Page 5 of A Wolf's Bargain

War.

Criminals.

Massacre.

Over and over until she thought she might scream.

When she finally came out of her stupor, Cora found herself curled up in the corner of Epona’s stall. The rough scratch of hay under her legs was uncomfortable, and her limbs felt heavy, a testament to how long she’d been there.

Across the stable, one of the stablehands bent over a stall with a shovel. Every few seconds, he scooped a pile of waste from the stable floor, tossed it into a nearby wheelbarrow, and bent to do it again. Once he’d cleaned out the stall, he grabbed a pitchfork with fresh hay and tossed it in for whatever horse would occupy it next. When he’d finished, he straightened, wiped an arm across his brow, and looked her way.

“Ah, finally back with us, Lady?”

Cora stood slowly, grasping the stall walls for support in case her legs gave out. They trembled like she’d just climbed a mountain but didn’t collapse. “How long have I been here?” she asked.

The boy, Bran, set his pitchfork aside and leaned against Epona’s stall. His auburn hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, and Cora wondered what her own must look like. She tried todiscreetly pat it down, but Bran just smiled as though he knew what she was doing.

“Twenty, maybe thirty minutes. You wandered in all dazed and quiet. Didn’t answer when I called to you. Just walked right into the stall and sat down in the hay. Thank your stars I’d already cleaned that one out! But you weren’t bleeding or in pain that I could see, so I just...” he trailed off, rubbed the back of his neck, and shrugged.

“You just what?”

Bran’s cheeks went pink, and he said, “I just figured you needed somewhere safe and quiet for a spell, so I left you alone and kept watch. Made sure no one would bother you. No one was running around like you’d gone missing, so I didn’t think it’d do any harm.”

“Bran, I... thank you.”

His face went as red as his hair as he waved her thanks away. “Weren’t no trouble, Lady. Are you all right, then?”

Cora let go, testing the steadiness of her legs. “Yes, I’m fine. I was just... thinking about something. As you said, I just needed some quiet for a moment.”

“Must have been something serious to put you in such a state.”

Cora nodded but kept silent. Bran was a kind lad, but she couldn’t tell him what she’d heard. If he thought she was considering something dangerous, he might feel compelled to tell someone else. She couldn’t risk it with the way stories spread like wildfire amongst the staff.

Wait... stories.

“Bran!”

She startled them both with her shout. Bran nearly fell into his wheelbarrow, and she scrambled for the wall to keep her footing.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Cor—Lady! I’m right here! No need to shout like that!”

“Sorry, Sorry! I just—what can you tell me about Cillian Fane?”

Bran frowned. “What would a lady like yourself need to know about a scoundrel like him?”

Cora’s thoughts raced for an excuse. “I heard some of the kitchen girls talking. Gossiping, really. They were telling stories about him that sounded, well, quite frightening. And then they said he might be close by, and I—well, I was afraid.” She tried to school her features into a convincingly worried expression to sell her story.

Bran stepped forward and reached a hand out in comfort before thinking better of it and pulling it back. “Ah, Lady. Don’t be troubling yourself with kitchen gossip. Fane and his wildlings are nothing for you to fret about.”

She took a step closer to him and looked up at him through lowered lids. “Please, Bran. I think if I could just hear the truth—anything you could tell me—I’d feel so much better. I know it was just gossip, but I was so worried.”

A small part of her felt guilty for manipulating Bran this way. She’d known he was sweet on her for months—everyone knew everything around the castle. But she’d never done anything to encourage him before now.

Bran’s expression turned soft. He boldly laid a hand on her arm and squeezed. “Of course, Lady. I’d hate for you to worry needlessly. What would you like to know? I’ll tell you what I’ve heard from the guards and village folk.”

He answered all of her questions.

Every one.