The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Author:Erika Johansen [Johansen, Erika]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448171156
Publisher: Transworld
Published: 2015-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

THE DARK THING

Oh, what may man within him hide,

Though angel on the outward side.

—Measure for Measure, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

(pre-Crossing Angl.)

AUGUST DAWNED BRIGHT and burning. The city stank with the heat; whenever Kelsea went out on her balcony, she could smell sewage and the less pungent but still unpleasant smell of animal flesh left to rot in the sun. Without grazing fields, many of the animals that the evacuees had brought with them were beginning to die of starvation. After a quick consultation with Mace¸ Kelsea had ordered that all farm animals in and around the city, save for milking cows and goats, be immediately slaughtered and their meat cured for siege. This decree had earned her no points with the cattle farmers of the Almont, but their anger seemed preferable to the disease that would surely spread if animals died and rotted on the banks of the Caddell, contaminating the city’s water supply.

Javel, Dyer, and Galen left for Demesne on the second of August. They departed in the dark of night, quickly and quietly, so quietly that even Kelsea did not know until they were already gone. She was furious, but Mace merely pointed out to her, in his usual laconic manner, that she had put him in charge of the operation, and there was nothing Kelsea could say to that.

On the fourth of August Kelsea found Andalie alone in her chamber and closed the door, leaving Pen outside. She had spent days quietly working up the courage for this, but before Andalie’s questioning gaze, she nearly lost her nerve. She and Pen had slept together three more times, and while it had certainly gotten better, each time an unpleasant truth had been weighing more and more heavily on Kelsea’s mind.

“Andalie, can I ask you a favor?”

“Yes, Lady.”

“When you go to the market, do you … do you ever hear of black-market items being available down there?”

Andalie’s gaze sharpened. “What is it you’re seeking, Lady?”

“I want …” Kelsea peeked toward the door, making sure that Pen hadn’t somehow slunk back into the room. “I want contraception. I’ve heard it’s out there.”

If Andalie was surprised, she didn’t show it. “It is out there, Lady. The question is how to distinguish the true from the false. And the true is always very expensive.”

“I’ve got the money. Can you do it? I don’t want anyone to know.”

“I can do it, Lady. But I wonder if you’ve considered the consequences.”

Kelsea frowned. “You have moral objections?”

“God, no!” Andalie chuckled. “I would’ve taken the stuff myself, but we never had the money. It was all I could do to feed all of my children two meals a day. I do not condemn you, Majesty. I simply mean that even I have heard the tone of the city. The people want an heir. I don’t know what happens if you take a contraceptive and it is discovered.”

“Public opinion is the least of my concerns right now. I’m nineteen. This kingdom doesn’t own every part of me.”

“They will disagree with you on that.

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