‘There, that was easy, wasn’t it?’Father said.‘Now we can have a lovely evening together.’
Evening.He’d said that before.‘I can’t stay long,’ I said.‘I need to be back by sundown.’
‘Sundown is hours away,’ Father said, which was true.At this time of year I was usually in bed before the sun had fully set.‘Relax, enjoy yourself.Let me get you a drink.’He rang for Johanna, who appeared in the doorway like an apparition.
I moved to embrace her as I must have done a thousand times, but she flinched away, crossing herself.Lina and Katya were one thing, but Johanna?
Father pretended not to notice.‘Wine, please, Johanna.For three.’
She nodded, cast me one last suspicious look, then vanished.
‘Ignore her.Johanna’s become superstitious in your absence.’
‘It seems the whole town has,’ I remarked.
Yann snorted.‘I wonder why.’
Father shot him a look and changed the subject.‘What will happen if you’re not back before sundown?You’re not in danger by being here, are you?’
‘No,’ I said, too quickly.‘No.The road is difficult at night, that’s all.’
‘Nothing to do with your nocturnal fiancé, then?’Yann asked.
‘Raleigh’s out of town,’ I said sweetly.‘He said I was free to visit the village if I got lonely while he was away.So here I am.’
‘He’s out of town?’Father repeated.
‘Hunting,’ I said.Then, realising how that sounded, I added, ‘He has a lodge on the Bavarian border.He says the game is better there.’None of this was true, but it sounded like the sort of thing someone might say if they’d had more than a handful of proper conversations with their betrothed.
‘Yann,’ Father said, ‘a word?’
Yann excused himself and they left me alone once again.Johanna returned with the wine and two goblets.She set them down in front of where Father and Yann had been sitting and began to pour, ignoring my attempts at conversation.Then, without any indication that she ever knew I was in the room, she left.
I took the goblet intended for Yann and drained it.
After several moments, Father returned alone, smiling the way he always did when he had something to hide.‘You’ll stay for dinner,’ he said.‘Yann’s gone to fetch us some bread.’
‘Oh no, please,’ I insisted.‘Raleigh has supplies delivered from outside the region.There’s plenty of food for me up at the castle.’
Father laughed and threw an arm around me.‘Things have changed around here since you’ve been gone.There’ll be enough for us both.’
That didn’t sound right.Not enough time had passed to truly make a difference.Dams could not be dismantled overnight.Even if Raleigh had sent out the orders the night we’d made our deal, it would have taken weeks to safely let the water through.At the very most the dam could only have been down a month, but most crops took longer than that to grow.How much had Father managed to secure in the city?
‘Tell me you’re not burning through the stores,’ I said.
‘You needn’t worry about that.’
‘I do worry,’ I said.‘Don’t get complacent now that the river is back.There’s still a drought, and Vienna won’t send aid as long as the war goes on.If you run out of stores, that’s it.You’ll be back to where you were a month ago.’
‘Spoken like a true princess.’
I struggled to find the right reply.‘I’m not a princess.’I sighed.I repeated the story of my deal with Raleigh.Unlike Yann, Father didn’t immediately condemn my choice, nor did he press for details I couldn’t give.Instead he clapped his hand on my shoulder and held my gaze seriously.‘You’ve done so well to survive this long.I’m proud of you.’
My eyes started to burn.I didn’t realise how much I’d needed to hear that.‘Thank you,’ I whispered.
A burst of banging upstairs shattered the moment.I jumped, looking to Father in alarm, but he was unbothered.
‘Don’t mind that.I’m having repairs done.Come, it’ll be quieter in the dining room.’
