Father remained outwardly calm, but his eyes radiated cold fury.‘I have no idea.’
‘You know exactly what she’s talking about,’ I said.
Father’s eyes remained cold, as if daring me to speak again.I looked out over the crowd, memorising every gaunt and ashen face.Everyone here had lost someone to the famine in one way or another.They all deserved to know what he’d done.
‘Will you tell them or shall I?’I asked.
‘There’s nothing to tell.’
So that was how he wanted to play it.Fine.
‘Raleigh delivered regular aid to Orlfen during the worst of the famine,’ I said, loud enough for the furthest to hear.‘My father took what was meant for Orlfen and sold it in Triz, knowing that people would starve, then told us all that Triz was worse off than we were to stop us from leaving.All because he thought his position in society was worth more than your families’ lives.’
A murmur rippled through the crowd, but Father didn’t react.‘See?’he said, turning to the crowd.‘It’s exactly as I told you.Listen to her spouting the most outrageous lies just to drive us apart.That monster has twisted her mind, and you can’t believe a word she says.’
‘Haven’t you ever wondered where Father got the money for my dowry?’I called over him.
A man towards the back whispered something to the woman next to him.
‘Or why he always had just the right thing to barter when he needed it?’
There were more murmurs now.
‘How is it that we always had just enough that we could still keep horses,’ I continued, ‘when we weren’t the ones growing the food?’
‘Enough!’Father yelled.‘Don’t forget who’s feeding her these lies.Her betrothed is our true enemy.’
‘Raleigh?’I forced a laugh.‘Half of Orlfen is dead because you were deluded enough to think you could buy your way into the nobility.And when Raleigh wanted to expose you, you sold me to him to keep him quiet!’
‘Half of Orlfen isdeadbecause your husband killed them last night,’ Father yelled.
My heart stopped.What did he mean?Who was dead?Father was so far away, the world tunnelling around him.I felt myself sway, but my body felt like it was on the other side of the forest.
‘Who …’ was all I managed to choke out.
‘One person from every household,’ Yann said.He sounded so tired.‘We found them this morning.’
No.Yann and Father were both here, but that meant Klaus … Johanna … There were hundreds of households in Orlfen.Hundreds of mourning families.Hundreds dead.I looked back at the tired faces in the crowd, and the truth stared back.
The court had beat us here.They’d never meant to stop us at the inn.They were only buying time.
Father’s form blurred before me.I swayed again, then cried out as a searing pain shot through me.My throat closed up; my veins seemed to shrink in on themselves.My entire body felt like it was being torn apart and re-formed.The sun felt so hot, my whole body aflame.I couldn’t see, couldn’t think.
And then it stopped.I must have fallen, because I was on the ground in the shadow of the carriage, my head in Father’s lap while Moira and Enrique fussed.I was fine.My heart slowed to a normal pace.The pain began to dissipate as quickly as it had grown.
‘What happened?’
‘Clara, say something.’
I sat up, brushing Moira’s fingers away from my pulse point.The sun had reached the cusp of the mountain, blinding in its evening glow, but there was no fire, no unbearable heat.It was cold enough for snow, if the drought would allow it.
‘Dizzy spell,’ I murmured dismissively, finding my feet.My head still felt foggy.I leant heavily against Father, too unsteady to find an alternative.
Father glared at Moira.‘What have you done to her?She never had dizzy spells before coming up here.’
‘Shedoesn’thave dizzy spells,’ Moira snapped.‘You accused her betrothed of mass murder, no wonder she passed out.’
Only Enrique remained silent.I met his eye, hoping he would understand my silent plea for him to stay that way.He braced himself, steeling himself against his better judgement, and said, ‘We’re all tired.Can you blame her for fainting?She’s barely slept for a week.It’s too much to take in.’
