“Beautiful,” he murmured, so quietly she was sure only she heard.
Then he stepped back, his voice rising so all could hear. “As the offence happened on my land, I believe I have the final say over the punishment. Is that not correct?”
The magistrate stiffened. “Technically, yes, but as the local guard discovered him, it falls under my purview—”
Halverton raised a hand. The magistrate fell silent.
“I will take charge of her punishment,” Halverton declared. “The guards and the magistrate are dismissed.”
The local men hesitated, but Lord Halverton’s soldiers marched forward, surrounding Aoife.
Cormac and the villagers stayed where they were.
Halverton’s gaze returned to Aoife. “You have a choice,” he said. “Come live in my house as penance for your father’s actions, or take fifty lashes and a week in the cells.”
A sharp intake of breath rippled through the crowd. Her father cried out; Cormac’s arm went around him for support.
Aoife’s throat closed. Fifty lashes was unheard of. Fifty was death.
He smiled faintly. “If you come with me, you will not live as a prisoner. You will live as a lady. You’ll want for nothing. But you will never leave.”
Her voice failed her. He leant in closer.
“I cannot take my eyes off you,” he said. “The moment I saw you, I knew I must have you.”
It wasn’t flattery but coercion, the icy stare of an older man who held all the power.
Her father pulled himself away from Cormac to throw himself at Halverton’s feet. “Please, my lord, I beg you, don’t do this.”
“Silence,” Halverton said, cutting him off with a flick of his hand.
His eyes returned to Aoife. “I will give you a day to decide. Tomorrow, I will come to collect you.”
Chapter 4
Aoife stood, shaken, as Lord Halverton turned and went inside. The crowd thinned as villagers dispersed with backward glances and awkward murmurs.
Her father came to her and pulled her into a rough hug. “You shouldn’t have done that. I could have withstood it.” He moved back to look her in the eye. “We’d have been all right. Your siblings could survive without me, but not without you.”
His voice sounded distant, though he was right in front of her, as if she were hearing him underwater. This could be her last day or her last day of freedom, the last time she’d be in her own house, the last time she’d live with her siblings.
She was running before she had time to think.
By the time she reached the square, her lungs were burning, and the truth of what she’d done had caught up with her.
Her brother and sister were playing with other children in the village square. Aoife dropped to her knees and pulled them into a tight hug.
“What?” Eoin squirmed. “What’s going on?”
Maire wriggled too. “Aoife, I can’t breathe.”
She held them a moment longer, then let go. “Sorry,” she said, forcing a smile. “I needed a hug from both of you.” They didn’t need to know what was going on, not yet.
They exchanged a puzzled look.
“Go on,” she told them. “Go play.”
They didn’t need telling twice. They ran to their friends, laughing easily the way only children do.
