“Broke?” Of all the things I expected to hear, this isn’t it.
Aspeth nods. “Honori holders are known for their lineage but not their monetary savvy. We’ve prided ourselves on our bloodlines and so Honori heirs have married other holders, but the problem with marrying holders is that their wealth is tied up in artifacts. Consequently, when my father took the lord holder’s seat, he had a great deal of prestige, a great deal of artifacts, and no funds to repair the hold that was falling down around his ears.” She wets her lips with her tongue. “So he decided that the way out was gambling. And since he had no actual money, he sold off artifacts. I’m sure you can see where this is going.”
“Your father sold his family’s birthright?”
Her expression grows tight. “He gambled away the small artifacts at first. Lamps that glowed a certain shade. Mirrors that adjusted your reflection to become more flattering. A bowl that would have endless sugar cubes. Silly things that merchants would love to pay for so they could say they owned an artifact, but nothing that would harm the family’s standing. But gambling is like drinking—no one ever stops drinking with just one glass, yes?”
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.”
“No one did anything?”
“What are they going to do? The family was dead, the people scattered. The king let the Raderian holders know that he wasn’t happy, but he didn’t act upon it otherwise because Raderian was now very strong and he wanted them as allies instead of enemies.” She gives me a meaningful look through her spectacles, blinking owlishly at me. “I might not know a lot of things, but I know very well the dangers of my situation.”
Brutal, but not surprising. The holders continue to have more and more power every year, it seems. “Maybe no one will find out for a while. Your secret is safe with me.”
“Barnabus already knows I am here. He’s the one I met at the inn.” She idly picks a stray orange cat hair off her sleeve, ignoring the dozens adorning her skirts. “He came to threaten me. He’s the one hiring guild teams to find artifacts at an accelerated pace so he can use them to take over my father’s keep. He doesn’t yet realize that there’s nothing holding him from taking over except for a few grossly underpaid knights who serve my father out of loyalty.”
“Your old fiancé—he’s here?”
She nods. “Demanded that I marry him.”
Everything in me clenches in anger. That fucking bastard, coming after my wife. Hot fury rushes through me and it takes everything I have not to flip a table—or go out the door to attack a lord holder. “You’re already married,” I grit. “To me.”
“I noticed.” Her tone is dry.
And there’s another thing I don’t understand. Aspeth has a noble bloodline. She could have approached any other holder’s son and suggested an arrangement between them. “Why did you marry me, Aspeth?”
“Because I needed a chaperone—”
I shake my head. “No more lies. Why did you really marry me? When you should have married a holder’s son?”
She pauses, her gaze fixed on her wrinkled, filthy skirts. She plucks a cat hair from a crease and then flicks it away, her expression melancholy. “All my life, I’ve been who my father expected me to be. I’ve been the dutiful holder’s daughter. I’ve gone to endless parties and weddings. I’ve learned etiquette and sat up in my rooms, alone, when it wasn’t becoming for me to go out and play with other children. I figured being obedient hasn’t worked that well for me so far. I might as well be someone I want to be.” She fixes her gaze on me, determined. “And I want to be part of the guild.”
