I heard shouting then, sharp and panicked. I spun toward the noise. I saw six horses pounding through the street, their riders clearly lacking any concern for who they might be endangering. In fact, it looked almost as though they were deliberately aiming for people. But that couldn’t be.
And I froze. Screams filled my ears. I saw the hooves pounding into the ground, so hard I thought I could feel it. My eyes were assaulted with fast shapes and shattering lines.
Then everything seemed to slow down. Sound reached me only through a muffling sensation. I couldn’t feel anything, not even the ground under my feet. I felt like I couldn’t concentrate on anything, my mind filled with fog.
I couldn’t breathe.
The world flipped again. The sound of glass smashing became brutally loud. Sunlight pierced my eyes. I could feel the mist of the morning air against my skin.
The horses were bearing down on me.
My brain kicked in and I leapt off the street.
People were desperately clawing out of the way. There were so many people and the street was narrow. One man dove against a wall in an effort to avoid the horses and seemed to knock himself out. A small child was trampled. Another man threw himself against the side of a wagon trying to stay clear. One of the riders slashed a woman in the face with his crop. Who were these bastards?
They were laughing.
Once they reached the end of the street, I expected them to turn around and take another pass, because that seemed to be the sort of people they were. Instead, they galloped away. It was baffling. What motive could they have for doing this? Who were they?
I ran to Browne’s cottage. I had to put down one of the buckets in order to pound on her door. Apparently I hadn’t dropped them when my life was in danger. My priorities were excellent.
“I have a patient!” I heard from within the cottage.
“You have more out here!” I snapped back.
A few moments later she was at the door. “What?” she demanded irritably.
“There are people trampled by horses out here.”
She frowned. “More than one.”
“Aye.”
She turned back into her cottage. “Just take that tea, Alia. You’re fine.”
“You might as well take these,” I said, giving her the buckets.
She glanced at them briefly. “Oh. Thank you. Come on, Alia.” She took the buckets and set them down beside the door. Then she stepped aside to let a heavily pregnant woman out. Browne disappeared briefly and reappeared with a pouch. “Let’s get going.”
A young man ran up. “Healer—”
“I know, I’m coming,” she interjected.
The four people I had seen injured had been grouped together. The man who had jumped into the wagon and the woman who had been whipped were standing, though the man’s arm was held strangely. The boy and the other man were laid out on the ground, pain etched on their bloody faces. The boy, about six, was crying.
It was just unfathomable to me. Why would anyone do this? How could they get pleasure from doing something like this? “Who were they?” I asked.
“That’s Colm,” said Browne, pointing at the boy. “That’s Radek.”
“No. The riders.”
No one answered. I assumed that meant no one knew.
Browne knelt beside the boy. She touched him gently and asked him questions about how he felt. He was having difficulty answering and his breathing was wet. “Someone carry Colm back to my cottage,” she said. “Lay him on the table. Be very gentle with him.” A young man stepped forward, and though he was obviously taking care, Colm cried out when he was lifted. “You need to be brave just a few more moments, Colm. Then I’m going to make you feel much better.” Browne knelt beside the man. “Where does it hurt?” she asked him.
“My head, Healer,” he groaned.
“Anywhere else?”
“I don’t—I can’t—”
“All right. Don’t worry.”
Browne put her hand lightly on his temple. I saw her whispering, but I couldn’t determine what she was saying. “You’ll be fine,” she told him. “I’ll have you taken to mine, Radek, but you’ll have to wait until I’ve seen to Colm.”
Another man stepped forward and helped Radek to his feet.
Browne grabbed my arm and pulled me off to one side. “Go to Her Grace and tell her what happened.”
“Will they all be all right?”
“I can’t be sure, but I believe they will.”
“Has anything like this happened before?”
“Not to my knowledge,” she said in a hurried, distracted tone. “Please go tell Her Grace.”
“Of course.” Who the hell were those riders? How could they be punished if no one knew who they were? And they needed to be punished. There was no excuse for what they did.
