‘He just took off after you,’ Candace said, taking the bird from her daughter. She straightened when she recognised Harlan. ‘Commander Wright. I was not aware you were back on duty here in the borough.’
‘I’m not,’ he said. ‘I still have another week of leave.’
Blake glanced at the bag attached to the back of the saddle. ‘Are you going somewhere?’
‘Yes, actually. I’m going home.’
‘To the nobility borough?’ Candace asked, confused.
He nodded and watched the boys play for a moment before saying, ‘I was wondering if you could spare your daughter for the day?’
Light filled Blake’s eyes. ‘I’ve been little use to them so far today. You don’t mind, do you, Mother?’
Candace stared wide-eyed at her. ‘Well…’
Harlan removed his foot from the stirrup and took hold of Blake’s arm, pulling her up behind him. ‘She’s safe with me, I assure you.’
Lyndal and Eda had wandered out onto the veranda and stood watching them.
‘I was under the impression that your family home is currently unoccupied,’ Candace said.
Harlan nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘It’s just for the day, Mother,’ Blake said.
Harlan had the right to remove any merchant he pleased from the borough without explanation, yet he waited for permission from this woman.
‘You really will take care of her?’ Candace said, looking him straight in the eye.
‘I really will.’
* * *
Blake had jumped on the back of that horse with no hesitation, and now they were going to his family home in the nobility borough. Too bad she was dressed like a beggar. She tried not to think too much about the details and simply enjoy the rare prospect of adventure—and a very much alive commander seated in the saddle in front of her.
‘Hold on to me,’ he had said as they moved down the street, away from her fretting mother.
There were many layers of fabric separating her hands from his body, but the contact still made her stomach dance. She grew nervous as they approached the portcullis. It was the first time in years she had been near the gate and not had soldiers firing questions at her or shoving her back. She gripped Harlan a little tighter as they passed the guards.
Harlan must have noticed because he looked over his shoulder at her. ‘You all right?’
‘Yes.’
He faced forwards again. ‘You’re safe with me.’
She knew that in theory, but years of conditioning was not a simple thing to switch off.
They rode in silence beneath tall trees alive with birds.
Birds.
The large houses they passed had stables and well-kept gardens with roaming chickens. When they reached the first hill, they turned off the main road, and Harlan pointed to a modest house enclosed by a crumbling stone wall.
‘That’s it.’
The gate sat ajar. One hinge had come away, which meant it leaned at an angle. The horse slipped easily through the gap with no need to dismount. Harlan did not bother closing it.
The green lawn was mostly weeds, which now covered the path that surrounded the charming two-storey house. To the right was a collection of bare trees that had likely once been an orchard. It had been years since trees produced fruit in Chadora. The bees had disappeared like the food.
