Chapter 3 #2
I whirl around to see Mason approaching, hauling a cart behind him. He’s dressed in normal clothes—work trousers and a long-sleeved shirt—and he obviously walked here the way I did.
He’s frowning as he looks from me to the chortling guards.
“We were just being friendly, and she ran away,” one of the guards explains. He has no reason to fear Mason. Mason is a villager and has no authority here.
But he’s a big man, and that must mean something even to these obnoxious guards.
He lets go of his cart and walks over to pick up my shoe. Ignoring the guards, he brings it over to me.
“Thank you,” I manage to say over a barely suppressed sob. It’s relief as much as anything else. Maybe I was never genuinely in danger, but it feels like I’ve been saved anyway.
“Did they do something to you?” Mason asks in a low, gruff voice. “Did they hurt you?”
“No. I mean, they wouldn’t leave me alone, but they didn’t touch me. I think I overreacted.”
He glares over his shoulder. “I doubt that. They’re assholes. Getting away from them was the smart move.” He leans down to set the shoe on the ground in front of me.
With an odd, excited shudder, I slip the shoe back on my foot. “Thank you for saying that. You’re not heading to the Capitol today, are you?”
“I am. I go once a month with the best of my cheese.”
“So you reserved a motor for this morning?”
“I did.”
“Oh good. Then you must be who I’ll be riding with.” I show him my completed form.
He studies it briefly. “How were you able to get this?”
“I bribed the guy behind the counter. With a ring I scavenged.”
His sober mouth twitches just slightly. “Good job.”
“Thank you. My sister lives in the Capitol. I’m going to visit her. And maybe see if there’s anything better out there for me.”
He nods. “Good. You should.” He glances at my shoulder bag. “Is that all you have with you?”
“It’s almost everything I have. The rest I hid away so Lorraine and Aria wouldn’t take it.” As soon as I hear the dry words, I regret them. “Oh, sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“I didn’t mean to say anything bad.” Mason is engaged to Aria. I don’t want to offend him.
“Why was that bad?” He looks more confused than anything else as he takes my arm to lead me back to the bench. The guards have thankfully dispersed.
When Mason returns with his cart, he sits beside me. “Do you think your sister will let you stay with her?”
“I don’t think she can. I haven’t been able to talk to her much since she got married, but she sends messages occasionally.
I have to read between the lines since they’re public messages, but it sounds like her husband isn’t very generous.
He won’t let her visit the village, and I doubt he’ll take on someone else to feed and house.
But I have some more stuff I’ve scavenged to trade or use for bribes, so maybe she can help me figure something out. ”
He looks at me for a long time. It’s not a mean look, but I have no idea what he’s thinking. Then finally says, “Okay. Maybe something will work out.”
The driver arrives about fifteen minutes later, and the drive to the Capitol is easy and comfortable. It takes a couple of hours, but they’re not awkward or boring.
I like looking at the scenery. I like the soft upholstery of the seats and the air that rushes in when Mason cracks a window.
He doesn’t say a lot, but he asks a few things about my parents and about Annabelle.
I get up the courage to ask about his family, and he tells me about his parents, who I used to know by sight.
They were apparently kind. He seems to miss them and grieve their loss.
He helped out on the farm until he turned twenty-one.
Then, because there were already two able-bodied workers in his household, he was sent to the Capitol as a laborer.
Now that his parents are gone, he’s handling the farm all on his own.
He really does need a partner, but Aria isn’t going to be any help to him in making his farm run.
I don’t say that, of course. Even decent men are sometimes foolish in the women they choose.
Eventually the Capitol comes into sight. It’s a large city surrounded by a huge wall with one tall tower visible even from a distance. It’s the administrative tower of the presidential palace. Everyone knows that.
I’m nervous again when our motor gets in line at one of the city gates. It’s felt safe with Mason. Now I have to face this huge city all by myself.
As soon as we get through the checkpoint at the gate, the motor parks in a busy lot and lets us out. The driver tells us to return in four hours so he can drive us back to the outpost.
And that’s it. I climb out, clutching the shoulder strap of my bag as I stare around at the huge buildings and wide streets.
