“He will come back with more men. Did ye see his face when ye bit him? He will say ye are wild. He will say I am weak. They will say yer faither brought this on us. They will say yer braither was a fool. They will look at our fields and count what they can take.”
“Maither—”
“I should have stopped ye. I should have held yer sleeve. I should have begged ye to wait. Why did ye nae wait? Why did ye nae think? What will we do when the gate opens again? Who will stand for us when they call him a traitor?”
Erica moved closer. “Maither, look at me.”
Her mother kept talking. “What will happen to the servants if they refuse to serve a new laird? What will they do to the men on the wall? Will they strip the stores? Will they burn the grain? Will they take ye to force a pledge? Tell me we are safe. Tell me ye ken how to make this right.”
“Maither,” Erica said steadily. “Look at me.”
Her mother blinked and met her eyes.
“Sit,” Erica ordered.
Her mother hesitated, then sat. She drew breath to speak again.
“Breathe first,” Erica said. “In. Hold. Out.”
“I cannae.”
“Try,” Erica insisted. “In. Hold. Out.”
Her mother tried. The breath caught, then went through. She tried again. The tremors in her hands eased a little.
“All the lairds are against yer faither,” her mother said. “They will call it justice. They will make it law. We are alone, Erica.”
“Aye,” Erica said. “We are.”
“I cannae bear it,” her mother said. “I cannae bear to watch ye carry it.”
Erica set a stool in front of the chair and knelt. She took her mother’s hands. The skin felt cool.
“Listen to me,” she urged. “Nae to the hall or to what ye think he will say on the road. To me.”
Her mother nodded once.
“Daenae worry, Maither,” Erica said. “I’ll protect us.”
“How?” her mother whispered. “How can ye promise that?”
Erica held her gaze. “Because I ken exactly what I have to do to get us out of this situation.”
Her mother frowned. “And what is that?”
CHAPTER 2
Six days later,she saddled a horse.
Hopefully, she would not miss the rest of the event if she hurried.
Her mother caught her at the stable door. “Where are ye going, Erica?”
Erica turned to her as the horse cantered out of the stables. “To the Leanan Love Festival.”
Her mother stiffened. “Surely, ye daenae mean to?—”
“Ye asked me what me plan was the other day, and this is it. I plan to find a laird willing to stand with us.”
