I shifted uncomfortably on the stoop, my shiny boots reflecting the evening sunlight. I’d seen more than my fair share of poverty, but to be faced with letting your child sell herself in order to feed the family?Thatwas what should be against the law.
“I tried workin’ in Airren,” Anwen went on, “but can’t hold a glamour fer shite. No one bought a scarf from me, even though they were the best in the market. Sat there, day in, day out, hearing their whispers, feeling their scorn. Two stalls over, this human kept at me, wouldn’t shut his fat gob. Said I should give him my scarves for a fraction of the price—not even enough to cover the cloth. I shifted the bastard’s entire inventory and laughed when I did it.”
“So this was about revenge?”I asked.
“This was about survival.”
I understood both, but revenge was a decision. A choice.
Survival was a basic instinct.
What if this had been Aveen? What if she found herself in an impossible situation and the only way to keep her family safe and fed was to break the law? Would I have it in me to hold her accountable? As much as I wanted to say the answer was yes, I knew it was a lie.
Aveen could break every single law, and I would never lift a finger against her.
That’s what happened when you loved someone. You bent rules. You broke them. You did whatever was necessary to keep them safe.
I glared down at Anwen, her tears now dry and a stubborn set to her pointed chin. “Do I have your word that you will not allow another incident like this to occur? That if you find yourself in need, you will come to the castle?”
“What good’s the word of a dead woman?”
I ground my teeth until it felt like they would crack. “I want your word, Anwen.”
“Then ye have it, my Prince.”
I nodded. Decision made. “I am giving you a once in a lifetime opportunity to change your fate. Any laws broken henceforth will be met with the swiftest, harshest punishment.”
Her hand flew to her throat, her searching eyes hopeful. “What’re ye sayin’?”
“You are hereby offered a royal pardon for crimes you have committed. It will not happen a second time.”
She hugged me before I could stop her. I peeled the woman off me, straightening my waistcoat. “If you need honest work, speak with Eava. You are not to enter the castle,” I added, wanting to keep my brother from unwanted advances. “Knock at the back door, and she will give you something to do.”
“Thank ye.”
I disbanded the tost and turned toward the exit. The moment I opened the door, the girl and little one fell inside, scrambled to their feet, and raced to embrace their mother. This would likely cost me dearly when the Queen found out.
But I’d made the best decision for Tearmann, ending the cycle of poverty and punishment.
And if the Queen didn’t like it, she could sod off.
I waited to return to the castle until nightfall, not wanting to speak to anyone about my decisions. Weary to my bones, I paused outside Aveen’s room, wanting to ask how her day was. To tell her what I’d done.
But the fewer people who knew, the better.
So, instead of knocking, I continued to my room and changed for bed. Despite my weariness, I ended up tossing and turning for half the night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Aveen’s face when she’d confessed to missing me. I missed her so much my bones ached with it. She was right down the hall, but she may as well have been on the other side of the island.
A woman’s scream dragged me from bed.
A second scream left me stumbling into the hall.
Aveen. Aveen was screaming. I evanesced to her room, finding the wards unbroken. When she screamed again, I burst inside, finding her alone, curled on the bed, her face buried in a pillow.
“It’s the middle of the feckin’ night. If you don’t stop roaring, you’ll be sleeping in the oubliette.”
That brought a scowl to her face as I knew it would. “And if you don’t get out of my room, I’m going to stab you again.”
Idle threats. Still, I closed the distance between us, sitting at the bottom of the bed and shifting my dagger. “Go on, then. Stab me if it’ll make you feel better.”