Page 12 of In Darkness Forged
“For yourfather?” she snapped without thinking. “What about you? How about an apology for not stopping to consider that your actions have consequences for people besides yourself?”
Egad, she was too tired. She could not afford such an outburst, not with the lord’s son, but he merely scowled at her effrontery.
“Then why did you make such a ridiculous offer?” he demanded. “And when he told you the truth, why did you give in to his bullying? All you had to do was refuse. Everyone in the room knew that what he’s asked of you is impossible.”
“Did you hear nothing?” Aislin returned incredulously. “How was I to refuse? He all but said he would have me executed if I didn’t fulfill his demands. And how can you speak so blithely of refusing when it took you until yesterday to reject his plans for your marriage?”
To his credit, Sandric actually winced.
“And what choice do you think I had?” Aislin continued. “I made the offer in the first place because if I do not do this, the people I love will have no home. Your father owns the land and all of our homes, so none of our friends will dare take us in for fear of suffering the same fate. We will be thrown out in the cold to live or die, and I can assure you, my mother and grandmother will die.”
Sandric seemed to have nothing to say to that. Perhaps, in the end, neither of them had a choice.
“No,” Aislin said, “what’s done is done. I would tell you to go on this fool’s errand yourself, but then your father would make good on his threats, and my family would have no way to pay our debt. And anyway, your father would never risk your life.”
Sandric shook his beautiful golden head, a bitter twist to his lips. “No, he wouldn’t. Not because he cares, but because he is relying on this marital alliance to give him more influence in the south. He’s hoping to be chosen as one of the king’s advisors, and if this doesn’t go through…”
So that was the real reason behind Lord Dreichel’s fury. Not the loss of his stone so much as the lost opportunity. He had land, a family, safety, and respect, but it wasn’t enough. Nothing was ever enough.
“Look, I thank you for your apologies, but they’re meaningless,” Aislin said bluntly. “And now I have places to be.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help…”
He almost sounded sincere, and Aislin wished she could believe in his offer. Wished she were in a position to wonder whether he’d come out here in the cold because he cared whether she lived or died. Even when she was about to leave on this impossible quest, one more person who cared would seem like a tremendous gift.
“Youcanhelp,” she said simply. “If your words are not just meaningless platitudes, you can ensure that my mother and grandmother are looked after in my absence. I was going to ask someone in the village, but they are burdened enough. Unless,” she added, “you know of some way I can accomplish this task without crossing the Dredwall.”
Sandric’s beautiful face seemed to blanch. “I do not.” His gaze dropped to the ground as he folded his arms tightly across his chest. “But I will do what I can to ensure your family’s welfare.”
Aislin nodded, feeling as if there was nothing left to say.
“Be safe?” the lord’s son said hesitantly.
Because he didn’t want her to die? Or because he didn’t want to feel guilty for having been the cause? Aislin wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure she would like the answer.
So she simply nodded again. As if her own safety were somehow within her power to grant. It was most assuredly not, but she didn’t have the energy to consider other possibilities—she would need every bit of it for the task ahead.
* * *
The village was only just beginning to stir when Aislin moved quietly down the main street and entered Brannic’s inn through the rear door.
He was, of course, wide awake and busy in the kitchen, surrounded by the smells of baking bread and frying bacon.
The moment he looked up and caught sight of her, Aislin knew he’d already heard at least part of the story from somewhere. How much and how true she had no way of knowing, but the innkeeper’s brows lowered and his mouth set in a stubborn line as he took in her traveling garb and the small pack slung over her shoulder.
“And where exactly do you think you’re going?”
She tried to smile reassuringly. “To pay my rent?” That part, at least, he should be able to understand.
Brannic’s scowl only grew. “That he would ask it of you is bad enough, but to send you alone…”
Aislin shook her head. “I volunteered.”
The innkeeper’s mouth dropped open in dismay. “You did what now?”
She shrugged, reluctant to explain her part in the previous evening’s humiliation, even to Brannic. “Yesterday, Lord Dreichel sent men to evict us from our home. Said we owed rent for all the years since my gift failed to manifest. I had no way to pay him. We would have been thrown out, so I had to do something.”
“But Aislin, lass, why didn’t you come to me? You know I’d have helped you.”