‘Except that Queen Fayre intended to send them home anyway, so I could have saved my breath.’
Blake took hold of her hands. ‘We’re not praising you for the outcome. We’re proud of you for speaking up at all. Queen Fayre is rather intimidating, and I had no idea you were so rebellious.’
‘Her headstrong personality and opinionated tendencies weren’t a clue?’ Astin asked.
All three women turned to look at him.
‘You do yourself no favours,’ Blake said to him as she pulled her sister away. ‘Ignore him and come, before you miss the birth entirely.’
Astin kept his eyes down as he passed Candace’s disapproving stare. He followed the sisters around back to the pigpen, which had been newly reinforced to hold a boar.
Wood shavings were laid out in place of straw, which had long ago become a rarity. Lyndal dropped down beside the labouring boar without a thought to her dress, stroking its back as she watched the three suckling boarlets.
‘And now there are three,’ Blake said. ‘They know exactly where to go when they come out. It’s quite fascinating to watch.’
Lyndal reached out to touch one of the stripy boarlets. ‘How are they so adorable?’
The mother twitched, head lifting off the ground, and out slipped another one.
‘Clever girl,’ Lyndal said, peering down at the slippery animal.
Astin found himself watching Lyndal’s face in place of the birth. She was in awe of this wild animal, and her childlike excitement warmed his insides.
‘Here comes another one,’ Blake said.
Lyndal picked up the nearby towel and gently wiped at the boarlet still struggling to get up. It eventually toddled off in search of a teat.
‘I heard they can have up to twelve babies,’ Lyndal said as the animal twitched and squirmed once more.
Out came another boarlet.
‘That’s number six.’ She wiped at it with the towel a few times when it did not move. ‘This one doesn’t appear to be breathing.’
Taking the towel from Lyndal, Astin picked up the boarlet and held it in his open palm, rubbing it vigorously with the towel. Still it showed no life, so he began pressing lightly on its chest. The girls watched on with worried expressions, until finally it began to wriggle and squeal.
‘Oh, thank goodness,’ Lyndal said, taking it from him. ‘How did you know what to do?’
‘I’d be more surprised if he didn’t know what to do,’ Blake said, ‘given he was raised in the farming borough.’
Lyndal looked at her sister, brow pinched. ‘What? Since when?’
‘Since I was born and raised in the farming borough,’ Astin said.
Lyndal’s mouth hung open. ‘But you’re a defender. Defenders are selected from among the nobility.’
‘You’re a merchant living in the nobility borough,’ he replied. ‘Sometimes the rules just don’t apply.’
She closed her mouth. ‘I’m just surprised you never mentioned the fact.’
‘You never asked.’
‘And you do have a tendency to block out his voice when he speaks,’ Blake said, a smile playing on her lips.
Lyndal continued to stare at Astin like she had no idea who he was suddenly. ‘And what about your family?’
‘Also farmers, if that’s what you’re asking,’ Astin said.
She drew a breath. ‘I mean are they alive? Do you have siblings?’
