CHAPTER FORTY-SIX #2
Ethenn massaged his temple, a faint smile coming to his lips. “You are a pleasant distraction from sleep,” he admitted. “But no, I think . . .” He paused, grimacing. “I think all this travel is just catching up to me. I feel . . . weak.”
Ilain eyed him, and he couldn’t tell whether her close inspection was from worry or suspicion. “Do you think you ought to lie down?” she asked, and now he could hear her concern.
After a labored sigh, Ethenn finally dropped his hand. “Probably . . .” he said reluctantly. “I don’t want you to feel as if you have to coddle me, though. You should spend the evening with everyone. I’m just going to turn in early, I think.”
Ilain reached across to take his hand. “Would you like me to ask for some tea? I always find an illus flower infusion the best cure for a headache.”
“No, I’d rather sleep,” he said, then pulled a face. “My mother used to make me drink that stuff whenever I showed the slightest sign of a cold, and now I’m permanently averse to it.”
While it wasn’t a lie, Ethenn felt guilty as Ilain’s expression showed genuine worry. “All right,” she said, rising. “I won’t stay up late, but I would like to spend more time with Vayden and Isla.”
Nodding, Ethenn encouraged her out the door carefully. She left, taking the empty stew bowls with her after a quick peck on his lips.
His mouth still tingling from the mild kiss, Ethenn shut the door.
Then he turned and walked straight for the window.
He unlatched the lock and pushed lightly on the panes to open it.
The sun had set, leaving only the faintest glow on the horizon.
With a single glance around the empty street, he proceeded to climb out.
The house sat on the hilltop, newly built in the last decade. Its stone edifice was far more luxurious than any of the other houses in Trollenston. Even the magistrate didn’t own such a home.
Ethenn climbed a nearby tree and hid, watching the building carefully. The house was still and quiet. Golden lamplight lit the windows. It appeared to be a quiet night in the household.
Finally catching sight of movement near the bedroom, Ethenn studied the shape that materialized. It was feminine in form.
He dropped from the tree, snuck across the lawn, and found the same ivy-covered trellis he’d already used once to break in.
Then he hopped over the balcony rail, thinking what a useless construction the opulent overlook was in a place like Trollenston.
The estate didn’t even look out over a proper garden.
With ease, Ethenn picked the lock on the door. He opened it a fraction, peering into the room.
Luxurious furnishings—a bed, a vanity, a wardrobe, and a settee—filled the bedroom.
A plush rug covered the wooden floor. Velvet draperies and thick wallpaper gave the room a rich air.
Trollenston didn’t have nobility, but the shrewd merchant empire of Bastien Muirren had made him wealthier than any other man in Estshire.
He was as close to nobility as the province would ever get.
A young woman sat at the vanity on the far left side of the room.
Dark brown curls tumbled around her shoulders.
A light green robe with embroidered pink flowers draped around her figure, hanging down haphazardly over the back of the stool.
He could see her face reflected in the mirror.
Soft brown skin like his, a rounded jawline, a pert nose, and deep brown eyes.
She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
Silently, Ethenn stepped over the threshold. The movement caught the woman’s attention in the mirror, and her eyes darted to him. She did a double take, then gasped.
“Ethenn,” she exclaimed in a low whisper, leaping from the seat. She whirled, rushing to him.
Ethenn couldn’t help his smile, catching her in his embrace. She smelled like lilies and other rich scents he couldn’t name. And something was decidedly different about her frame as he held her. She didn’t feel right in his arms.
Pulling back, Ethenn looked at his sister’s face. “Hi there, Rin,” he said gently.
Terrina’s expression was pinched with a smile even as tears filled her eyes. “I’ve missed you,” she said. “I didn’t know where you’d gone, and—and they said you joined the army, but . . . I couldn’t believe you’d leave me like that.”
“I didn’t have a choice, Rin,” he said sadly. “You know that.”
She shook her head, hand absentmindedly drifting to her stomach.
That’s when Ethenn realized what was so off about her figure.
“Rin,” he gasped, eyes locked on the protruding roundness of her stomach. “Are you—?”
Terrina’s smile softened. She used both hands to cup her pregnant belly, the flowing white cotton nightdress underneath her robe growing taut. “Only another couple of months, now,” she said. “He’s to be a Pyra baby like you.”
