Her father sat back, watching her.
She turned the page to the previous month. Everything looked to be in order. She just needed the tallies for the remaining months.
Her father placed his hand over hers. “This is not the reason I wanted to see you.”
Distracted, she nodded.
“Ari,” he called powerfully to get her attention.
She forced her concentration away from the parchment to his face.
“I’ve been receiving many proposals for your hand in marriage,” he said contemplatively.
She bit her lip and turned back to the tallies. She was certain he had asked to see her for one reason: to convince her to marry. “And you’ve told them no, correct?”
Her father sighed. “You need to take a husband.”
“I will. Eventually.” She flipped the parchment page.
“You are at the marrying age, angel. You can put this off no longer. You must choose.”
“Why?”
“To produce heirs, of course.”
Ari gritted her teeth as defiance simmered in her blood. Was having children really her worth in this world?
He patted her hand. “It’s your duty, Ari. We all have duties.”
“If I were a man, my duty would be to take care of the people and defend the castle.”
“You arenota man,” he said sternly. “And youwillchoose a husband.”
She sighed, relenting. “It’s well, Father. I will choose a husband.”
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.
She was studying the pages again. “As soon as I get these books in order, I will speak with you about a husband.” She almost smiled at how vague her statement was. She knew exactly how to divert her father’s attention away from marriage. He worried more about the books than her becoming a wife.
He nodded, satisfied.
Her ploy had worked. Now came the difficult part of deciphering these tallies.
When Finn entered the Great Hall with Conrad, he almost turned around and left. It was crowded with lords and knights in fancy garments and leather armor. They gathered around the room’s stone walls, laughing and talking and occasionally reaching to shake hands or slap shoulders. Finn felt conspicuous standing in his worn brown tunic and brushed imaginary lint from it.
“We haven’t been here since Ari left,” Conrad murmured. “Is it me, or does the room seem smaller?”
Finn gazed at him in disbelief. It was the largest room he had ever seen. And now, it was packed with wall-to-wall people. Some of the knights he recognized, some he didn’t. “Like vultures coming for the kill,” he whispered. He knew why they were here—they were hoping to acquire Ari as a bride. Finn narrowed his eyes as they made their way through the crowd, passing a group of knights who gave them disdainful looks, a serving woman trying to evade groping hands, and a woman Finn recognized from the village who called out, “Conrad! I never expected to see you here.”
Conrad paused but glanced at Finn.
Finn nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll find Ari.”
“Don’t run away,” Conrad warned him before turning his attention to the brunette-haired woman.
Finn nodded again but realized that was the one thing he wanted to do. He scanned the room but couldn’t see Ari. At least two dozen pairs of eyes were on his back, judging him. He moved through the crush of people to the door behind the raised dais. When he entered, he was greeted by spicing aromas and heat from the hearth fires in the massive kitchen. A woman stirred a cauldron over the hearth. The air was thick with swirling smoke. Beside the woman, a man turned a spit with a fat pig on it. Another heavy female rushed in, shouting, “Where is Maria? Ale! We need ale!”
Finn immediately recognized her as the lead cook, Agatha, and began to smile.
