Another guard catches her arm and hauls her down the hallway as well.
What if they throw her into the pit? She doesn’t deserve such a fate. She didn’t do anything wrong. Stars, this is all my bloody fault. I have to do something.
“The books are mine!” I shout, running after them, still clutching my towel.
The guards escorting Braith stop and turn, pinning me with their dark scowls.
“They’re not,” Braith insists with a shake of her head. “I took them. Punish me.”
Doesn’t she realize that I’m trying to save her? “She’s only trying to protect me. I borrowed them from the library and asked her to keep them in her room until I could return them.”
The House Master looks fit to explode until Jeston steps forward to whisper in his ear. The older man’s shoulders stiffen. With a curse, he calls back the guards. “Continue searching for the assailant. I will handle this.”
Jeston catches our arms, towing us into the House Master’s office. The mahogany desk gleams beneath the tall fae lights on the back wall. “Don’t say a bloody word,” he hisses under his breath before letting go.
The House Master stalks in after us, the door slamming in his wake. “Do either of you understand the position you’ve put me in? First, we have a guard murdered, then they find stardust, and now this?” He kicks the chair; the wood slams against the wall and splinters.
Jeston steps forward, his hands clasped at his back. “Sir, if I may speak on behalf of these incredibly naïve women.” He shoots us a deadly look. “They did no more than borrow a few books from a library.”
“Theking’slibrary,” the House Master grits out.
“A library all the same. They had every intention of returning the books, didn’t you?” Jeston says, directing his question toward us.
Braith and I both nod.
“As if that will matter to the king.” The House Master curses again, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. “You will each receive a strike for the headache you’ve caused.”
That isn’t so bad, all things considered.
“And five lashes,” he adds.
Did he say lashes? They’re going to beat us over bloody books? Braith’s hands fly to her face, and she starts to sob.
The older man levels a thick finger at us. “But if either of you breathe a word of this, you’ll both be gone. Do you hear me?”
The House Master lifts a black cane from behind the desk. Never in my life have I been beaten for breaking a rule, and this man is actually going to hit us.
Only, he doesn’t.
He hands the cane to Jeston, ordering the younger man to take care of it. Then he stalks past, throws the door aside, and leaves us in silence.
Heaving a sigh, Jeston twists toward Braith, shaking his bowed head as he taps the cane against his boot. “For books, Braith? Really?”
She scrubs her tear-stained cheeks, her throat bobbing as she stares down at her white slippers. “I know. I’m so sorry.”
Muttering, he leans the cane against the wall to unfasten the buttons at his wrists and roll up his sleeves.
After what she has done for me, I can’t let Braith take the fall for this. “I’ll take her lashes.” Five or ten? What is the difference?
Jeston’s head tilts, and he gestures toward me with the cane. “Why are you so insistent on saving her?”
“Because she is my friend. And when your friends are in trouble, you do everything in your power to save them.” Unlike him, siding with the bloody House Master. If he was a friend at all, he wouldn’t do this.
“I’ll have you know, I saved you both from a fate far worse than this.” The muscles in his forearms flex as he adjusts his hold on the cane, reminding me of the way I held that paddle. “And Braith will take her own lashes. If my uncle decides to check and finds her unscathed, we’ll all be out on our asses.”
Glistening tears dribble down Braith’s cheeks. “He’s right, Wynn. I shouldn’t have taken those books.” She drags her fingers beneath her eyes, drawing in a shuddering breath. “Is it all right if I get it over with first?”
At this stage, I’ll give her anything she wants. “Of course.”