The crowd hadn’t disbursed but it had grown eerily quiet. Vesper skirted the group, straining to catch a glimpse of Val where she last saw him, over on the north side of the square. It seemed very densely packed over on that side as people crowded in to see the murderer who had been captured.
TheAngel of Deathshe’d heard the people call her brother. She was grateful that no one knew who she was as she moved through the crowd lest she be attacked for being related to the murderer they were all so fearful of. It would be great irony for her to be caught up in her foolish brother’s punishment.
The closer she drew to the last place she saw Val, the more her stomach twisted into knots. She began to second guess herself, wondering if this was a wise thing to do. Did her father tell her the truth when he said that Val was still concerned forher even after what had happened? Or was it a lie designed to manipulate her? She didn’t want to face Val only to be condemned. She’d run away from him for a reason– so she wouldn’t have to face him. Was it cowardly of her? It was. But she didn’t care. Better a coward than to see hate in Val’s eyes when he looked at her.
Vesper must have slowed her pace when her indecision began to overwhelm her because McCloud grasped her by the arm, pulling her through the crowd, forcing her into Val’s presence. When they finally entered a dense portion of the mob, McCloud began pushing people out of the way, dragging his daughter behind him. Soon enough, they were through the thick of it but they ran headlong into St. Lo’s hired men. They were kept back just as the crowd was, away from the prisoner and the scene beyond. McCloud could see Val standing several feet away.
“De Nerra!” he shouted over the crowd.
Val’s head snapped in his direction and he caught sight of McCloud and Vesper at the edge of the crowd. Leaving St. Lo, he quickly made his way over to them, telling St. Lo’s men to let them through. McCloud had a tight grip on Vesper as he pulled her with him.
“I found her,” he declared the obvious. “She did not want to come but I told her that she must.”
Val’s gaze was on Vesper. Her head was down and she was clearly reluctant, even as her father dragged her along. “Thank you,” he said to McCloud. Seeing that Vesper was pulling against her father, or digging her heels in at the very least, he spoke softly and calmly to her. “Vesper, I will tell your father to release you if you promise not to run. Will you do that? Will you promise to remain?”
Vesper couldn’t even look at him; guilt was consuming her, but she managed to nod. “Aye.”
Her tone was barely above a whisper. Val spoke to McCloud. “Release her, if you will.”
McCloud did so against his better judgement. He still wasn’t entirely sure Vesper would keep her promise. He waited a few seconds for her to start running again but she didn’t. She remained rooted to the spot, her head lowered in a gesture reminiscent of a beaten dog. But that was as much concern as McCloud could spare. He began looking around for his son, his primary concern at the moment.
“Where is Mat?” he asked eagerly. “Did they take him away?”
Val knew his question would come and he thought he could muster some pity for McCloud, but he couldn’t. He had absolutely no pity for a man who would knowingly get himself into such a predicament and allow a son to murder unimpeded. He wasn’t even tactful in his reply.
“Do you know whatInfangenethefis?” he asked.
McCloud hesitated before shaking his head. “Nay.”
“It means that I have the authority to render judgement over any and all crime committed within my jurisdiction.”
McCloud knew this had to do with his son. “I know, Val. I know that you must punish my son for what he has done. Where is he?”
Val pointed to a heap of something covered up by a dirty horse blanket they’d taken from the livery across the square. “He is there,” he said. “Based on your son’s confession and the testimony of witnesses, a judgement was rendered and the sentence carried out. Before you think me unfair, be grateful that you are not beneath that cover, also, as an accomplice to your son’s deeds.”
McCloud’s eyes widened, his jaw going slack. His dark eyes fell on the dirty horse blanket and he could see a hand poking out beneath it. With a wail that set Val’s hair on end, McCloudrushed to the covered corpse and threw the blanket back, weeping loudly at the sight of his son’s headless body.
His cries were enough to mute the crowd into an uncertain buzz. It was an unearthly howl, grief in the purest sense. The hushed villagers watched as McCloud collected the corpse of his son, still warm, and held it to his chest as he wept. Mat’s head was on the other side of the body, getting rolled around as McCloud sobbed.
Val watched the scene without emotion but Vesper couldn’t look. She kept her head turned away, hearing her father’s cries, knowing that it was a pain of his own making. Still, it didn’t make it any easier to listen to. She very much wanted to leave.
“You had my father bring me back,” she said to Val, her voice hoarse with emotion. “Please say what you need to say so I can leave this place.”
Val looked at her, seeing her distress. He moved slightly, blocking her view of her father and brother. “You did not give me a chance to say anything before you went running off,” he said quietly. “Will you not at least look at me when I speak to you?”
“I cannot.”
“Why?”
She let out an ironic choke. “Because I cannot see your hatred for me. Please say what you must and let me go.”
Val sighed heavily. “I do not hate you,” he said. “But I want to know why you did not tell me any of this. Did you truly believe you could resolve it?”
Vesper nodded, her lower lip trembling. “I was going to try.”
“But… your brother has committed serious crimes,” he said softly, pleading with her. “I admire the fact that you thought you could resolve the situation, but did you not understand how serious it is?”
She wiped quickly at her eyes, flicking away the tears angrily. “Of course I understood how serious it is,” she hissed.“But I thought I could stop it because I was afraid… afraid of the damage it would do to my reputation if and when the activities became public. I was trying to save myself, Val. Doyouunderstand that?”
