“Nothing rest won’t cure.”
He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead and frowned. “You’ve a fever. Tell me what you need? That tea with the peppermint and ginger?”
She waved him off, her entire arm aching from the effort, as if she wore lead weights. “Where’s Alek?” If anyone was going to play nursemaid, she wanted it to be Alek.
“So it is true. You’ve agreed to marry that…that…”
“That what, Papa?” She wanted him to speak those ugly, vile names. “The man I loved since I don’t even know? The man who was my dearest childhood friend? The man who saved me from being mauled last night? The man who came to help us? That?”
“He’s a monster, Solenne. You can’t deny it. The evidence is obvious.”
In retrospect, perhaps, but she had not been looking for symptoms. Alek captured her attention in so many other ways.
“I won’t let you throw yourself away on this wastrel. You need to do your duty to this family.”
“My duty?”
“Yes, your duty. I’ve indulged you, so some of this is my fault.” Godwin paced the room. “I let you carry on this…this flirtation with Alek. I had hoped it was a passing fancy. You’ve always been so responsible. Luis is the fanciful one. I never expected my practical, sensible Solenne to entertain a man with such low prospects.”
The words out of her father’s mouth might as well have been in another language. He indulged her? Godwin had done nothing but make demand after demand on Solenne, always framing it as her duty to the family and letting her guilt make the difficult choices.
“I’ll send him away. Immediately. He told that Wodehouse girl, but I can say she misheard in the confusion of the fire. Everyone knows that Charlotte is a silly thing, and Alek has not endeared himself with the neighbors. No one will believe it.”
“Enough!” Her voice boomed in the air, and the wind stirred, whipping her hair in her face and rustling pages of the open book on the bed. “I gave up university for Luis’ education. I run this household because you won’t. I’ve been digging our finances out of this mess, and I even agreed to be the one to marry for money so that Luis could follow his heart,” she said, nearly shouting. “What have you sacrificed?”
His face went red with anger. “No child should speak to their father with such disrespect.”
“I’m not a child,” she replied, her voice cold and even.
The sky outside the window darkened, and the wind picked up speed. Soon rain would pelt the glass.
“He’s dangerous. His entire line is tainted. Your mother knew. She told me to send him away, but I owed a debt to Maksim. He’s the reason she’s gone. He cost me my Amalie,” Godwin said.
Green curtains framing the open window snapped in the breeze.
“Mama was reckless.”
“Do not speak ill of your mother.”
“No. I’m tired of pretending that she was perfect in every way. I love Mama very much, but you know she was reckless. The accident was only remarkable in that she succeeded in killing herself.” Amalie had minor accidents in her workshop regularly. No one thought anything of the flickering lights or the smell of smoke.
Godwin clenched his hand, then drove it into the wall. Solenne jumped.
“He was there! He was there, and he did nothing to help her. I should have slit that mongrel’s throat when I found him and cleansed the earth of one more beast.”
Lightning flickered across the sky, followed by the rumble of thunder. The hair on the back of her neck and arms stood on end. She had never heard her father speak with such hatred in his voice.
“He was dangerous then, and he’s dangerous now. Don’t you see? He broke your wrist.”
Solenne unconsciously rubbed the fractured wrist. She and Alek had been sparring. He was taller and stronger than her and didn’t mean to hurt her. “It was an accident,” she said.
“No. I saw his eyes. The beast peered out that day. He slipped and lost control. That’s why I sent him away.”
“Then why did you allow him to come back if he’s so dangerous?”
A shrewd looked passed over her father’s face. “I’ll admit, it is useful having access to someone with his abilities. Vile, but useful. His grandfather, who had the same affliction, was an unparalleled hunter.”
“His grandfather had the same affliction?”
“He didn’t tell you? My, my. What other secrets has dear Aleksandar been keeping from you?”
Thunder clapped, louder.