Ethenn gaped at his sister. She was five months pregnant, with less than eighty days left before she gave birth.
“He?” Ethenn asked.
Terrina shrugged. “Well, obviously, I don’t know, but . . . He feels like a boy.”
Ethenn’s stomach roiled. The bastard had gotten her pregnant. At least it wasn’t out of wedlock, and Terrina had inherited the house and fortune. But still. . . .
Four months ago, Ethenn had returned from a three-week-long hunting trip.
He always hated leaving his sister for such extended periods of time, but there was nothing he could do.
He’d moved out of Vernon’s home the moment he could afford it, providing a menial room for himself above the butcher’s shop.
But when their father died, guardianship of Terrina had legally passed to their uncle.
Though Ethenn contested to have her moved under his headship, there was no precedent in Ephria for a brother to become a woman’s authority.
Magistrate Steevensun followed the law, which stated that a woman was under the headship of her father or her husband.
As Terrina had neither, it fell to whomever her father deemed worthy in his will. In this case, that was Vernon Loxley.
Their father hadn’t known how dreadfully his choice would turn out, of course.
He could never have expected to die so early or that his brother would be so cruel to his children.
But Vernon was interested in only one thing: his success.
Upon the inheritance of two new wards, he only asked how his niece and nephew could benefit him.
Even at the age of twelve, Ethenn was required to work twice as hard to find ways to pay for their survival.
Though he’d managed to escape from their uncle’s household, Terrina was forced to stay under his roof.
So Ethenn still had to pay for her livelihood.
He hunted, he smithed, and he fought. During the few hours of the day he wasn’t working, he was with Terrina or drinking in The Wanderer.
But when Ethenn returned from his hunt those fateful months ago, Terrina wasn’t at home.
When he asked his aunt where she’d gone, the woman’s lips turned up snidely. “With her husband,” she said.
Ethenn had never been so angry. In his absence, his uncle had sold his sister off like chattel.
Bastien Muirren, a thirty-eight-year-old merchant known for his cruelly cunning business deals, had spotted the then-seventeen-year-old Terrina Loxley at a town dance.
Bastien had returned from his stint in the army six years prior and begun to build his empire through the funds and connections he’d made during his military career.
A shrewd man with a penchant for good luck at cards, he’d managed to secure himself a hefty stipend to set up his business. And his profits only grew.
Evidently, Bastien Muirren’s success in business instilled in him the belief that he could buy anything, including his wife.
Upon noticing Terrina’s great beauty, Bastien approached Vernon Loxley and offered a hefty bridal price. Vernon hadn’t hesitated to accept the deal, which was to excuse him from paying the dowry in exchange for thirty gold crowns. It was far too easy a price to accept.
And far too cheap by Ethenn’s estimation.
His sister was worth far more than meager coins. And yet, she hadn’t been given a choice.
Upon learning of Terrina’s marriage, Ethenn hurried to the Muirren estate.
He found his sister alone in this very room, just as he had tonight.
And he’d begged her to leave with him. “I have enough money,” he said.
“We can go to Olbury, buy passage across the sea to Schon, and neither Uncle nor Muirren will be able to come for you. They wouldn’t dare. ”
Yet, Terrina had rejected his rescue. “I have a duty to my husband,” she told him.
“You don’t love him,” he objected.
“No, but . . . Bastien is a good man,” Terrina said. “He’s been kind, gentle, and affectionate. He knows I don’t love him yet, but he said he hopes to earn it in time.”
“Purchase it, you mean.”
Terrina shook her head. “You know I’d never love a man for what he can give me.”
“Muirren isn’t a good man,” he argued. “He’s a snake.
He makes underhanded deals, gambles, and cheats.
The only reason he’s good to you now is because he wants something from you.
You’re a toy to him, Rin. He’ll grow bored with you, and all this goodness you believe he has will disappear.
You’ll be alone and mistreated. And I won’t stand by while that happens. ”
But Terrina refused to see reason. She insisted that her husband was trustworthy. Ethenn hadn’t understood why until now. She’d already been pregnant. Leaving with Muirren’s heir would have ensured the man seeking them out. He wouldn’t have let them escape with such a prized possession.
In the low lamplight of the present night, Ethenn gently took his sister’s shoulders between his hands. “Rin, I’m so sorry,” he said.
Terrina clutched his wrists. “You needn’t be.”