He let out a resigned breath. ‘I was delivering news of your cousin’s passing.’
Kendra’s face collapsed. ‘Which cousin?’
‘The brother.’
She clasped her hands in front of her and raised her chin. ‘How did he die?’
He hesitated for too long.
‘The tunnels,’ Kendra answered for him. ‘Of course it was the tunnels.’
Harlan did not confirm nor deny it.
‘My aunt and cousins must be pieces. It has only been two years since my uncle passed.’
Blake’s stoic face came to mind. ‘The hen, my lady?’
Kendra angled her head. ‘Are they not feeding you at the barracks, Commander?’
‘They feed us well enough.’
She gestured for him to follow her. Apparently the hen he was getting was not from the flock in front of him.
‘I bet livestock fetches a pretty price in the merchant borough,’ Kendra said as they walked.
‘I couldn’t say.’
She gave him a doubtful look as they veered off the path and came to a fenced-off pen containing ducks. She leaned over, snatched one of the ducklings up, and held it out to him. He stared down at the fluffy yellow bird, barely the length of his finger.
‘If it is female, it will lay eggs,’ Kendra said, helpfully explaining reproduction to him.
‘That’s a duck.’
She nodded. ‘Very good. Perhaps you should have been a farmer.’
‘We agreed on a hen.’
‘We agreed on abird.’
So they had. He reluctantly took it from her, and the pair returned to the path where they had left the horse.
‘Are you close with your aunt and cousins?’ Harlan asked.
‘As close as one can be with a sixty-foot wall and two classes dividing us.’ Kendra smiled at the ground. ‘My aunt chose to marry a merchant, and unfortunately it is my cousins who are paying the price for that choice.’
‘Why did your father not take them in after your uncle’s death?’
She looked up at the window above. ‘My father was the one who told my aunt not to go ahead with the marriage. She lived here after my grandparents died. From what my mother tells me, she did not like it much. My father believes people should live with the consequences of their mistakes. He does what he is legally obliged to and not a thing more.’
Harlan sat with that information for a moment. ‘Your uncle might not be legally required to provide for the family, but he’s morally obliged.’ He held up the duckling. ‘That’s why I’m giving them this.’
Kendra watched him a moment. ‘Let me guess, you have taken a shining to my cousin Lyndal.’
He turned and mounted his horse.
‘I do not blame you. She is delightful. I only ask that you admire her from a distance, because she will be the one who props up what remains of the Suttone family. If there was ever a girl capable of leaping over class divides, it is her.’
He found it interesting that she was being hailed as saviour of the family because of her looks. She was certainly the smiliest sister. ‘Your cousin is quite safe, I assure you. Good day, Lady Kendra.’
