I won’t go! I won’t!”
I crawled over the splintered wood, vision spinning. “Meli!”
“Leave Haeowen alone!” Jaclan burst from his room, wielding his wooden spoon like a club. He struck Kirwan between the legs, doubling him over.
“Argh!” Snarling, Kirwan raised a backhand to Jaclan.
“Don’t—!”
“I’ll go!”
My scream stopped everything.
Kirwan spun on me, hand still raised. “What?” he barked.
“Take m-me.” I rose on shaky knees. “I’ll do it.”
“No one wants you, girl.”
“No,youdon’t want to offer up Meli.” My gaze burned him where he stood. “Advisor to the king. Lord of the House of Dawnbreaker. One of the highest-powered fae in Lyrica... and his daughter can be had for three coppers. You’ll never hear the end of it,” I rasped. “Your comrades will laugh and taunt you of the taste of her, and don’t pretend they won’t.”
Frowning, Kirwan looked from me to her. No denial came.
Kirwan knew well what would happen if Meliora wound up in the grip of men as vile as him. Not for her sake, but for his reputation. His only love in this life and the next.
“I’ll do it,” I repeated. “I’ll become a war wife, you won’t be known for selling your own daughter, and you’ll still get your one hundred and fifty kiruna. Surely you have no objection? You’ll get everything you want.”
His lips peeled back from his teeth. It was the hard, unfeeling monster in him that wanted to say no just because I asked this of him. But—
“Fine. You’ll do just as well.”
“No!” Meliora broke from his loosened grip and ran to me. I gently dried her tears. “Haeowen, you can’t do this. We promised we would never.”
“I promised that you would never be forced into this life,” I whispered. “I promised we would choose, and I choose to protect you. That’s what I’ll always choose, faywen.”
“But not faeriken. They’ll k-kill you. We’ll never see you again.”
“Let’s go,” Kirwan ordered.
Ignoring him, I forced a smile on my lips. “Of course you will. Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’ll be back after the wedding, and when I do, I’ll tell you all about the palace. Its grand rooms, luscious feasts, and the queen’s famous gardens. It’ll be like you were there with me.”
Meliora cried harder. Of course she didn’t believe me. She knew I was a liar.
Mama’s door banged open. She huffed—chest heaving and hair hanging lank over her face. The effort that short distance cost her, left her clinging to the doorframe. “What has happened?” She took in the scene, and my weeping wound. “Kirwan, what did you do?”
He sniffed. “The girl’s clumsy. She tripped over the table like a one-footed fool. You should be thanking, not scolding me, Olene. Your circumstances will be improving. You’ll either have two incomes for the household... or one less mouth to feed.”
“Excuse me? What does that mean!”
“It means Kirwan has offered me a job,” I rushed. “A housekeeper in his household. I am to leave now for training, Mama, but I’ll return in a fortnight.”
Her lips drew tight. “If that’s true, why is Meliora crying?”
“Because she knows her father as well as I.” I gave him a hard look. “I will not be treated well.”
