Not quite a civil tone, but not combative either.
“No need to part ways so soon, Kipp,” she says with a smile. “We will sit with you this eve.”
His scowl is quick to return. “The hell you will.”
I watch the exchange closely for any hint of flirting. There is none. They do speak to each other as a sister and brother might . . . and Kipp does not look at her the way a potential suitor would.
The way I myself probably do.
“We shall see,” Aedre murmurs as Kipp wanders off.
I should be worried about Aldwine’s impression of me, which is obviously bad, but my mind is fixed on Aedre. I need her to understand something.
“I did not cultivate a relationship with you because of your access to him.”
As we talk, I move us toward the edge of the hall.
“You know that, Aedre, do you not?”
Her intelligent eyes look deep into my own.
“Is that what we have been doing these past days? Cultivating?”
She is as blunt as usual, so I honor her by speaking the same way.
“I don’t know. ’Tis the most honest answer I can give you. I should have stayed away, but could not.”
“You will be leaving soon.”
A fact we both have known from the start.
“Aye. Which is why I should have stayed away.” I lower my voice. “I’d not trifle with you, Aedre.”
“I know. Let us enjoy this night. Tomorrow, you will meet with Kipp and then . . .”
And then, I will leave Murwood End. A heaviness in my chest reminds me of how little time we have remaining.
“I will not leave on the morrow,” I assure her.
“But perhaps the day afterward?”
“Likely, aye.”
She looks toward the center of the hall, where guests are beginning to sit at trestle tables lined up one after the other.
“’Tis enough.”
I have no time to contemplate her words, to understand their meeting. A discussion at the entrance draws our attention. I see the Elderman and react immediately.
Chapter Twenty-Three Aedre
Vanni makes toward the entrance just as I see Father Beald entering the hall. I’d hoped the noxious man had left Murwood End, never to be seen again. Unfortunately, Lord Bailor ushers him inside just as Vanni makes his way through the crowd.
I see him wait until the Elderman leaves our host, and then he descends. I cannot hear their words, but Vanni looks furious.
I rush forward to join them, wishing to avoid a scene.
“Shall I swim to Hempswood, then?”
Vanni’s eyes blaze. He is not at all the man I just spoke with. This Vanni raises the hairs on my neck. He’s angry, every bit as much as he was that day at Sailor’s Inn.
“I care not if you commission a ship or find a mount to cross the damn Loigh Mountains.”
Father Beald glances at me. And though their voices are low, half the occupants of the hall, Lord Bailor included, are watching us.
“I agreed not to return, not to leave Murwood immediately.” His voice carries the confidence of a man with few enemies.
“You agreed to never find yourself within reach of her ever again.”
The sharp edge of Vanni’s tone is not lost on those around us.
“Either make yourself scarce or consider hard the consequences we discussed.”
A new voice adds, “Can you not discern you’re unwanted here?”
Kipp.
If Father Beald holds Vanni and I in disregard, he has even less respect for Kipp. The two have fought many times before, the Elderman’s threats hanging over us both. I have often wondered what he would think of Kipp’s true parentage.
“Ah, the great Voyager has returned. How many men did you kill on this journey, Master Aldwine?”
“And how many of Murwood’s people have you converted to your cause, Father Beald?”
Vanni doesn’t give him a chance to answer.
“Why are you here?” he presses.
Father Beald looks at me and then glances between Vanni and Kipp.
“It seems you have acquired not one but two protectors, Mistress Aedre. Learning from Edrys how to use your Garra skills to entrap a man?”
My hand rises before I can reconsider. The sound of my palm connecting with his cheek echoes in the hall, cutting through the sound of talking and laughter.
The Elderman’s eyes widen as Lord Bailor steps in.
“I invited you out of courtesy, Father Beald. But I believe your welcome here has run its course.”
My hand still stings, but I feel no remorse. Not even when his cheek turns pink where I struck it.
And then I see Vanni’s face.
Knowing real terror for the first time in my life, I grab his hand and pull him away. The crowd parts for us, and we move to the far end of the hall near the kitchens.
“You cannot kill an Elderman,” I say, knowing full well he may have done just that had we lingered. The look of pure fury on his face is only now lifting. Slightly. “He’s gone,” I say, watching Father Beald leave the hall.
His shoulders rising and falling, Vanni looks at me for the first time since I pulled him back here.
“I’m sorry, Aedre.”
I pray to the very man Father Beald wields as his ultimate weapon.
Dear God, give me the strength to deal with all men.
“You need not apologize, Vanni. I appreciate you trying to protect me. But as you can see, I am not powerless to defend myself.”
Kipp reaches us then.
“Let me see it.” He grabs my hand. “Does it hurt?”
I pull away, give both of them a hard look, and then turn back toward the front of the hall. With the Elderman gone, I make my way toward Lord Bailor to apologize for my actions. While I’m not sorry for having slapped a man who suggested that Amma taught me how to whore for protection, I am sorry for having altered the celebratory mood of the evening.
But I will make it right if I must lead the singing and dancing myself.
Vanni and Kipp can glare at each other in the meantime. With luck, they will both still be standing when I
