“You will do this,” he says.
The only thing that keeps me from arguing is the threat in his eyes. “I will. Because I choose to. Because I know what’s at risk. Because this will be the last thing I do for you or this family, and when I am done, you will leave me in peace. I will earn the tunnel key and my freedom and I’ll get it without argument.”
My parents look at each other warily. After an agonizing pause, my father nods.
“Fine. If you wish to abandon your family when this is over, that’s on you,” my father snaps. “Divine deliver us from ungrateful daughters who don’t understand the precarious place this family is in.”
I ignore the prayer even though it chafes. Today is too important to take the bait.
“Perhaps you could enlighten me as to the peril of the situation. Do you believe the Havenwoods are a threat?” I know the ethos of this family is that everyone is a threat, but I want to understand if he sees that threat as specific or more general.
He crosses his arms. “I believe that Mountain Haven might be outside of our walls, but they were still our people. I had a responsibility to them. I failed them ten years ago, and I can only assume they place blame on me.”
“Even though you were here in the city.”
“They had been asking for help manning their wall,” he says curtly.
“And you didn’t grant it,” I finish.
He pauses for the briefest moment, and I know there’s something he’s not saying. My father straightens. “They’ll be here any moment. There will be time for more questions later.”
He storms out of the room with my mother on his heels, and Gaven smirks at me from the doorway.
“Seems like that went well,” he says, leaning against the doorframe.
“Will you be accompanying me to Fallen Hold?” I ask.
“You should probably stop calling it that before you meet your new husband and in-laws.”
I wave a dismissive hand and pause in front of him.
“Yes, I’ll be coming with you. I’m your bodyguard. Where you go, I go. It’s a non-negotiable for your parents.”
I hate the relief I feel knowing he’ll be there.
Gaven straightens and tilts my chin up to see my face in the light pouring in the window. “Your eyes don’t look right.”
I swat his hand away and pretend I don’t know what he’s talking about. “I’m fine. I feel better than I did last night. You can stand down.”
He nods. I thread my arm through his, and he leads me down the stairs to the first-floor hallway and toward the sitting room. My heels click on the marble tiles.
A strange, nervous rumbling settles in my stomach at possibilities I hadn’t even considered until now. What if he’s old enough to be my father, like my last husband? What if he has terrible, barbaric forest hygiene and rotting teeth? All I know about him is that he has magic that won’t be disclosed until the marriage contract is signed.
I hesitate, and Gaven pauses, turning to look at me.
He lets out an exaggerated sigh. He’s always sighing like he’s the only adult in a city of children. “I already met him and the parents this morning when I delivered their formal invitation to the signing. What do you want to know?”
Suddenly, I wish my family were normal—wish that I was surrounded by the comfort of my sisters as I go to meet the man I’m supposed to spend my life with. But I do this with just a bodyguard and my parents, who have only ever seen me as the perfect weapon for an alliance, my magic so stealthy that my act of murder would be perceived by any outsider as an act of love.
I know that the Havenwoods used to come to the city back before the fort fell, but I never met them. My parents didn’t want Aidia or me meeting any influential magic families until they were certain who they wanted us to be paired up with. The two youngest daughters from the Carrenwell family were a prize, and while Aidia had the benefit of a glamour and her light magic to sneak out without her bodyguard noticing, it took me much longer to learn how to evade Gaven.
Now I wish I had tried harder. Maybe I could have glimpsed my future husband at the last Dark Star Festival before Mountain Haven was attacked.
I glance toward the door. “Is he?—”
“He’s much younger than the last one, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Gaven waves a hand at me vaguely. “A bit older than you, I think, but not by much. Handsome enough, I suppose, with—the hair and eyes.”
I grin at the discomfort on his face. “You’re so eloquent when you describe suitors.”
