“I don’t understand.” Calish’s breaths were shallow.
The Lord set down his cup, caressing the delicate handle. “The High Priest and the Authority are offering to reinstate your birthright. It seems the gods have chosen you.”
His stoic expression broke, and I wasn’t the only one to notice. “Can you do that?”
The aging man laughed. “I can do whatever I want! Am I not making that clear? I need someone working for me that has a hunger to succeed.” He pounded his fist on the table and leaned forward to bask in Calish’s wonder. “I think you, my own flesh and blood, might just be that man.”
Silence fell in the house as the weight of Reinick’s offer hung heavy in the air.
Father took a step forward. “Son, this is not—”
“Wait.” He put his hand up to stop my father from speaking. Instead, he kept his dialogue with Reinick. “You can do anything? Anything at all?”
“So you are interested in reinstating your birthright?” He winked at my father.
“If I accept—”
Father tried to interrupt but was hushed again by his son. “Sir, if I accept, there’s something else I want.”
“Name it.” Reinick sat back, scrolling a continuous pattern on the table top with his middle finger.
“I want ownership of this house, its land, all contents,” he paused, “and ownership of Una.”
The Lord’s finger hesitated before he brought his hands together in his lap. He cocked his head to the side. “Aww, isn’t that sweet?” He glanced into the loft and met my eyes for a moment before leaving them again. “There’s a problem with that, I’m afraid.”
“Problem?” Calish shrugged rudely.
“Those things have already been paid for. Counter offers must be negotiated within ten days of the petition according to the law. My hands are tied.”
“Say it was a clerical error, and retract it. You are the Lord of the Authority, aren’t you?”
A devious smirk pulled across his aging face. “It sounds like you’re going to do just fine as a Junior Lord.” Reinick snapped his fingers at the guard. “Go get the cage.” The man darted outside. “I’m leaving you with some gifts. The river has risen more than it ever has, and we’re certain it will create new banks after Hytalia. As such, a path is being cleared higher in the hills to connect the East and West roads through the woods. There is bound to be a lot of timber lying around. I’ll leave it there for the Scavengers. I know someone in this house can run a mill, so I’ll have the parts abandoned in the field across the road; if you happen to find them, then congratulations to you and your ungrateful family. I’ll also be sure to drop a boiler and pipes since I don’t see a way for you to get hot water in this dump.”
The guard returned with a cage and set it on the floor. Perched on a dowel inside stood a bird wearing a red metal band around one leg.
“This, Calish, is for you. It’s my messenger hawk. When you are ready to accept your birthright, simply let him go and he will return to me. If you decide to decline my offer, kill him; then you can keep the cage for chickens or something.” He stood and brushed something from his sleeve. “He’ll live for about three or four days before dying of starvation. I suggest you make your decision quickly; it would be a shame for your future to be decided by a bird’s empty crop.”
Calish stood as Reinick headed for the door.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” He took his billfold out of his back pocket and silently counted out his currency. “Ergh, just take all of it.” He tossed a stack of bills on the table. “Consider it a starting bonus. You’ll need it if you want to purchase anything.”
No one reacted to my grandfather’s bribe.
“It was nice to see you all again,” Reinick said with his back toward the family. The guard opened the door, and the two uninvited guests walked into the rain without another word.
The door closed, but no one remaining inside moved. The house was completely silent; each person lost in independent thought. With no further reason to hide, I sat up, letting the covers slide off behind me. Rain belly crawled to my side, pushing his head onto my lap. The tension in the house was thick, even for him.
Calish stood expressionless next to the kitchen table, his eyes fixed on the elegant specimen in the finely crafted cage. You didn’t need to be a Seer to know what he was thinking. Since he hadn’t let it go already, there was a chance he might be persuaded to keep the bird confined.
“Calish, you shouldn’t make any decisions right away,” I gently suggested.
“What?” Marsh snapped. “You’re not seriously considering this, are you?”
“Sweetheart,” Mother corrected him, “just give him a moment.”
“A moment for what?” Father piped in. He warned his son, “He’s not an honorable man. You have no idea what he is capable of.”
Calish’s face changed as if he were awoken from a trance. “Of course I don’t. I just found out about him, didn’t I?”
“Listen to him. He’s right,” Marsh confirmed. “You’d be better off killing that bird right now.”
“I don’t mean any disrespect, but the decision is not yours to make.” Calish grabbed the little black box and the currency off the table. “If I remember correctly, the offer was made to me, not either of you.”
He reached up to the loft and dropped the items in front of me. “Put these somewhere safe.”
Father pleaded, “Son, believe me, you—”
“I’m going out for some air.” He grabbed his coat without regard to his father’s attempt to discuss it further. “And don’t touch that bird!” The door slammed behind him.
My father glared at the animal, preening itself under its wing. Rain licked his chops, and I realized everyone in the house was focused on the hawk for different reasons.
Curious what was in the black leather-bound box, I flipped back the top. Inside lay a matched pair of exquisite golden medallions. Each hung from braided chains. The larger one obviously was intended for Calish, and the smaller, more delicate one for his betrothed.
