Clare’s hands twitched in her lap, nerves sparking through her.
Mistress Keller set a hand on Clare’s knee. “Would you prefer to go in alone? I can wait in the carriage until the boys are ready to meet me.”
Appreciation loosened the knot in Clare’s throat. “Thank you.”
The carriage door swung open and one of the uniformed men held out a calloused hand. Clare took it without looking at the soldier and he assisted her to the cobbled street. Her eyes were drawn to the slightly crooked door of her narrow house, smashed between Motley’s Tavern and a cobbler’s shop. It was suddenly hard to breathe.
The soldier squeezed her hand and Clare glanced up—and stared. Familiar blue eyes met hers and when he offered a thin, almost reassuring smile, she jolted with recognition.
It was the princess’s young bodyguard, the one with the sand-colored hair. The one who had tried—and failed—to stop the massive guard from hitting her.
Tension seized her, tightening her shoulders. It was only too easy to guess why he was here. The commander hadn’t trusted her. He’d placed a royal guard on her already, to make sure she didn’t run.
The bodyguard’s face tightened when he caught her hardening expression and his lips parted, but the front door burst open before he could speak.
“Clare!” Mark’s shout split the air and Clare dropped the soldier’s hand, rushing forward to meet her brothers as they bolted from the house. She threw her arms around them when they crashed into her, their thin arms strangling her in return.
“What happened?” Thomas demanded, all the authority of a thirteen-year-old in his voice. “You didn’t come home!”
“I’m sorry.” She pulled back enough to brush her hands over their dirt-streaked cheeks, assuring herself they were all right. Their grins flashed and her fingers faltered. The ache of missing them already strained inside her chest.
Thomas and Mark eased back, looking beyond her for the first time to eye the carriage and soldiers.
“Fates,” Thomas muttered.
Clare glanced at the blue-eyed soldier watching them and stiffened. “Let’s go inside—I’ll explain everything.” Mark latched onto her hand and she held his smaller one tightly. He was ten years old, but he seemed younger in this moment. But perhaps that was just her own fear rising.
She guided her brothers toward the house and were nearly to the door when Thomas lowered his voice, shooting a nervous look at the soldiers behind them. “I went to Eliot last night. I’m sorry, Clare—I didn’t know what else to do. He’s hiding inside.”
Clare’s heart tripped. The soldiers couldn’t know he was here. But that wasn’t the only reason she didn’t want him here. If anyone would question her lie of being hired as the princess’s maid, her older brother would. But Thomas looked so pale and worried, Clare reached for his shoulder and squeezed. “It’s all right.”
Despite her nerves, the moment Clare stepped into the small house she was enfolded in comfort. Everything about the space was familiar. The table their father had crafted. The rug theirmother had made from rags. The dusty mantle and scorched fireplace. Dried herbs hung from the ceiling, spicing the air and mingling with the scent of lye soap.
Thomas moved to the back bedroom where the boys slept and pushed the thin portal open, releasing Eliot to stride into the main room.
Eliot was tall and slender, but strength lined his form, hardening his shoulders and arms. Even though he wasn’t in uniform, he stood with the bearing of a soldier. His face was clean-shaven, his brown skin smooth over his angular jaw. His dark hair was tousled, like he’d been running his hands through it for hours. Clare barely had time to blink before Eliot clasped her arms, holding her gaze with worried intensity. “What happened? I went to the castle last night, but no one could tell me where you were—I couldn’t even find Towdy. I heard something about an attack, and—”
“An attack?” Mark’s grip on her hand spasmed.
Clare tightened her hold on him, her words for all of her brothers. “I’m fine, as you can see. I was caught in the attack and detained for questioning. We all were.” She swallowed, not ableto hold anyone’s stare as she continued. “I actually helped save the princess, and, to thank me, I’ve been promoted. I’m now one of her maids. I’m to live at the castle.”
They all began talking at once, but Eliot’s firm voice overrode Thomas and Mark’s shocked protests. “You can’t take this position.”
“I don’t have a choice.” It sounded horribly like the truth, so she softened it by adding, “We don’t have a choice. I’ll finally make enough to take care of the family. The boys won’t have to work anymore—”
“Can we talk about this privately?” Eliot cut in, already moving for the bedroom.
Clare sighed, glancing at Thomas and Mark. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Once in the closed bedroom, Eliot faced Clare, one hand grasping the back of his neck. “I’ll give you more coin,” he said lowly. “I’ll work another job if I have to, but don’t do this.”
“I’ve already given my word.”
“You can change your mind. You need to change your mind. You don’t know what you’re getting into. I’m a soldier—I know the danger the royals are always in.” His eyes sharpened. “I forbid you from taking this position.”
His hard tone sparked the anger and frustration that had been building inside her since everything had fallen apart last night. Anger swelled in her chest. “You forbid?”
“Yes,” he gritted out. “I’m the head of this family and—”
“You left us!” The words burst free, all her frustration coming out at once. “The moment you were old enough, you took Mother’s name so you could go play soldier without the stain of Father’s treason. You left me here to raise the boys on my own.”
Hurt splashed Eliot’s face and regret instantly shot through her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, eyeing the space between them.She didn’t know when she