“Where does your sister live?” Mason asks.
I pull out the card I wrote her address on and offer it to him.
He studies it for a minute. “I know where this is. Come on.”
I gulp. “You’re coming with me?”
He blinks. He’s got very nice brown eyes. I like to look at them. “Of course. You didn’t think I’d leave you all alone here, did you?”
“I… I didn’t know. Thank you. I thought I’d have to do it by myself.”
“The Capitol isn’t necessarily dangerous. They keep a tight control on crime inside the walls. But guards can’t always be trusted, and if you’ve never been here before, it will take you forever to find it.”
“But you only have four hours. You need to take your cheese to trade.”
“I’ll still have time. Come on.” He takes the handle of his cart, pulling it behind him as he starts moving.
I have to walk faster than normal to keep up with him since his legs are so much longer, but I’m too relieved at having him as escort to complain even internally.
It takes almost thirty minutes of walking to reach a clean, well-kept street of row houses. (All the streets in the Capitol appear clean and well-kept.)
“Thirty-six is across there,” Mason says, taking my arm again to lead me across the street between the designated lines for walking.
I take a shuddering breath as I stare up at the house.
“She’ll treat you nice, won’t she?” Mason asks after studying my expression.
“What? Oh yes, she will for sure. But I’ve never met her husband. And I’m always nervous about new things. But I’ll be fine.” I square my shoulders and smile up at him. “Thank you so much for going out of your way to bring me here.”
“Of course. I’ll be here in three hours to take you back to the motor. If you decide you want to stay with your sister, you can let me know then.”
“That’s really nice of you. Thank you.”
“But I did want to say—” He breaks off, glancing away.
I stare up at him with wide eyes. “You wanted to say what?”
“I wanted to offer you another option. In case you want one.”
“What option?”
“I need someone. A wife. It’s too much work to do on my own. And you need out of that house. So if you want to stay in the village, you could marry me.” He’s trying to sound casual, but he’s not. He can’t quite meet my eyes.
I gasp, raising a hand to cover my mouth. “But… but what about Aria?”
He looks at me in obvious confusion, his eyebrows pulled together. “What about Aria?”
“Aren’t you engaged to marry her?”
Now it’s his eyes that get wide. And after the astonishment, a brief flicker of disgust passes over his face. “No way in hell! Why would you even think that?”
“Because they said… they said…” I make a choking sound as I realize that the long-expected marriage was only a reality in their minds.
They must have had it as a goal and wanted it to happen so much they assumed it would become real.
A wave of feeling washes over me—relief and amusement and excitement all at once.
He’s not going to marry Aria. He’s not so stupid and shallow.
“I’m not engaged to anyone,” Mason goes on gruffly, still looking confused. “But I got more work than one person can do. I’m not saying it’ll be easy. You’ll have to work too. But it’ll be better than living with Lorraine and Aria. And I’ll… I’ll treat you as good as I can.”
He’s gotten self-conscious again. He’s focused on the pavement beneath his feet.
I gulp. Look at Annabelle’s house and then back at him. “Thank you. For asking. I’ll… I think it’s a good offer. Can I have a few hours to think and see what the situation might be here?”
“Course you can. You don’t even got to tell me today. Just think about it. You’re good at keeping a house. Your food is the best I’ve ever tasted. And you seem… easy to get along with. I think we can make it work.” He takes an odd shaky breath. “If you want.”
“Thank you,” I say again, more excited than I can remember being since my mother walked out. “I really appreciate the offer. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
“Okay,” he mumbles. “You go on. I’ll wait here to make sure someone answers before I leave.”
Nodding, I take a deep breath and brave the front walk to the door. There’s a knocker, so I knock it.
I glance back over my shoulder at Mason. He’s still waiting there near the street, holding on to his cart of cheese.
Then the door opens and Annabelle is standing in front of me. As tiny and beautiful and clever and sharp as she always was. Her face brightens when she sees me. “Teresa! You have no idea how much I needed to see you right now!”
I’m waving back at Mason as Annabelle pulls me into a hug.