“Why is there a red jewel hanging from the partner medallion?” I asked, tracing my finger around the embellished edge of the piece. The only one I’d ever seen this closely was Blue’s, but it lacked the level of detail and craftsmanship of the one in my hand.
“It’s an Authority declaration,” Father grumbled. “It means he can have any woman he wants, no matter if she is crimson or not or if she’s wearing another man’s coin.”
Marsh stretched his neck over the loft’s floor to see it for himself.
“Did you have a jewel on yours?” I asked, knowing the timing was bad.
“Yes. I did.”
“You did?” Mother sounded surprised.
“And I removed it. It didn’t seem right to force a woman to marry me.” He snatched his coat off its hook. “I’m going to work on the pen. Marsh? You want to join me?”
“Yeah. Sure.” He spun around and followed him out.
As soon as they left, I climbed down the ladder. Mother poured out Reinick’s cup and got a clean one for me.
“Did you know Reinick was your grandfather?” she asked.
“I figured it out after a while.” I sat down at the table, taking the tea she offered. “Another man in my prison cell told me we were related.”
“Who would know that?”
I took a deep breath and watched the steam rise from my drink. Why keep secrets now? “Hawk told me.”
“Hawk?” She gasped. “He was a prisoner?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s why Reinick made the offer to Calish. Things with Hawk weren’t working out so well. Seems like they aren’t improving.”
My mother’s mouth hung open in shock. Not a moment later, she sat herself across the table from me. Her eyes bored into mine, and the already uncomfortable room got smaller with the two of us in it. It was obvious things weren’t going to get any less complicated; the least I could do was give her all the information.
She hadn’t said a word, but her posture, her stare, all demanded it.
She knew I was keeping secrets. She’d just learned about me and Calish, and not a day later, more were revealed. Was there anything left to be worried about? The darkest truths had been dragged into the light, and here we sat, my mother and me across a table that may as well have been a mile wide.
A strange calm took root in my bosom. Perhaps it was the wolf in me, although it could have been something else entirely. I met her eyes and took a deep breath. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything you haven’t said yet.”
Chapter 5
Despite the fact that Reinick’s offer festered at the forefront of everyone’s mind, we didn’t speak about it when Calish returned. The messenger hawk sitting in the middle of the room was no help, so he ended up taking it out to the hay barn for safekeeping. By the time the sun set, the pig’s new pen area was complete, and Marsh had successfully moved them over to their new residence. Anger is a powerful motivator, even for Scavengers.
My mother had made another stew out of the preserved supplies and a basket full of biscuits. For the first time ever, she served tall ales to all three men at dinner. It was a welcomed suggestion because each of them chugged it before she set the kettle on the table.
The irony was I half expected it to be this way tonight. Calish and I had planned to tell my father about the pregnancy this morning; however, our plans had been overshadowed by another equally uncomfortable discussion. The result was the same: total, awkward silence. It was so quiet that, if it weren’t for the sound of the rain on our roof, I swear we would be able to hear each other blink.
Father dug a cube of meat from his stew. “I’d like to go to the river tomorrow.”
“For anything specific?” Mother asked, probably thankful for a conversation that didn’t have to do with birthrights.
“Fishing, mostly.” He picked something out of his teeth and studied it between his fingers before wiping it on his trousers. “I thought I’d take the ox and cart to collect driftwood for the new garden beds. If any large stones have been uncovered, we might grab those, too.”
“I’ll go,” Marsh volunteered.
“Me, too.” Calish nodded.
Father cleared his throat. “We can take a peek at the new road while we’re down there. See if anything’s worth claiming.”
My older brother got up and poured himself another pint of ale, bringing the growler to the table to share.
“If you are going to be away, then Una and I will tend to the laundry. We’ll need more firewood to make sure it’s nice and warm in here. With any luck, they’ll all be dry before you get back.”
“No problem,” Marsh said, wiping the frothy mustache from his upper lip with his shirt sleeve.
It will be if you’re too drunk to carry it in.
Silence fell over the room again. The only thing worth talking about was the one thing that no one wanted to bring up. After finishing my soup, I cleared the bowls from the table. I peered out the kitchen window, hoping to see stars, only to find myself disappointed. Rain clouds generally covered the night’s sky this time of year, and tonight was no exception.
After sitting and talking the day away with my mother, my body ached to move. I longed for some sort of chore. Though it was dark, it was still relatively early, and I was too preoccupied to sleep. If we were going to do laundry tomorrow, preparations needed to be made. Thankfully, the process would wear me out, be productive, and temporarily remove me from the tension baking the breathable air of the house. I put on a men’s rain shirt, one of many in our house, and started for the door.
“Where are you going?” Marsh asked.
“I’m going to clean out Rebel’s stall.”
“Now?” Father asked.
“Why not? I can launder the clothes in the morning. Now seems to be a reasonable hour. I can rinse in the rain when I’m done without worrying about the daylight.”
“You shouldn’t be out there on your own,” Calish volunteered his assistance.
Mother nodded in agreement. “She shouldn’t be doing any heavy lifting…” She trailed off.
