“What?” Sarian’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You’re not coming withus?”
“Evidently not.” But Riann softened his tone, as his friend’s shock seemed genuine. “Lord Tyrook believes I’m too valuable to risk sending me to the capital, where a more generous noble might snatch meup.”
“Stingy bastard,” Sarian grumbled. “If he’s so frightened of losing you, he should offer you more pay. Roisen knows with your skills, you deserveit.”
Riann smirked. “Perhaps I’ll ask him for a raise then,” he said, though he wasn’t quite sure if he would. Lord Tyrook was a temperamental old codger. If he was in a good mood, he might simply refuse, but if Riann caught him on a bad day, he might very well find himself out of ajob.
“If you do, I’d wait until after we’re all gone,” Sarian said. “Then, when there are only a few knights left to defend the castle, you can tell him that if he refuses, you’ll be on your merry way. That’ll put him in quite apickle.”
Riann snorted. “That is either the best idea you’ve ever had, or the stupidest. It will either work stupendously, or Lord Tyrook will agree, then toss my arse out the moment the rest of youreturn.”
“Good point.” Sarian made a face. “Give me some time. I’m sure I’ll think ofsomething.”
Riann shook his head, reluctantly amused. “In the meantime, why don’t you tell me what the real news is, since it clearly has nothing to do with mymisfortune?”
“You may change your mind about that once I tell you,” Sarian said, giving him a pained look. “I’ve heard that Lord Sowell of Thrimm has asked for Tariel’s hand and has not yet beenrefused.”
Riann stiffened. He’d met Lord Sowell a few times—he was a fat, odious man with wandering hands. Riann liked to think of him as a pig draped in gold cloth—a thin veneer of wealth and manners spread over a lump of greed and ugliness. He could not imagine Tariel wedding someone likehim.
“How long ago did Lord Sowell ask for her hand?” he asked. His interest was hardly unusual—half the men in the castle were in love withTariel.
But, Riann thought, a little smugly, he was the only one of them who had ever kissed her. A stolen moment in the moonlit garden, when he’d come upon her quite by accident. She’d been crying, though to this day he knew not what about, and he’d taken her into his arms to comfort her without a second thought. The sensation of her soft, full lips, tinged with the tang of salt, still filled many a daydream of his, and though the two of them had never spoken of it, he often found himself detouring by the garden late at night, hoping to run intoher.
But he never had run into her alone again, not before today. And he knew damn well why. Tariel would never risk being caught in his embrace, not when the consequences were so severe for both of them. As the brother of a woman who was suffering similar consequences now, he knew all too well what could happen if Tariel was found in the arms of a man who was neither her husband nor herintended.
Yes, it was best to get out of here before he did something they would bothregret.
“Two weeks ago,” Sarian answered, drawing Riann’s attention back to the matter at hand. “I can only imagine that Tariel’s mysterious patron is either considering the match seriously, or their reply has been delayed for somereason.”
Riann let out a huff of disgust. “I don’t see why Lady Tyrook would give her to Lord Sowell but not to any of the men who’d asked beforehim.”
Sarian shrugged. “I imagine that if Lady Tyrook doesn’t get an answer from Tariel’s benefactor soon, she will agree to the match. She’s been wanting to get rid of Tariel forages.”
The thought filled Riann with rage. Tariel had had so many perfectly acceptable suitors, men who were handsome and titled and would have treated Tariel like the prize she was. Instead, she was about to be handed off to an old, fat drunkard who had already gone through twowives.
It’s just an idle rumor,he reminded himself, turning his attention back to his horse. Besides, it wasn’t as if Tariel was completely powerless in the matter. Once the question was brought to her, Tariel would simply refuse, and Lord Sowell would turn his attentions elsewhere, just as the dozens of suitors before him had. The woman he loved could never be given to such a hateful old villain, not if there truly was any justice in thisworld.
5
After Tariel leftRiann in the orchard, she fled back to the castle and took solace in her tower room. Her heart thrummed fiercely as she threw herself on the bed, which only increased the pounding in her head, and she curled her body around a pillow, closing her eyes and praying forrelief.
Why, oh why, had she thought it was a good idea to visit Riann? His wound had been little more than a scratch, and would have healed just fine on its own. Spending time with him alone in the orchard, flirting and daring to touch his face, had been a terrible mistake. Her body ached with want, and it had taken everything she had to leave him in the gardens when what she had really wanted to do was find out if that kiss they’d shared two years ago was every bit as good as sheremembered.
But she could do no such thing. Not when she had promised to abide by Roisen’s tenets. If she could just hold out a little bit longer, surely he would finally bless her with a husband who could take her away from Castle Tyrook. She could finally have her own estate, and the protection of a husband. So long as she kept him happy, and continued to hide her magic, she would besafe.
As the hours stretched on, the evening meal came and went. Her stomachgrumbled,
but Tariel could not bring herself to move from the bed with her head aching so ferociously. Every time she thought it was becoming bearable, she would sit up, and the pounding would startagain.
Was this Roisen’s way of punishing her for having forbidden talents? Was she destined to suffer through these terrible migraines the rest of her life? No matter how piously she behaved, how often she prayed, the god still refused protection when these episodes hit. It was almost as if he were taunting her into using her magic to findrelief.
No,she told herself stubbornly. She could not give in. If this was a test, then by the gods, she wouldprevail.
Tariel wished that there was someone who she could talk to about all this. But the only confidante she’d ever had was just as equally off-limits to her as Riann, and she hadn’t been able to speak frankly to him in years. As she stared up at the ceiling, a young man with silver eyes and a gentle smile swam into her vision, and she smiled back at him. Calrain. The red-haired man she had grown up with kept to the clerk’s office most days, toiling away, but once upon a time, they had been fast friends. Oh, how she wished the two of them could sneak off together the way they used to, with books in their hands and their heads full of dreams…as foundlings, they’d shared a unique bond, and had once promised each other that should the day ever come, they would run away together and seek out adventures in the wild unknown, just like the heroes in the books they hadread.
But those had been childish fantasies, and as the two of them had grown up, circumstances had forced them to grow apart. Calrain was destined to become a Brother of Roisen, and she was destined to become some man’s wife. There could be nothing betweenthem.
A knock on the door startled her, nearly splitting her head in two. “What is it?” she called weakly. The effort was too much, and her voice came out more like a whimper than aquestion.
