The Knight's Daughter by S H Cooper

Author:S H Cooper
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2020-03-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Getting away from three seems to have better odds than trying to outrun a mob again, and so I talk. I tell them my name is Kitty, that I’d come to Gladfife from a small village to meet my brothers, but they had never showed, and the people in the public house mistook me for another lass.

“I don’t know why they want her,” I say, the part of my story that keeps it a half-truth. “They said something about a reward, but that’s all I know. I swear it!”

I search their faces, hoping my anxious insistence will be mistaken for earnestness. Haroheim harrumphs and looks up out of the corner of his eyes at Reena.

“If she’s lying, she’s decent at it,” he admits rather grudgingly.

I silently thank Joseph for all the stories he’s ever told me.

Reena taps a finger against her lips. “So it would seem.”

“Why didn’t your brothers meet you?” Farasia asks, still suspicious.

“I don’t know. Our father wrote them to tell them I was coming.”

I let my head hang and twist the end of my braid around my fingers. They already think of me as a little girl. If I can keep the act up, they’re likely to lower their guard, then I’ll be able to run.

“What do we do with her?” Haroheim asks. “If we leave her, the city folk will come looking again.”

“That’s really not our problem,” Farasia says. “We came to trade our fish and furs, not pick up strays.”

“She’s just a girl,” Haroheim counters.

While they talk, my eyes trail across the ground, looking for the nearest opening.

“You’re too soft-hearted, Haroheim,” Farasia scolds him.

“Imagine if it were Imogen or Freyott. Would you want them wandering the streets alone at night?” He brushes Reena, who has stayed quiet so far, off of him and pushes himself back to his feet.

“I wouldn’t have to worry about them,” Farasia says dismissively. “My children would not be so helpless.”

I believe I’ve found my way out. With Haroheim facing Farasia, he’s left a gap just wide enough for me to squeeze through behind him. I shift my weight subtly, preparing to push off from the wall and dart away.

Reena steps into my intended path.

“If your story is true, it’s not safe for you here,” she says.

“No, it is, I’m fine,” I stumble over my words, momentarily thrown off. “I just need to find my brothers.”

“Then we’ll come back tomorrow, in the daylight,” she says. “If they haven’t come by now, they probably aren’t coming at all, and it’s too late to go looking for them. Haroheim, help her into the cart.”

My protests turn to a startled squeal when Haroheim lifts me easily around my middle and sets me down in the back of the cart. I’m seated on empty sacks with my legs dangling off of the end. Behind me is a pile of small crates. Reena hops up and takes a seat next to me.

Farasia sighs. “You both are too easily won over.”

“If she gets funny, you can pull her teeth out,” Haroheim offers cheerfully.

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