live in my House. And nor will your new bride, unless I’m mistaking the Porterfields to their very essence. So tell me: until we break that filthy bond, how do you intend to protect the little pet you’ve grown so fond of?”
Judah felt twin dull aches in her palms. Not a signal: Gavin’s fists were clenched, his fingers digging brutally into his palms. Elly still held Judah’s hand. Judah wished she would put it down. The contrast between Elly’s soft fingers and Gavin’s hard ones was distracting and difficult.
“I’ll talk to Amie.” Gavin’s heart was pounding, and that was how Judah knew that talking to Amie would do no good. “Or I’ll find somewhere safe, where Amie can’t get to her. A guild, maybe.” He didn’t want to guild Judah out. She didn’t want to be guilded.
“Difficult to protect her from so far away,” Elban said. “And guilds get raided, particularly those that accept women. Yes, a guilded woman’s life is—difficult.” The word left Elban’s lips like a breath. “What if she were injured? What if she sickened?”
Gavin’s heart pounded harder. Judah found herself breathing fast. He sounded desperate. “An apartment in the House, then. Somewhere out of the way.”
“And when she grows tired of being out of the way? When she wants to go for a stroll in the sunlight? How will Porterfield react, when they meet on the Promenade?”
Judah already knew the answer. The Seneschal had given it to her. Gavin, though, was just figuring it out. “Then—she won’t—” He stopped. His face was stoic but fear and pain radiated from the rest of him.
“Won’t what? Won’t go for a walk? Surely you don’t mean to imprison your devoted little pet, do you, heir?”
Walled into a tower. That’s where she’d be. That’s what he’d do; what he’d have to do, to keep them both alive.
“No.” But Gavin swallowed hard enough to make Judah’s throat hurt.
“What else would it be called, then, when you put her someplace where she won’t ever be seen or heard from again? Because that’s the only way to make your Lady forget her, and as long as she’s not forgotten, she’ll be in danger. And so will you.”
“You forget.” Elly’s voice rang out, clear and cutting. “Amie won’t be Lady of the City, not for a long time. I will be.”
Clearly enjoying himself, Elban said, “You? Power comes from connections, and you have none. We’ve never let you make any. You’ll look very pretty next to me on the dais, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy the time we spend together, but you’re nothing.”
Elly’s fingers gripped Judah’s. Gavin said, “I will not let either of them be hurt.”
“The Tiernan is mine, and I will do with her as I please, and you will have nothing to say about it. And as for the foundling, you will, indeed, let Amie hurt her, if that’s what she wants. Because the more attachment you show to her, the more Porterfield will resent her, and the more pain you’ll both have to bear. And the more pain you bear, the harder it will be to keep your secret, and if you fail to keep your secret, well—” Elban shrugged. “The Porterfields aren’t known for their empathetic hearts. I would not count on Amie’s love for protection, once she understands just how easy you are to kill.” He stood up. “Come here, foundling.”
Judah had no choice but to obey. The image of him next to Gavin was still in her head. Same height. Same jaw. Pain flickered on the ball of her thumb: the oldest of their signals, going back years. Going back, in fact, to this very study. Here with you.
Elban surveyed her. “What’s that stupid name Clorin gave you, foundling?”
“Judah.” She didn’t believe for an instant that he didn’t know it.
He snorted. “Do you know the judah vine, foundling? It grows in the north. It’s a parasite. Pretty flowers, but it ruins everything it touches. So I suppose it’s not a bad name for you, at that.” He smelled like nothing. All Judah could smell was cigarette smoke and the fire. She might as well have been standing there alone. He picked up the poker resting in the coals. The end was shaped with a point, a hook and a barb. “My son thinks he loves you. He has not yet learned that there’s no such thing. There is convenience, pleasure, utility and gain, and that’s all. One day, he will realize that he doesn’t love anyone at