“Do not twist this around. You knew what he was when he entered the house. Did you know I was his anchor?” She did not pause for him to answer. “You suspected. What did you think would happen?”
“That you would behave with dignity and decorum,” Godwin snapped. “I couldn’t expect Alek to restrain him, but I expected my daughter to know her place. It’s not too late. I can persuade Chambers to take you back, even in your soiled state.”
Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed, deafeningly loud. Icy rain came in sideways through the window.
She hated her father at that moment. Godwin had been selfish in the years since Mama passed. She excused it as part of his grief. She had never thought him to be so calculating and mean-spirited, and all the more fool her.
“Marry me off and keep Alek on a leash like a dog. What a deplorable scheme,” she said.
“Do as I say, for once in your wretched life. Chambers—”
“Will never take me back because he ended it. Him!” she shouted, voice nearly drowned out by the rain. “Close the damn window before the carpets are ruined. That’s another thing we can’t afford.”
“I am your father. Do not speak to me in that manner,” he retorted, but still closed the window.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose, exhausted. Her father’s argument was nonsensical and boiled down to demanding her to obey out of filial loyalty. She found herself hard pressed for such feelings. “If you wanted to marry me off, why keep me here in Boxon? Why have I not been sent to Founding for the season?” Charlotte had gone often enough and always invited her.
“Dresses and parties? With what money? I needed you here.”
The dissonance of his demands infuriated her. Marry well, but never leave his side.
He wanted obedience, pure and simple. He controlled every aspect of her life, and Solenne understood that she would never be free of him as long as she lived under his roof.
“The harder you try to control me and Luis, the more we’ll fight. Eventually, you will lose us.”
“Luis does as he is told.”
“You hardly know him at all,” she replied. Her brother had grown while he was away at school, and not just in stature. He had a questioning mind and a stubborn streak to rival her own.
Godwin crossed his arms over his chest. He likely intended it to be a stern gesture, but it read as defensive, protecting his belly. “I will not allow this union. You will not be allowed to stay.”
“Alek is not without his own property.”
“A ruin.”
“Then we’ll seek a charter in another town. There is always a need for hunters. If you force me to choose between my family or Alek, I will always choose Alek,” she said, speaking with conviction.
He huffed. “Then we are at an impasse.”
“So it seems.” There was nothing else to say on the matter. She wished she really was a witch and could hex him, just a little. Instead, she fluffed the pillows on the bed with more force than necessary.
A throat cleared. Alek stood in the doorway, carrying a tray and teapot. His hair was wet and his face ruddy, as if he took a hasty bath. From his expression, he heard every word.
“Sir,” he said coolly. “We won’t stay where we’re not welcomed. As soon as Solenne’s ankle can bear it, we’ll leave.”
“That won’t be necessary. You are…useful.” Godwin frowned, as if the words were bitter in his mouth. “I can put you to use on collecting bounties, if nothing else.” He
left, slamming the door in his wake.
Rain against the window filled the silence. Alek set the tray down at the bedside table, the dishes clattering.
“Always pragmatic,” Alek said, his voice almost sounding complimentary.
“I don’t know how you can be kind to him. He said the vilest things about you.”
“All true.” He poured a cup of tea and stirred in a spoon of honey. She caught the bitter aroma of willow bark.
She accepted the cup, relishing the heat seeping into her aching fingers. “And your grandfather? Is that true? He was like you?”
“So Godwin claims.” Alek poured himself a cup. “If he was alive when I was a child, I don’t remember him.”
“And your affliction? It’s inherited?”
“I do not know. My father did not have this curse.”
“Affliction,” she said. “No one talks about my fiancé in such a manner.”
With a brow quirked up in amusement, he blew across the cup before taking a sip. He grimaced at the bitter taste.
Curiosity spiked in Solenne. “Does it taste different to you? Foul?”
“It tastes like chewing on a tree,” he answered.
“Ah, nothing unusual there. It’s vile, but useful.” Funny how Godwin had said those same words about Alek. “Add honey,” she said.
