easy, untroubled. And then, as if sensing Ransom’s presence, she turned her head and saw him standing by the tree they’d climbed as children.
She stopped instantly, her smile vanishing as the surprise of the moment caught up with her.
“My duty is fulfilled,” said Sir Dalian, bowing to her. There was a wistful look in his eyes, one that Ransom didn’t fail to see. The familiarity between them showed some degree of intimacy and friendship. The worry in his heart swelled.
“Thank you,” Claire said, touching Sir Dalian’s arm, but her gaze was fixed on Ransom. As she came toward him, he noticed the sadness in her eyes, the look of gloom that had come over her.
“What are you doing here, Ransom?” she asked him, her voice still rich with a Gaultic accent, although it had faded since their youth.
“I got permission from the king to see you,” he answered.
“Of course you did, or I wouldn’t be standing here. Why didn’t you come to the tower?”
He looked down at the grass and then back at her face. Was that fear in her eyes? His courage began to melt. “Lord Kinghorn was sent to tell Emiloh the news. Her son Goff died in Pree.”
Claire’s eyes widened in surprise. “That is terrible news!”
Ransom nodded.
“Was he murdered?”
“They say it was not,” Ransom said, shrugging. “He fell off his horse and was trampled. I don’t know the truth of the matter.”
She looked him in the eye. “Was it her? The poisoner you warned us of?”
“Again, I don’t know,” he said, feeling miserable and inept. At some point he would have to admit to her that he’d almost wed that very woman, something he wasn’t proud of, even if she had used her power to sway him. “We only have the information that the herald brought. It’s all a mess right now. Sir James . . . I mean, Lord James is now ruling Dundrennan. His father died during the winter.”
“I heard the news,” she said. “I’m grateful that you were uninjured.”
If it had upset her to learn her admirer had been implicated in treason, it didn’t show. Her kind sentiment helped steady him a little.
Before he could decide what to say next, she closed her eyes and squeezed her hands into fists. “Just tell me the news, Ransom. Your storytelling is driving me barmy with suspense.” She opened her eyes again, her lips quivering. “Let me guess. The king wants you to marry Goff’s widow. To safeguard his son and heir, the little child.”
“He did ask me to do that.”
He saw her flinch, the color drain from her face. She stared down at the grass, as if she couldn’t bear to look at him. “I see. The duchy of Brythonica. It’s . . . it’s an important duchy. More significant than Bayree.”
“I told him no,” Ransom said.
She fell silent, but she still wrung her hands in agitation. Then she slipped one hand into the pocket of her gown. “No?” She looked up at him, her lashes fluttering.
“Well, I said I would defend Brythonica if he wanted me to. But I refused to marry the duchess. There is only one duchess that I want to marry.”
She blinked quickly. Then an angry look stole across her face, and she stamped her foot. “Stop toying with me, you fool eejit! Tell me now, or I swear I’ll . . . I’ll strangle you!”
From her pocket, she withdrew a small braided bit of leather with tarnished silver ends. She squeezed it hard, as if she intended to use it to fulfill her threat. He blinked in surprise when he saw it.
“Where did you get that?” he asked, gazing at it fiercely.
“Why?” she demanded. “Tell me what you came to tell me, Ransom.”
“I lost the one you gave me,” he said, stepping forward, gazing at the very bracelet he had worn. The one she’d given him at Chessy. It had even worn out in the same way.
“I found this one by the cistern well,” she said. “Two years ago? It reminded me of the one I gave you. But you were gone . . . in the East Kingdoms . . .” She looked at him in confusion.
He’d lost it going into the well at the oasis. A gift for a gift. His knees began to tremble. It was the same one. It had to be. The Fountain had brought it to her. It had intended for them to be together all along, from the very start.
“Are you going to stand