Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
I think of Magpie, and how many times she’s sworn to stop drinking only to grab the closest bottle and break her promises. With a heavy sigh, I nod. “Aye. It’s a pit that grows deeper with every drop.”
“So it is with gambling.” She moves to sit on the edge of the bed, her posture prim and proper as she speaks of her father and her life at the hold. “Father swore he would give it up. Or he’d promise that his luck would turn around. It was always something, and I’d watch as a favorite lamp would disappear from the drawing room, or an enchanted portrait would vanish.”
“Enchanted portrait?” I ask.
Aspeth makes a soft sound of agreement. “Painted upon wood. Late Prellian portrait of a young man in repose. There was a word of power inscribed upon the back, and using that would allow you to spy upon anyone in the room. It was a truly lovely portrait, too.” Her expression grows wistful. “It was one of the last things my father sold. All the treasures I loved disappeared, and I thought, well, it’s lucky that I’m going to marry the man I adore. Once he’s established as the holder’s heir,because you know a man is valued over a woman”—her words are light but her mouth twists—“I thought maybe my father would listen to him.”
“The man that betrayed you?”
Her expression grows stiff as she tries to hide her hurt. “He told me he loved me. That I was special. Beautiful. That he loved my mind. I was so very dazzled that I wanted to be with him all the time, but propriety wouldn’t allow it. I remember one day he was visiting with a friend, and I had to leave the room. I watched him through the enchanted portrait, just to see what he would say about me. Then I heard the truth. He told his friend that he found me old and ugly and was marrying me only for my title and my estate.” A bitter laugh escapes her. “My title. My estate. It’s ridiculous.”
Even though I’m furious at her, I ache at the pain she must have felt. For all that Aspeth is a holder’s daughter and more powerful than I could ever imagine, there’s a strange vulnerability to her. She trusts too easily, makes her heart too readily available.
She always had everything growing up, except people. Gwenna’s words ring in my thoughts.
“I broke off the engagement once I heard that,” Aspeth says, calm and recovered. “I couldn’t marry Barnabus. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I’d thought the marriage was transactional the entire time, but he’d made me think it was more. He lied about his reasons for marrying me, and I realized that once we were wedded and he’d cemented his position at my father’s side, I’d be useless to him. He’d find some way to get rid of me so he could marry an heiress with money. If I’m dead, my father has no other heir and no choice but to take my widowed husband, right? So I’m not needed, not after the marriage ceremony. I don’t even need to bother with giving him an heir. There’s no rival to his claim.”
I grunt.
“After that, I decided to assess just what we had left in the hold. A holder is only as strong as his arsenal, of course, and I kept finding more and more evidence that my father was no longer paying his debts, even with the artifacts he wasn’t supposed to be selling.” Her smile grows thin. “I found nothing but our old, depleted defense artifacts, because he can’t sell those. There were also two broken cups that once held liquids, a few useless toys, and a sword that previously had five charges of a word of power that caused quakes. It has no charges left and it’s just a regular sword.” She shrugs. “There was nothing left to defend the keep, and no way to purchase more artifacts. My father’s debts are enormous and even his regular lenders will no longer do business with him. He hasn’t been able to afford sponsoring a guild team for years now, so there’s no hope on that front. So I thought, well, I love everything Old Prell. I can read the language. Perhaps I can join.” She spreads her hands in front of her. “And here I am, trying desperately to keep my head.”
“You don’t know that you’d be killed.”
“Do you remember the Lysium Hold? From twenty years ago?”
Vaguely, but I can’t place it. I shrug, because I don’t keep up with holder politics.
“The neighboring hold was Raderian Hold. Raderian decided that they wanted Lysium’s land and attacked. Lysium Hold didn’t have the force or the artifacts to defend against the bigger hold. The family was put to the sword, right down to the children. The personal staff were executed and many of the people lost their lands and businesses when Raderian attacked. They razed the buildings and annexed the hold as Raderian Secondary. The king fined Raderian Hold for being bad sports and that was it, because there was no one from Lysium Hold left to complain about what had happened.”