“Does it bother you that any children we may have would be like me?” he asked.
She lifted a shoulder, tempted to share Luis’ witch theory. Perhaps the witch and the wolf cancelled each other out. “It could be a recessive trait. Exposure via a bite activates it.” She blew on her own cup of tea before sipping. “I hope they’ll be smart enough to avoid the bitey end of a werewolf.”
Alek sliced an apple, feeding her slice by slice. Mechanically, she ate. The bitterness of the tea masked the sweet crispness of the apple, or perhaps that was the effect of the fever. Rain continued to drum against the windows. Wind rattled against the house. Eventually, she yawned and her eyes grew heavy. Sleep had been so fitful and elusive, yet now she wanted nothing more than to curl up on the bed and listen to the rain.
“Sleep,” he said, pulling her down. She rested her head on his chest, the golden thread between them humming with contentment.
Chapter 19
Aleksandar
Boxon Hill
Marechal House
* * *
The fever broke the next day, leaving Solenne weak and listless. The headache lingered, making it impossible to read. Her foot kept her immobile, even though she hobbled about the room and thought she was being secretive, leaning heavily on furniture for support. Her pride prevented her from asking for help to the toilet, and he’d let her keep her pride.
Charlotte visited frequently with her notebook of wedding ideas that grew at an alarming rate. “You’re not upset, are you? Alek said you wouldn’t be. And why should you be? I have Lionel, and you have your Aleksandar.”
“It is either the fever or the headache, but I don’t remember agreeing to a double wedding with Charlotte and Chambers,” Solenne said. He patted her hand and opined about the virtue of knowing when to go accept defeat.
So, that happened. A double wedding, just like in a novel.
Luis kept them updated on the werewolf that attacked her. The beast had been trapped in Chambers’ barn and burned to death, so that situation reached its conclusion. Not enough of it remained for Luis to say if it was the one that attacked her and Miles on the full moon, but everyone agreed that it must be.
Alek made himself a constant fixture, of course. He only left her bedside to fetch a tray of food or more tea. She was beyond tired of tea. One morning he disappeared for a few hours, returning with the smell of woodsmoke and charred flesh. The beast that attacked her had not warranted a burial, instead it had been hacked into pieces and burned until only ashes remained.
Godwin only visited when Solenne slept, and then only briefly. It was as if Alek and Godwin could not abide being in the same territory together. They bristled and postured, but standing watch over Solenne was very much Alek’s responsibility and he would not back down.
They did not speak. When one entered the room, the other left, which suited Alek just fine. He resisted the urge to ask Luis about Godwin’s mood or how he took the news of their engagement. The worried look in Luis’ eyes was enough.
When Solenne asked him what they would do if Godwin proved impossible to live with, he told her to rest and focus on getting better. He’d figure it out.
“Better? Bed rest is insufferably boring,” she complained.
Alek knew what Solenne would never admit: with nothing to do and unable to read, her mind spun in circles, worrying about the problems she knew of and the problems she had no means to foresee. To give her the diversion she needed, Alek read aloud until she fell asleep, sometimes continuing on until his voice rasped. He chose the most worn, well-loved books, figuring they had to be among her favorites.
After five days, Dr. Webb declared her fit enough for short excursions. No long, rambling walks about the countryside. No running from monsters.
“I really don’t plan for such things,” she said. “Now take me out of this wretched room. I cannot abide it one second longer.”
Alek took her to the stone circle on Boxon Hill for an outing. Invigorated by the cool fresh air and sunshine, her energy quickly lagged, requiring him to carry her to the top, where she found Luis and Miles waiting with a picnic lunch spread out on a blanket.
“This is marvelous. Thank you,” she said, accepting a plate.
A bright, clear day, the prairie rolled out westward from the hill in waves of grass, turning gold after a long summer. Autumn and the harvest would be upon them soon, along with cold rains, snow and dreary gray days. From this vantage, Alek could not tell which were native grasses and which were planted by humans. At this distance, it all looked the same.
