No one ever came here.
We didn’t have any friends—none close enough to know where we lived anyway. And Collum was our only family left.
It was hard to have friends when you couldn’t let them grow close to you without explaining why you were different every other day.
Meaning whoever was at the door, was probably someone I didn’t want to see.
Probably the viscount’s men performing a house check.
Which was even worse.
Setting the knife down silently, I sank to the floor next to the counter, hoping whoever was standing on the other side of the small glass pane next to the front door couldn’t see my shadow through the threadbare curtains.
It was in vain, however.
“Open up. This is Viscount Adis. I know you’re home.”
Shit. Not today.
Thinking fast, I lowered my voice to the tone that I had trained to match Milo’s. “One moment! I need to dress!” I cringed at how stupid it sounded, but there was no time to utter anything else as I crawled across the wooden floor to Collum’s room, which was once my parents’ room, across the worn rug my parents had bought during their travels, to shake her shoulder.
“Collum. Viscount Adis is here. He has already seen me.”
Collum’s bright blue eyes flashed open to meet mine, my own panic reflected back in her pupils. This was bad. Really bad. The Viscount didn’t come on house calls unless something serious was happening.
“I’ll kill Milo this time, I swear.” She groaned.
There wasn’t time to discuss it though, and she was out of bed and across the room in an instant, tossing a robe over the tattered nightgown she had been sleeping in before heading to the door.
I moved to sit on her bed, my head in my hands. There was no reason the Viscount should be here. We had already paid our taxes for the season.
Unless Milo was in trouble. Something that the ache in my side reminded me was entirely too possible.
The unmistakable sound of Collum swinging open the door reached my ears, and she spoke loudly for my benefit. “Viscount Adis, I was not expecting you.”
“I . . . see,” he replied, his voice deep, and I can only imagine him taking in my cousin’s nearly-sheer nightgown. I knew how disarming she could be, especially to males. She was beautiful with her blonde hair and starkly blue eyes, plus a figure most women dreamed of. “I’m here because Milo Potson failed to report for the mandatory war service as required for all men passing their twenty-fifth birthday earlier this week.”
The pressure behind my eyes mounted. I pressed my hands to my face, wishing I could sink into the floorboards and cease to exist. What had Milo done?
“I’m sorry sir, but we were unaware that there was a mandatory war service.” Collum’s voice was shaky, but she was being honest. We—well, at leastI—hadn’t known. And I suspected she hadn’t either.
We’d known war was coming, but we’d hoped it wouldn’t come this soon.
“Ralheim is at war, Ms. Potson. I am surprised you did not know that seeing as we have been posting about it in the square for nearly a year now.” His tone indicated that any patience he had was wearing thin. “Now, I heard a male voice, and seeing as it is only the two of you registered here, tell Milo he has fifteen minutes to pack one sack of whatever he can carry and join me out here. He will be taken to the barracks immediately.”
Hiswords hit me full force. I couldn’t breathe; my bind was too tight.
War service. I had fifteen minutes to prepare to go to war.
Milo, what have you done?
“That was my . . . lover.” Collum tried to lie, but her tone and hesitancy weren’t fooling anyone. Especially not the dignified man at the door who had been the leader of Ralheim nearly my entire life. I was too young to remember his father, who was the viscount before him.
“I find that hard to believe Ms. Potson. But if it is indeed true, we will head to the university where he is enrolled next. We need to cancel his registration anyway.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. University was one of the few things in life Milo had, and if I went with Viscount Adis . . .
Before I even finished the thought, I shouted, “Collum, I just got home! I’m preparing now,” in my Milo voice. I was so used to speaking in it, I often wondered what my real voice even sounded like. I slinked around the corner into the bedroom I shared with my brother, quickly changing into tan, knee-length breeches and a white shirt which was loose enough to hide the fact I wore a band, and shoving everything I thought I would need into my bag.
