I freeze. "How much does he know?"
"Everything. That I've been spending time with you. That I stayed in your quarters last night." She pulls back, looking up at me with fear. "He's given me an ultimatum."
"Which is?"
"I have until tomorrow evening to dispose of you. Sell you or kill you, he doesn't care which." Her hands fist my shirt. "And if I comply, he'll keep this quiet and let me salvage my reputation."
"And if you don't?"
"He brings it before the council. They'll investigate, and I'll lose everything. My estate, my position, possibly my freedom."
I process this, my mind already working through scenarios. "So you'll do it. You'll sell me or have me killed."
"No!" She grips me tighter. "No, Oliver. I won't. I can't."
"Primsyn. Your entire life is at stake. Everything you've built. You can't throw it all away"—I gesture between us—"for this. For me."
"Don't." Her voice breaks. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do."
"I'm livestock. Property. You said so yourself."
"I lied!" The words explode from her. "I've been lying from the beginning. You're not property to me, Oliver. You never were."
My chest tightens, emotions I don't want to name surging through me. "Then what am I?"
She looks at me, tears tracking down her face. "You're everything. You're the first person in forty years who's made me feel alive. Who's made me want something beyond duty and obligation. You're?—"
"Don't say it." I can't hear those words. Can't let her say something we both know will only make this harder. "We need to think strategically. Figure out the best way to handle this."
"I don’t see a good way out of this!" She pulls away from me. "If I give you up, I lose you but keep my position. If I refuse, I lose everything. I'll be ruined, possibly imprisoned, and you'll be taken anyway."
She's right. There's no winning scenario here.
"What about this Thrain?" I ask. "What does he want besides you getting rid of me?"
Primsyn's jaw tightens. "He wants me. He's been pursuing me since my husband died. This is his way of forcing my hand. Get rid of you and accept his courtship, or be destroyed."
Rage floods through me. "He's blackmailing you into marriage."
"Yes."
"And if you marry him, what happens to me then?"
"I don't know. He'd probably sell you immediately. Can't have competition." Her laugh is bitter.
"There has to be a way out of this," I finally say. "Some angle we're not seeing."
"If there is, I can't find it." She moves to her desk, sinking into the chair. "I've been going over it again and again. Every scenario ends badly."
I move behind her chair, my hands coming to rest on her shoulders. She leans back into my touch, seeking comfort I'm not sure I can give.
"What if we run?" I suggest. "Take what we can and leave. Find somewhere they won't find us."
"They'd hunt us down. A council member's widow fleeing with her livestock? They'd make an example of us both." Her hand comes up to cover mine.
"I'm serious. If running is what it takes..."
"No." She turns in her chair to face me. "If I'm ruined anyway, you should at least benefit from it. Run, go back to the wild, find more humans andlive."
