What Amaris said the other night had stayed with him. She’d askedif people married for love. Every day, people met at the temples across Godwin and said their vows. Why should he be any different?
“Do you forget you don’t have a choice in the matter?”
“We all have a choice.” Theo attempted to sit up.
“That is a fantasy. You don’t have a choice in who you marry, you didn’t have a choice that you became a soldier, and you didn’t have a choice when you went off to war.”
Theo stopped his shifting, his hands gripping the edge of the bed.How dare he!While Theo had been living a life of misery for three years, shut up in a prison for two seasons and tortured, Luther had been home. He’d gotten to see Adelaide become a woman and Jeremiah race around the manor. He’d learned about political structure and how best to send his troops to die.
“Don’t speak of the war to me,” Theo seethed, refusing to face his brother, to give him the satisfaction of seeing the anger in his eyes.
“There’s no need for dramatics. You lost a few good soldiers. There will always be more to follow you. You even brought Esaias and your friends Gris and Sephardi home. There’s no need to go on acting sour.”
Acting?He gritted his teeth against his flinching muscles screaming to attack, to lunge at him and pummel his face into oblivion. That Fastrada face. Theo didn’t feel he deserved his last name. He and Adelaide were far more Burchards than Fastradas. They acted and looked the part of their mother’s bloodline, unlike Luther.
“You don’t get to speak to me about who or what I lost. You have no idea what it was like.”
“All wars are the same, people fighting for power. People die, Theo. It’s a part of life.”
The only person Luther had ever lost was their mother. He’d been eight when she’d passed, but he’d never been to battle or war. He’d never looked death in the eyes or watched someone he trusted his life with die.
“You’re blinded and arrogant,” Theo growled.
“And you’re severely misplaced. Maybe when I take my place as Duke of Luana, I’ll appoint my own chief.”
Theo didn’t stop to allow him to see the relief settling over him. “You’ll drive this place to ruin.”
“You’re doing a fine job of that all on your own.”
The door swung open, followed by laughter, warming Theo’s heart. Adelaide and Esaias passed over the threshold, but their movements ceased as they spotted Luther at Amaris’s worktable. Adelaide’s smile faltered, but she regained her composure, putting up a front.
She grinned, coming up beside Luther and nudging her fist into his shoulder. “Have you come to wish Theo a quick healing?”
Luther turned to Theo, his face shrouded from their view as he flashed a look of warning. “Of course, I would hate to see what could befall Luana without his unrelenting protection.” He closed the book and darted down the steps, his shoes clacking.
Esaias slammed the door, muffling the sinister echo. “It still perplexes me how we’re all even related to him,” Esaias grumbled, jumping up onto the worktable. “He’s dreadful.”
“You didn’t have to sit beside him at supper for the last three years, hearing him complain about how much longer the war would last.” Adelaide reclined in the chair closest to the hearth, studying her jacket sleeve and brushing off an invisible piece of lint.
“We have a problem,” Theo blurted out. There was no sense in dancing around it. “The duke is planning to send Amaris to Elric after the Conjugation.”
Adelaide sat up, and Esaias clenched his fists.
“What happened to proving herself?” Esaias asked.
“He never planned to let her go,” Adelaide cut in.
“What about herbetrothed?” Esaias began, adding extra emphasis as he rolled his eyes.
“He beats her.” If he made an appearance, Theo would ram his dagger through his gut.
Theo had mentioned Derek to Esaias, in the case he came looking for Amaris while he was confined to his bed, but he hadn’t shared further about her circumstances. Any intelligent person, though, would’ve been able to put it together, but the whites of Esaias’s eyes expanded as his lips gently parted. He was a stronger fighter than most, but he hardly paid attention to detail. He’d be one to forget his head if he had to put it on every morning.
“Lord Freville’s family wants answers and for someone to pay for his death.” Theo leaned back against the stone. He winced, but he forced himself to lean into its cooling touch through his thin shirt. Amaris had removed the bandages since all the wounds had finally scabbed over.
“Then we’ll help her escape. If she stays here, she’s as good as dead.” Adelaide took the lead, pulling a dagger from her boot and twirling the tip and hilt between her fingers.
“I won’t allow either of you to be associated with this. I’ll sneak Amaris out during the Conjugation. If I’m caught, it’s my burden, not yours.”
