She suppressed a smile.
‘No weapons. No emotional displays. No heroics,’ he said.
‘I’ll be on my best behaviour.’
He pointed a finger in her direction. ‘No matter what.’
She held up her hands. ‘No matter what.’
Chapter 19
The following morning, Harlan waited by the enclosed cart filled with the men and women being sentenced that day. He straightened when Eda stepped out into daylight, her face stained with tears. Dark circles enclosed her eyes.
‘You all right?’ he asked as she took a seat inside the cart.
Eda stared at him from the bench seat, the same wary expression on her face that Blake usually wore.
He moved closer. ‘They want to see your remorse. They’ll pardon you, but you’re going to have to use that voice of yours. You hear me?’
Eda’s eyes welled up in response. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out. Her chin dropped, and her eyes closed.
A whip cracked, and the cart lurched forward.
‘Do it for your sisters,’ Harlan said, walking alongside the cart. ‘A few words—for them.’
She looked up at him, signed something with her hands.
‘I don’t understand,’ he said.
Her hands fell to her lap.
‘Blake needs this.’ He stopped walking and watched the cart pull away, dread coiling around his spine. When he turned back, he spotted his father standing out front of the mess hall, watching him. Shapur nodded once before striding off.
With a heavy breath, Harlan headed for the gate.
* * *
They positioned themselves towards the front of the crowded square, Blake’s arm linked through her mother’s as she watched the gate. She wanted to be close enough to see her sister properly but not so close as to draw attention.
‘For goodness’ sake,’ her mother said, pulling her arm free. ‘You are holding so tightly I can no longer feel my hand.’
‘Sorry.’
‘It’ll be all right,’ Lyndal assured everyone. ‘Eda will do it. She has to.’
Blake wished she had Lyndal’s optimism in that moment.
The sound of the portcullis rising made them all look in that direction. They watched as six defenders walked through ahead of the cart, carrying those to be sentenced. The crowd fell silent as they approached.
’She’s in the cart, towards the back,’ Lyndal said.
Blake swallowed when her eyes met Eda’s. All confidence left her. She forced a smile, a nod of encouragement.
Please.
Prince Borin was next to ride through, surrounded by defenders as though he were riding into battle instead of a crowd of peasants. The warden followed closely behind. Harlan’s father. All sharp lines and a scowl so deep she questioned whether the man ever wore any other expression. She wondered whether Harlan would be just like him in a few years. There were times she could sense a smile bubbling below the surface. She was desperate to see it, to discover those things that made him forget his own seriousness.
Harlan was last to enter the borough, his eyes snapping straight to Blake as though he had known where she would be all along. He did not acknowledge her, just let his gaze linger a moment before facing forwards again.
