How beautiful they are. Each royaldnakais marked with the proud profile of the bearded King on one side and the fierce head of agrylonon the other, and oh, the weight of them. They are dense with value.
“I want you to take it all and leave today.”
When her arching order registers, I jerk my head around. “What? I’m not going anywhere—”
“We are not safe here for much longer. If you sensed something last night—”
“It was only my fear.”
“I do not believe that.” Mare eases back down with a groan. “My time is coming to an end, and I find that the only thing on my mind is you—”
When I go to interrupt, she shuts me up with that imperious raised hand. “My children were stripped of me when I was banished from the court, and none of them have bothered to try to find me or offer alms for my care and feeding. Therefore, you are the only daughter I have and you are due what worldly possessions I own.”
I blink back tears, for no one has ever claimed me.
As if she senses my emotion, she says more gently, “When I die peacefully in this bed—and we have both agreed you willnotintervene—you will have no more ties that bind here in this village. You must go, and go now, so that I do not spend my last days with all this worry.”
I funnel what has stayed in my hand back into the velvet pouch. Then I crouch and pick up the other coins one by one. I inspect them all, turning them over, though they are exactly the same, thegrylonand the King. Thegrylonand the King. Thegrylonand the—
No, there’s one that’s different. It’s stamped with a younger version of our ruler, and the back side is marked with the image of a crown. No doubt it’s an older one, from when King Rehm first ascended to his throne.
“Sorrel.”
“You can’t call me daughter and expect I’m going to leave you.”
Also, the birthing women like Elly need me. And the bairns. But I don’t speak that out loud even though Mare knows what I do.
And besides, I’m a coward. Though I have flares of strength, they never last, because it’s not my true character. Even with all this gold, I would be useless out there, crippled by my anxiety and lost in the larger dangers of Anathos.
I cannot survive outside the wall of this village.
Mare wields that gnarled finger of hers again, pointing at me now. “There comes a time in everyone’s life that they must choose themselves over others. You have to do this now. It is about survival. Take the coins, buy yourself a horse from Mr. Brownly, and leave.”
“If I use one of these?” I hold the last golddnakaup. “In this village or anywhere else? I’ll be turned in for stealing. Only members of the court can use these—and anyway, I’m not leaving—”
“Youmustgo.” Mare’s voice lowers even though it’s just the two of us. “And someone who is capable of what you are is hardly defenseless.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
“Sorrel.”
My name is spoken with such urgency, I nearly meet her eyes. And in thesilence that fills the space between us, I feel a crushing fear that thunders my heart.
“I can’t… survive out there alone,” I protest. “I’m not strong enough.”
“So find yourself someone to protect you.” Mare nods at the coins. “And those will help you—the gold can be melted down. Its value is not in the imprint of the King, but the metal itself.”
“But what about you? Who will bring you food and water—”
“My sleep these days is so deep, I have to claw my way back to consciousness, and I have no thirst or hunger. Soon enough, I will drift unto the horizon and rest eternal with my father who loved me and my mother for whom I was a shining joy. I have had my fill of Anathos, and am ready for this. My only worry… is you.”
I slip the final coin back into the pouch, and as the sweet chiming is muffled by the red velvet, I picture the mercenary in the pub, the grip of his broadsword extending up over his heavy shoulder.
“This place leaks.” I look pointedly at the puddle in the corner by the boarded-up front window. “We should use some of these to move you to better accommodations.”
“No.You will take it all and secure your future with what I have left in this material world.”
I put the small fortune back into the hidden nook and re-cover the space with the board. “I’ll return with food and more medicine at nightfall—”