“Why? Because she’s a girl?” Marsh asked.
My mother had an appropriate comeback. “Because she’s still weak from her injuries.”
“You can bring me back from nearly dead, but she gets a dog bite and can’t shovel hay?”
Mother gave him a sour look, making me more willing to go outside.
Our work boots waited for us on the porch. They always seemed to get wet out there, but it was better than all the mud they brought with them if worn inside. Besides, after a while in the rain, your feet got soaked anyway. Wool socks were a must-have during Hytalia, but until we had sheep, we had to use mismatched pairs to get us through. I laced my boots tightly before setting out the buckets to collect rainwater. Calish lit the lantern and made his way to the end of the house to get the pitchfork and shovel from where Marsh had left them earlier.
“You know I’m more than capable of doing this myself,” I informed him as we climbed over the pasture’s fence.
“I just had to get out of there.” He checked over his shoulder, making sure we were alone. “Do you mind if I help?”
I shrugged. The stench grew stronger as we approached the stall. Pulling my shirt over my nose didn’t seem to mask the smell at all. “Ugh, it’s awful.”
“Go figure,” he joked.
I snapped my fingers at Rebel. “All right, boy. Let’s get you out of here so we can clean this place up.”
The horse shook his head, making his mane whip from side to side. He moseyed along, half-heartedly searching for an alternate spot at the far side of the property. Finding a suitable place under the evergreens, he folded his legs like an ungraceful marionette and laid himself down. The scene made me chuckle. When Calish asked why I laughed, he claimed it was too dark for him to see anything out there. I gave credit to the wolf’s blood for my nocturnal gift.
I waited until he cleared the straw from the stall. After we moved it to a composting pile a few steps away, I used the shovel to scrape the excrement from the dirt while Calish fetched some loose hay.
“I think I should take him up on his offer.” He piled the straw in the corner of the stall and leaned on the blunt end of the pitchfork.
“I think that would be a mistake.” I carried a scoopful of manure and soil to the pile.
“A mistake would be letting this opportunity pass.” His eyes followed me as I came back into the stall. He set the pitchfork up against the wall and took the shovel from me. “Think about it, Una. It would solve every problem easily.”
“It’s too easy.”
Calish scraped up more of Rebel’s waste and tossed it out. I should have known he would take over and let me feel unproductive.
“You don’t know him like I do. I told you about what he did to Hawk, and he’s his son. And look what he did to Father! He even tried to murder Marsh as a child.”
Oops.
Calish turned. “What are you talking about?”
I groaned at my mistake, wishing I could take it back. “It’s not my place to…”
“What did he do to Marsh? He’s never met the man.” He held the shovel upright and put his other hand on his hip. “What do you know?”
I spoke slowly and cautiously. “Our brother is not Tawl and Redena’s son any more than I am their daughter.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Where did you hear this from?”
“Marsh. And Hawk.”
Calish shook his head, turning to his work again. “I think I would know about that.”
“Hawk and Reinick were part of a hunting team during Talium. When they caught up with Marsh’s family, they slaughtered his parents and used him as target practice.”
Calish’s pace slowed as he listened more closely to my story.
“He had been left for the wolves to finish him when our parents found him. An arrow through his shoulder
pinned him there, over his parents’ bodies. Mother healed him, and they brought him home. Neither of them knew Hawk and his father were the ones who did this to him. Your newly loving grandfather made a terrible threat. If Hawk didn’t finish the job and kill Marsh, he’d strip Father of his birthright for saving his life.”
“Hawk sounds like a coward.” He spat in the dirt, returning to a more normal speed.
“What, for not killing a child?”
“No, for not standing up to Reinick.”
“You’re missing the point. No one can. Anyway, Father wouldn’t let Hawk do it. He chose to lose his birthright to keep Marsh and raise him as his own.”
As he put it all together in his mind, his body stopped moving. “Is that why he made me the offer, not Marsh?”
I nodded. “He knows he isn’t part of your bloodline.”
“Does he know about you?”
“Not yet.” I shook my head. There wouldn’t be a reason for him to suspect it unless Hawk mentioned it. “Think about it. Do you truly think he’ll allow you to marry your sister if you take him up on his offer?”
Calish stabbed the tip of the shovel into the dirt a couple of times but didn’t answer the question.
“What if he knew the truth? When he finds out he’s been lied to by the entire family, do you think he’ll give us his blessing?”
He sighed. “If you have a better idea, I’d like to hear it.”
“I thought of one…”
“Well?”
I didn’t want to say it out loud. I fiddled with my fingertips nervously, hoping to avoid his eyes.
“Una, if it’s that bad, then it’s not an option, is it?”
“Hear me out.”
“Then start talking.”
“What if I share myself with Blue—”
“What? No!” Calish was disgusted by the thought.
“Just listen,” I begged him. “If we lie together, he’ll believe the child is his. Maybe he’ll let me stay here. I’ll tell him I cannot live with his grandmother. It’s the truth.”
He shook his head adamantly. “I don’t like that plan. I’d take Reinick’s offer before I’d agree to let you do that.”
Season of Hytalia Page 5