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“You may choose any of the bids.”

I can choose the man who has already told me he wants obedience. I can choose the merchant and hope his wife likes me.

Or I can choose the forest lord who sent someone to look for a woman with a voice.

I try to imagine telling Asha which man I chose. I wish she were here to argue with me.

“I choose Lord Daurek.”

The auctioneer brings down his hammer.

The registrar works in a narrow room behind the yard. A window stands open beside him, and the bidding for the next woman comes through it while he writes my name.

Neimura lays a green-black seal on the table. The registrar examines the crown of branches carved into its base and checks it against his book.

“Authority confirmed.” He turns the contract toward me. “Lord Daurek of the Ilden. Vaidemara of Tesseny. Is that your choice?”

“Yes.”

I read the name twice. It doesn’t tell me what Daurek’s voice sounds like or whether he snores or what he’ll expect when a stranger gets into his bed.

“Why couldn’t he come himself?” I ask Neimura.

“He rarely leaves the forest.”

“Does he know you came to buy him a wife?”

“Yes.”

“And he agreed to this? To marrying the woman you chose for him?”

“He did.”

The registrar hears every word. He dips his pen and waits for me to finish.

“Does he have other wives?”

“No.”

“Children?”

“No.”

“Anything else you ought to tell me before I sign?”

Neimura smooths a leaf above his ear. “He’s accustomed to solitude.”

“So am I, occasionally. My sister Asha usually interrupts it.”

I almost smile. Then I remember she won’t interrupt anything anymore, and I have to look down at the contract until I can trust my face.

The registrar points to the payment line.

“Six hundred and forty silver to the bondhouse. That clears the loan and the bondhouse’s charges. Your entry fee paid the market. The remaining sixty goes into an account in your name. Only you can withdraw it.”

“And the claim against my sister’s stall?”

“Discharged with the debt.”