This was the edge of civilization. Humanity had settled further west, but the untamed wilderness pushed them back. It was hardly an inspirational story, but practical. Humans had not been on the planet long, in the grand scheme of things. Humans planted their seeds, bred their animals transported as frozen embryos—he had no idea what that meant or how it worked—shaped the landscape, and still, the land rejected humans. It was beautiful and wild.
“Is it true you went into the West Lands?” Luis asked. “How far did you make it? Did you reach the mountains? The city in the mountains?”
Luis continued to pepper Alek with questions until Miles interrupted to remind him it was time to return to the forge. “I’m making my own armor,” Luis announced with pride. “Isn’t that amazing?”
Solenne leaned her back against Alek. “Tell me I do not wear that ridiculous expression when I look at you.”
“Do not ask me to lie,” he replied. She elbowed him. When he regained his breath, he asked, “Are you well? Do you need to return?”
“Not yet. I missed the sun. The thought of returning to my bedroom feels confining,” she said. Though she would not admit it, Alek could tell that the short excursion drained her energy. “Is it true about your grandfather? Tell me again.”
“All I know of Maksim, I learned from your father. If there’s more, we have to ask him.”
Solenne frowned, clearly disliking the notion of speaking to her father. “I like that way you said we.”
“You’re my anchor.” His arms tightened around her and the thread that bound them together sang with happiness. “You can’t get rid of me.”
“What are we going to do? Charlotte is planning this wedding, I have no idea how we can afford even half of it, and my father is…you know how he is.” Stubborn. Inflexible. That went unsaid. “If we stay, he’s always going to order you around like a servant.”
Godwin did that now. “We can’t live under his roof and avoid him forever.”
“We can try. It’s a big house. He’s avoided me for the last few days.”
“It’s a bit easier when you’r
e immobile.”
“Alek, I’m serious. I don’t think I can live with him after what he said, what he planned to do.”
Yes. Marrying Solenne off to the highest bidder while keeping Alek chained to her side, unable to leave his anchor.
“Hardwick House is standing,” he said.
“With four walls and a roof?”
“Yes.” Barely.
“I noticed you failed to describe it as habitable.”
“It was empty for a long time, but it is habitable. The groundskeeper kept it repaired. No broken windows and the roof is solid. Mrs. Suchet was the housekeeper when my parents…for my parents. I don’t think she ever left or plans to leave. There are a few tenant farmers, but they’re used to looking after themselves,” Alek said.
The Hardwick’s ancestral home was not as grand as the Marechal’s house, but it produced some income. Since the curse forced him to flee back home to hide, he had not cared enough to make repairs or upgrades to the property. Now he regretted his lack of action.
“It has—had—a library. Nothing as extensive as yours, but the mice have not chewed up every book to pieces.”
“How long would it take to travel there?”
“Three days direct but five by coach.” It was not an easy journey with no direct road, requiring frequent coach changes.
“Oh. I don’t suppose it matters. It’s not like I’ll be a frequent visitor,” Solenne said.
He heard her grief at seeing her brother infrequently, if ever, and that hurt him. “Fallkirk needs a hunter. It is a few hours by coach.”
“But your house—”
“Has done well without its landlord in residence and will continue to do so. The charter was granted to another after my parents’ death.” He imagined Mrs. Suchet would continue on splendidly without him.
Solenne made no reply, staring off into the distance. The sun neared the horizon, giving them perhaps an hour before it grew dark. The days were growing shorter, and the equinox would arrive soon. He wondered what that cycle would be like with his anchor firmly in place. Before, Solenne had been an idea, a hope, that gave him the thinnest possible tether back to his humanity. Maintaining control had always been a struggle. He felt stronger now but also stable, like shifting forms would be a choice, not an inescapable burden.
Wolf's Bane Page 19