“It was always meant to be mine,” Merrick snapped. “And it still will be. I hardly intend to let you keep me from my birthright. In fact, perhaps you should stay. Undergothe Oaths. Let Eeus decide whether you’re worthy. I predict it’s only a matter of time before your stupidity leads you both to ruin.”
He spun, his robes billowing out behind him, and started back up the stairs. Kit and I remained where he left us as the echo of his footsteps faded.
The tears I’d held back flowed freely now, washing my cheeks and making my nose run. I sniffed and wiped my sleeve across my face, then turned aside so Kit couldn’t see. I was ready to get out of this place and back to the safety of his little cottage and the room where I could be alone with my thoughts.
In the midst of my turmoil, Kit’s fingers grazed my back. “Are you all right?”
“Merrick told me to go home,” I said, mentally cursing the tremor in my voice. “But if I leave, what stops him from showing up at the farm next harvest and taking his share? Or taking everything since he thinks it’s all his, anyway?”
Kit gripped my shoulder then turned me around. I stayed hunched, hiding my pain and sorrow until he reached out and wiped his thumb across my cheekbone, catching an errant tear. The gesture surprised me—him, too, judging by the way he pulled back and tucked his hands in his pockets.
“I won’t let that happen,” he murmured.
I shook my head. “But how? You said yourself he’s powerful. You would have to be more powerful than him.”
“Or be friends with someone who is.”
Before I could question him further, he led me away, down the stairs and out of the building and into the harsh light of day.
On the way back through town, my mind wandered from Levitt’s questions and the coached answers I’d given,to Merrick’s spiteful words in the stairwell, to the way Kit’s fingers had brushed my cheek and how his hand might feel clasped in mine.
That last idea lingered as we walked in stride, becoming an urge I barely defeated before we passed Rosie’s bakery stand. Despite wanting to get home, when she caught sight of me and waved cheerfully, I found myself desperate for a distraction.
I snagged Kit’s sleeve to pull him to a stop in front of the booth as I returned Rosie’s wave. He barely seemed to register what was happening, lost to his own thoughts.
“Kit, this is Rosie.” I gestured to them each in turn. “She’s another new initiate. She grew up here.” I tried to gain Kit’s attention by bumping my shoulder into his. “Like you.”
He grunted acknowledgement, perusing the baked goods on display but managing not to focus on any of them. Rosie stood by, waiting with me for Kit’s response. When he gave nothing more, she turned to me instead. The confusion that pinched her face eased into a smile.
“How have you been, Penny?” She tucked a braid behind her ear. “Are you settling in well?”
“Well enough,” I replied. “Kit is a gracious host.”
I glanced over and found him turned aside so he could peer back across the square with a scowling sort of squint. I was about to ask him if something was wrong when Rosie chimed in again.
“What all have you seen? I’m about to close up shop for lunch and could take you around town, if you’d like.”
“Both of us?” I shifted closer to Kit.
My proximity drew his attention at last, but he waved me off. “No need,” he said to Rosie. “From what I’ve seen, things have changed very little since I was here last.”
Frowning, I nodded along with Kit’s decision. “We should probably get home.”
I turned toward the path leading out of the square, but Kit caught my shoulder.
“No, Penny, you go on,” he urged. “I remembered I needed to check something in the Ossuary library. I’ll meet you at the house later.”
I quirked a brow. “Are you sure?”
“Quite. You can tell me about it tonight.”
Kit left without so much as a backward glance, walking purposefully toward the towering building in the center of town. I watched his form shrink until it was swallowed by the mill of people cluttering the square.
Rosie set about covering her booth with a sheet, humming to herself as she worked.
I remembered—or rather didn’t remember—Violette’s tour of the city, the one I’d spent glaring at her back while she fawned over Kit. Despite his assurances that he didnotenjoy her advances, I may have overstepped in my jealousy. Still, I found it strange that a married woman would be so forward with another man. The fact that she was my sister-in-law complicated things even further. I wanted to feel bad for Merrick and wondered if he knew how she behaved in his absence, but given what I’d learned in recent days, and the things he’d said to me not an hour earlier, I reserved my sympathy.
“Shall we?” Rosie looped her arm through mine.
