Blush burned my cheeks as I thought of the first time I’d seen Kit in his home’s doorway. It had been a strange introduction, spurred by Kit’s obvious desire to scare me away. I was scared of plenty of things, but a tall man with dark, curly hair, a strong, stubbled jaw, and dark, soulful eyes was not frightening in the least. Quite the opposite, in fact.
“Of course, I noticed,” I replied.
Sayla hummed acknowledgment while reaching for the rolling pin. “What does he think of you?”
That was a sorer subject. I wasn’t ready to confess to Sayla that my adventures in Forstford had been, frankly, disastrous. Running out of money and sleeping on strangers’ front porches was not the success story Iwanted to convey. But I owed my sister some portion of the truth.
“He finds me an annoyance, if anything.” I shrugged. “And he didn’t want to come.”
Sayla snickered. “You’ll change his mind. People find you quite charming until they get to know you.”
“Don’t you meanoncethey get to know me?” I broke the end off another green bean, then squinted at her.
“I meant what I said,” she replied. “Job well done, all the same. He’s here, and he’s taking you to get Father.”
I shied away from her inspection. The things Kit had warned me about felt daunting. I wasn’t eager to immerse myself in the ranks of the Bone Men, but Kit had been clear that was the only way to find my father’s remains.
Swallowing hard, I dipped my head in a nod. “That’s the plan.”
“Good.” Sayla fluffed her apron. “And Mother will never know.”
Guilt twinged anew. I didn’t like the idea of keeping things from my mother. She was an honest woman, and raised me to be the same, but her fears about Eeus’s curse were deeply rooted. If she knew Father’s body had been ferried away—if she knew what I was risking to retrieve it—she might worry herself into her own grave.
“What about Merrick?” I asked quietly. “Does he know?”
“He hasn’t been back,” she replied. “We received a letter last week saying his rotation has been extended.”
I tried not to show how relieved I was.
“But now you’ve returned…” Sayla finished working the bread dough and left it to rest. She dusted the flour from her hands on her apron as she turned toward me. “You’ll be staying a few days, I hope?”
I shook my head. “Just tonight.”
Sayla’s face scrunched. “That’s all? Pity, I was hoping to get more than a passing glance atMister Mosel. It’s quite novel to have a man like that parading around our home.”
Again with the teasing way of saying Kit’s name. I was glad Mother was keeping him busy and, hopefully, out of earshot.
Much of my time on the road with Kit had been spent crafting a series of believable lies. They began with what I was to tell the Bone Men upon my arrival: I was Kit’s recruit and his reason for returning to the cult after abandoning their ranks thirteen years earlier. I believed in Eeus and his place as the god of balance. I had a family farm that could provide resources for the cult, though the thought of strangers running rampant over the fields, or carting away our meager harvest in wagons made me ill.
“Well, you’ll be home again soon.” Sayla pushed the rolling pin across the spreading lump of dough. “It can’t take too long, can it?”
“Kit says I’ll be back in time for spring planting.”
Sayla spun to face me. “Pen, that’s months away!”
“I know.”
“You expect me to keep this secret that long? What am I to tell Mother?”
She sounded exasperated, and I did what I could to soothe her.
“Kit really is a blacksmith,” I said. “Just tell her he’s… the traveling kind. I’ll be learning all kinds of things in all kinds of places.”
Mother emerged from the hallway, ushering Kit into the adjoining living room. From the pink on his cheeks and the discomfort in his coffee-brown eyes, he was no more assured this detour was a good idea than he had been when I first proposed it. I had a feeling he would restate his concerns when we got a moment alone, assuming mymother and sister didn’t do irreversible damage before then.
When Kit’s gaze landed on me, I offered what I hoped was a reassuring smile.
It was at that moment my sister chose to pass closely by me and whisper, “He’s quite handsome, Pen. And you would make a beautiful bride.”
