“I’m sorry I upset you,” he said.
“You didn’t...”
“I did. I do. I upset you all the time.”
“No...”
“Yes. You’re upset now because you heard me play the piano, and you were upset at the church because I was fixing lattices and drawing patterns.”
She pursed her lips. So, he’d noticed. But she hadn’t been upset, she’d been confused and untethered, not knowing what to think when he displayed skills and talents she hadn’t expected him to have. After all, he wasn’t noble, he didn’t come from a world of wealth. He rode a horse like he’d learned since he was a child, he composed poetry like he’d been taught the classics and had spent time among writers, and she didn’t even want to think again about lattice weaving and playing the piano.
He made no sense.
But she’d just said to herself that Briar and the soldier made no sense.
Who and what made sense, in the end?
Her feelings for him. Yes. She could cling to those. Her heart had never steered her wrong, and it wouldn’t now. The mind could be tricked, but the heart always divined the truth.
“I’ve been feeling unmoored,” she said by way of apology. “We were so good at the White Horse, and then we had to leave. For a few days, I’d forgotten what we were after, that we’d left Ingolstadt to find those men and seek revenge. It had felt so wonderful to just be. To sleep in a warm bed, eat delicious food, go for walks, and simply sit together, drink beer and talk. I forgot about the world outside, and even if travelers came with news about the war, we didn’t pay them any mind, did we? We didn’t let the pain and suffering of the war reach us. It was selfish, I know, but I wish we could do it again. I wish we could find a place away from it all, somewhere no one can find us, where we can be together and be ourselves, where we don’t have to cover our faces all the time and worry about what people might think when they see that I am blind, and you are...”
She didn’t know what word to choose, so she let the sentence hang. Rune didn’t suggest a word either. She sighed and rubbed her thumb over a spot on his cheek that was smooth.
“Then we reached Langenbach and I realized how silly I’d been. Had we left the inn sooner, we might’ve saved more people.”
“Don’t think like that.”
“It’s a truth that can’t be denied. Just like the truth that this is the world we live in, these are the times, and we cannot escape them.”
“What...” He swallowed heavily. “What do you want us to do?”
She straightened her back and let her hand fall away from his cheek. No more indulging in the dismals. They were here with a purpose, and it might’ve been in vain, but she’d only allow herself to reach that conclusion after they’d searched the rest of the mansion.
“There is a bone somewhere in here, I can feel it. My intuition says we keep looking.” She stood up and offered Rune her hand. “Are you with me?”
“I am. Always.” She could hear a smile in his voice.
“I am with you too.”
They walked out of the music room, and Rune led them toward the main staircase.
“And... Rune?”
“Hm?”
“I loved the song. I thought it was pretty. A little depressing, but pretty.”
He laughed, which meant her assessment hadn’t offended him. Together, they ascended to the second floor, where they searched the bedrooms in order. On the fourth one, when they still hadn’t found anything, Seraphina walked to a window and pressed her hands to the cold glass.
“What’s lying beyond the house, can you tell me?”
Rune joined her. “The forest, in the distance. It’s hard to see in the dark, but there seem to be wooden crosses jutting out of the ground, in rows, just before the forest begins.”
“Crosses, you say...” Seraphina thought for a few seconds. “Peter told us the people in Langenbach buried the bodies after the town was taken back from the High Harvester’s army. They must’ve buried the Von Rothenfelds on their estate because it was easier.”
Rune nodded, but he didn’t seem to be tracking her train of thought.
Seraphina smacked her forehead.
