Steward House hadbeen hastily decorated with swags of cut greenery and late-blooming yellow poppies. Clusters of candles nestled between the arrangements, and their flames danced as the matrons of Mistaken bustled back and forth, putting final touches on the hall before the ceremony began.
Greer watched them work with Hessel’s arm tucked painfully tight around hers, as he and the other Stewards gathered in the entry. With a brightness so fervent it seemed false, the men chatted of the Hunt and the matches made, and tried to guess which couples would have the most agreeable winter. She tried to ignore the playful ribbing and knowing glances directed at her father.
Just behind them were the brides-to-be, each wearing her finest dress and clutching at a sprig of pin cherries. An identical bouquet had been thrust into Greer’s hands as she’d entered, along with a handkerchief. Greer absently wondered how many of the tears that were about to fall were ones of joy.
The Hunters clustered close together at the front of Steward House. They’d formed a circle and were all smiles and laughter and hard slaps across one another’s backs as they waited.
In between the girls and grooms was the rest of the town. Everyone in Mistaken was expected to attend each Joining Ceremony, pledgingto support the new couples as they could, offering helping hands and plenty of grace during the often fraught first year of marriage. Nearly every seat was filled; the benches were packed and overflowing with families and well-wishers.
All but one.
The last row of Steward House, used by generations of Beauforts, was conspicuously empty.
Greer stared warily at the bench while picking apart her nosegay, showering the floor around her with green-needled confetti.
Where were the Beauforts?
At home, grieving Ellis’s disappearance, most likely.
But where was Louise?
Greer’s entire plan—her stupid, untested, ill-thought plan—was predicated on Louise’s understanding her veiled message and packing a bag.
But what if Louise hadn’t understood?
What if she had thought Greer mad with her own grief? Louise didn’t know what Greer had seen. She didn’t know that Ellis had been able to cross the boundary unscathed. She didn’t know that Greer could now do the same.
Greer touched the necklace beneath her dress, doubt creeping in.
What if she was mistaken, and the beads didn’t work, didn’t do what she’d only assumed they must? What if she managed to free herself from Hessel and flee the Joining Ceremony, but was still sent right back into town as sunset fell?
The piling uncertainties scraped her raw, and she scratched at her hands, feeling as if they were breaking into hives.
Greer glanced toward Lachlan, catching him in uproarious laughter, his mouth hanging open, showing too many teeth. He looked carefree and careless, and why shouldn’t he be? By all accounts, he’d won. He’d caught his intended and was about to marry the wealthiest, if craziest, woman in town.
Greer’s itching fingers balled into fists.
She was not going down that aisle.
Not to him.
Not to anyone who wasn’t Ellis.
She’d rather take her chances against the Warding Stones, against the cold and the wolves, against every creature within the woods, even the Bright-Eyeds.
She’d rather die first.
As if he could sense the threat to his impending happiness, Lachlan’s attention drifted across the room, searching for and finding Greer.
“Good Stewards,” he called out, his voice rippling with a self-satisfaction that infuriated Greer, “shouldn’t we get the joining under way? We lads grow anxious for the wedding night to come!”
The grooms all laughed, and a scattering of the townspeople joined in, too. Several brides dared to smile, even as they flushed bright red and glanced nervously at one another.
“Of course, of course,” Ian Brennigan said. “We all remember such heady eagerness and would hate to prolong your anticipation any longer. Mackenzie, what say you?”
Greer felt her father freeze and heard his breath catch. He was responsible for carrying out the ceremony, but, to begin, he’d need to leave Greer with the rest of the brides, unattended.
She tried to remain as still and impassive as possible, even as her heart began to race, knowing she was on the edge of the precipice.