“Hurry,” she said. “They might be coming back.”
I nodded and started running. The horrible images of what I had seen kept going through my mind again and again. I kept hearing that terrible laughter. It made the back of my neck shiver.
I was seriously out of breath by the time I reached the manor. One of the results of the lack of bench dancing in my schedule. “Bailey!” I gasped, my lungs working painfully. I bent over, my hands on my knees. “Where’s Her Grace?”
“She’s out overseeing some irrigation on one of the farming lots.”
I swore. I wasn’t able to run anymore. What if those riders came back? Were they likely to? The villagers would be ready for them this time. They could throw things at the riders, if nothing else.
“I can send one of the footmen out to her,” said Bailey. “Shall I do so?”
“Aye, but I need to talk to him first.”
“Of course. If you would like to recover yourself in the sitting room, we will be with you shortly.”
I nodded, didn’t bother to speak again, and headed to the sitting room. Where I didn’t sit down on the nice furniture, because I was sweaty. A few moments later, Hiroki came in.
“You wanted to see me, ma’am?”
“You need to go to Her Grace and tell her six riders drove through the village, trampling people. Four were injured, one a child. I don’t know if anyone recognized the riders.”
Hiroki, his eyes widened in surprise, nodded. “Anything else, ma’am?”
“No, you can go. And hurry, please.”
He left.
I sighed. What a day, and it wasn’t even half over yet.
Two awful things happening in one day. The fish were the result of a spell, and it didn’t make sense. Destroying resources was never smart. As for the trampling, well, it wasn’t as though criminal activities never happened in Flown Raven. Taro and I had been robbed on our way to Flown Raven, which, granted, was not nearly as severe as what the villagers had experienced. And the riders hadn’t taken anything. They’d reaped no benefits from their actions.
So, was the same person behind both events?
I went up to my suite to bathe and get melodramatic in private about the events of the day. And the first thing I saw was the flower arrangement on one of the end tables. Bright yellow flowers in a brown straight-sided vase. A small brown cake was supported by the blossoms, and a pair of earrings hung off the lip of the vase. At the foot of the vase lay a card with the name “Marcus Pride.”
I groaned. This was a token meant to ask to start negotiations for marriage. It was something aristocrats did. It didn’t make sense for Marcus to send this to me. We were both merchant class. And it seemed kind of redundant. Wasn’t the contract a sort of marriage proposal? A proposal I’d refused?
“So what are you going to do?”
I looked up. Taro was leaning against the doorway to the bedchamber, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.
“What do you think I’m going to do?” I snapped. “I’m sending it back.”
“Are you sure you want to?”
Oh, he was being aggravating just for the hell of it. “Of course, I’m sure. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“He’s your class.”
“So?”
“He’s handsome without being too terribly handsome.”
I actually didn’t find Marcus physically appealing. “You’re being a prat, Taro.”
“I’m merely pointing out the facts.”
“The fact is that I love you.” Though it wasn’t something I particularly felt like saying right then.
“Maybe you’re just one of those people who feel they should love whoever they’re sleeping with.”
“No, I’m not one of those people.” That was a little naive, and I was offended that he would accuse me of it. “You know, I’ve had a really bad morning. I had to watch six idiots drive their horses through town. Four people were injured, including a child. I don’t need this.” I pointed at the vase. “Or that.”
I looked at Taro, waiting for his next stupid remark.
He surprised me. “Were you hurt at all?”
Oh. I hadn’t been expecting that. “No. I was well away from the danger.”
“Were the riders caught?”
“I don’t know. Not to my knowledge.”
He sighed and rubbed his face. “It’s one thing after another. Why can’t everyone just leave Fiona alone? What is it about this place that makes everyone so insane?”
“It’s a large and wealthy estate?”
“There are others as big and wealthy.”
“Not a lot, and no others are next to Kent.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just that he’s causing trouble for her.”
“You think Kent is behind these riders?”
