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“I have no—” I started until the hood of the tallest figure blew off her head in the wind, and I was able to see her face. “Bricklynn?” I said in shock.
Nicolette shot me a reproachful glance. “Who’s Bricklynn?” She sounded pleasantly jealous.
“She’s my—” I waved a hand, twirling my fingers. “She’s one of the king’s legitimate children. The oldest daughter.”
Her jaw dropped. “You mean, she’s your sister?”
I blinked. Sable had been the only one I’d ever thought of as a sister. The others had never had much use for me. I’d even taken a couple of beatings for Bricklynn when she’d angered the king. And I never received a thanks for any of them.
Squinting, I realized Bricklynn had two of the king’s other daughters, Dewla and Payne, with her, as well as—
Oh hell no.
Roloff, the soothsayer, trailed behind them as if trying to catch up. Cheering, he pointed at me and called, “See. Didn’t I say we’d find help if we went this way?”
Dismounting, I set my hands on my hips and frowned at my half sisters while they approached at full speed as if the hounds of hell were after them. “What the devil are you three doing out here without—umph.”
They plowed into me as one, wrapping trembling arms around my waist and sobbing as they clung.
“Farrow! Oh, thank God it’s you.”
I gaped at the clinging girls, then met Nicolette’s gaze over their shoulders to find that she seemed as boggled by the whole production as I felt. She and her bodyguard jumped off their horses, approaching cautiously.
I turned to the soothsayer for answers. “What the hell, man?”
I had wanted to hurt him desperately at the castle for betraying me to the king, but he appeared rather pathetic just now, panting to catch his wind as he rested his hands on his bent knees and wheezed.
Since he seemed unable to answer, Bricklynn pulled back enough to look up at me and blurt, “She’s gone stark raving mad. That’s what the hell!”
“It’s true. She—she tried to kill me,” Payne announced, looking up with large eyes that filled with tears, while her bottom lip trembled.
“Oh, you poor little lamb,” Nicolette said, tugging her from me. “Come here, sweetling.”
“She tried to kill all of us,” Dewla added as Nicolette cuddled six-year-old Payne into a comforting hug.
Completely lost, I demanded, “Who tried to kill you?”
“Kalendria!” Bricklynn screeched as if that should be obvious. “Pay attention. She sent assassins after us, worried we were a threat to her bloody fucking crown. The woman’s lost her damn mind, paranoid we all want to overthrow her and take her stupid throne, because we have royal blood.” Then she snorted bitterly. “Like I’d even want to look after this piss pot pathetic excuse for a kingdom.”
“She already killed Crickett.” Dewla hugged herself as she continued to tremble with fear.
I cocked my head. “Who the bloody hell is Crickett?”
“Her daughter!” Bricklynn roared, once again giving me a glare as if I was supposed to know that. “Your sister. Did you not even bother to learn her fucking name?”
With a flare of understanding, my mouth fell open. “You mean the babe that was just born?”
I didn’t want to care if some infant I’d never even laid eyes on had perished. The girl should’ve meant nothing to me. But an ache spread through my chest, anyway. She could’ve grown up to be like Sable, or some different, interesting, worthwhile person. Either way, she should’ve gotten the chance to live and be who she was going to become.
So, when Bricklynn raged, “Yes, I mean the babe that was just born,” I hissed out a regretful sigh. “The queen’s so cracked in the head she had her own infant child murdered this morning just to secure her reign. And now she’s after the rest of Torrance’s progeny, you included.”
Payne peered up at me and began to suck on her thumb, even as she rested her cheek against Nicolette’s stomach. “You’ll help us stay alive, though, won’t you, Farrow?”
“You risked everything to help Sable,” Dewla reminded me, arguing her case as if I’d already denied them. “Well, we’re just as much your kin as she was.”
“I—” I started, not sure what to say.
But dammit, they were going to make me care about them, too, weren’t they?