“Didn’t think so before.” Surely he wouldn’t go that far. I didn’t think it would improve his chances of getting a positive ruling from the Emperor. Something like anonymous riders attacking the village, that wasn’t Fiona’s fault. It couldn’t be held against her. “I don’t know. It’s not like he’s the only one unnaturally interested in Westsea. The Dowager is unbalanced about it. Daris wants it. The Emperor is unusually interested in it. But all of them, I would think, would want the resources to be healthy and plentiful and the tenants able to work. Something else is going on.”
But I couldn’t determine what that might be. My thoughts were going in circles and I couldn’t make sense of them.
Taro’s response was forestalled by a knock on the door. A knock meant it was one among Fiona, my mother or my brothers. The servants just walked in whenever they felt like it.
I opened the door. My brothers were standing in the hall and they surged past me. “Is Taro here?” Mika asked, and I gestured at Taro.
“What is this?” Dias was looking at the engagement token with a curled lip.
“It’s an invitation to negotiate a marriage contract.”
Dias snickered. “From who?”
“Who do you think it’s from?” I snapped. “Read the card. Marcus Pride.”
Mika laughed. “Sister, dear, who would have thought you would be so very desired by so many?”
“Shut up.”
Mika laughed again.
Dias put an arm around Taro’s shoulders, visibly startling my Source. “We’re here to invite you on a jaunt.”
“What kind of jaunt?”
Mika put a finger to his lips. “Shh. It’s a secret.”
“We’re in the middle of something here,” Taro objected.
“Nothing that can’t wait,” said Mika.
I agreed. Some entertainment would be good for Taro. “Just don’t go to the village, aye?” And I told them about the riders. They appeared disturbed.
“Is there anything we can do?” Mika asked.
“I doubt it. They’re being taken care of by the healer.” I didn’t know if anyone was looking for the riders, but if they were, I doubted my brothers would be of any use. They didn’t know anyone in the area.
“Then we will do nothing to offend the sensibilities of the villagers,” said Mika. “We’re just taking this lad out for some fun. He’s too serious.”
“You think everyone’s too serious.” I could have used some fun, too, but I wasn’t invited. “Have a good time.”
Dias grinned and pulled Taro out of the room. Mika bowed to me then followed them.
It was good that my brothers had taken an interest in Taro. They were sort of family to him. He would benefit from exposure to a family that wasn’t a nest of poisonous snakes.
I looked at the engagement token with a sigh. It was ugly and irritating. I got one of the footmen to take the token back to Marcus Pride.
Chapter Eight
I had buried myself in a book when I heard another knock on the door. I suppressed a sigh. I didn’t really want to see anyone. I played with the idea of not answering. A third knock forced me to my feet.
It was Marcus. Surprised the hell out of me.
“How did you get up here?” I demanded. “Someone should have sat you somewhere and brought me to you.”
Marcus shrugged. “I bribed a maid to let me up. Because I’m pretty sure you would have refused to see me if I’d given you any warning that I was here.”
I glared at him.
“Was I wrong?” he asked.
No, he was not. I stood to the side to let him in. “Have a seat.”
He did. “You sent the opening volley back.”
I took a chair opposite his. “You couldn’t have expected anything different.”
He rubbed his eyes, and I noticed that he was pale and looked exhausted. “We really need this marriage to go through.”
I felt a touch of sympathy, which was inconvenient.
“I’m sorry you’re in a difficult situation, I really am, but I’m not going to marry you to get you out of it.”
“It’s not just my father and me, you know. It’s my sisters. It’s my blind uncle. It’s our servants. It’s all of our workers. It’s everyone who relies on us for their livelihoods.”
Yes, I knew that. I didn’t know much about my family’s business, but I knew it involved a lot of people. A lot of people depending on the success of the holders and traders. “I’m sorry for that.” I knew what it was like to have to rely on money and not have enough of it. Flatwell had taught me that. “I belong to the Triple S. My place is with Taro and where the Triple S chooses to put me. There’s no changing that.”