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“He won’t be moved on the matter,” he answered, and in truth, that felt a mercy. His sweet sister would leave this place of misery and death, and even if it were not the life she dreamed of, it would be better than this one. “I’m sorry.”
Her eyes turned bitter. “Are you sorry, Keris? Do you even care that you’re taking yet another of our children away from us?”
He flinched, pain ricocheting through his chest, because he had no defense.
“Sara, it is time,” Coralyn announced, and more of the wives moved to catch hold of her mother’s arms, drawing her back. “Say goodbye.”
Sara’s chin quivered, but she squared her shoulders. “Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye, Aunties.”
Keris offered her his arm, her fingers clenching harder than they usually did as they slowly made their way through the gate toward the waiting carriage. He helped her inside while the servants loaded the few belongings she’d been allowed to take with her. Coralyn followed them in, handing Sara a long, wrapped parcel. “For you, dear one. I’ve been wanting to give this to you for some time.”
Wiping at her eyes, Sara unwrapped the parcel, extracting a polished cane sized for a child, her eyes widening. “Is this…”
“To help you walk, my love, because you will need to rely on your own strength going forward.”
Keris’s eyes burned, and he looked out the window as the carriage exited the palace.
It was always this way with Coralyn, her knowing what those of her family wanted. What they needed. When he’d been a boy, it was she who’d procured the books he’d so desired, using her own allowance to purchase them because his father had believed them a waste of coin. Even after he’d left to be fostered until he was of age, books he’d coveted would arrive for him in unmarked packages, her ability to know what he needed uncanny. And he found himself wondering what he’d ever given her in return.
They rode in silence, the carriage exiting the city through the south gate, forced to move slowly on the muddy roads until they reached the large estate where the church’s young acolytes were trained. The Veliant family had long been notorious for having little time for matters of faith, but his father was not fool enough to cut the funds used to support it, especially since it gave him an avenue for disposing of his inadequate children without question.
A pair of older women dressed in robes awaited them at the entrance, both curtseying low to Keris with murmurs of “Your Highness” flowing from their lips.
“His Majesty is giving into your care his daughter, Princess Sara Veliant, with the expectation that she be treated according to her rank,” he said, feeling Sara press closer to his side. Feeling her fear and apprehension, because it was his own.
“With respect, my lord,” one of the women answered, “in this place, there is no rank except for that which one earns in service.”
Which meant his sister would be dressed in rough garments and forced to sleep on a narrow cot in a cold room with no one to comfort her, then made to labor to earn her meals. Hard for any child, but for Sara, it would be harder. “Perhaps that is so, but outside these walls, rankdoesmatter. And there will come a time when it will beme, not my father, whom you will come to when this place has needs that faith alone cannot provide. I will be more amenable to gifting resources to those who have shown kindness to my most favored of sisters.”
Behind him, Coralyn made an aggrieved noise, but the woman only inclined her head. “The princess will be shown every love and kindness, my lord. You have my word.”
“Wonderful. I look forward to your updates on her progress, and you may expect me to visit from time to time.”
“It is our preference…” The woman trailed off as Keris met her with a cool stare. “We would be honored, of course.”
Drawing Sara away to a bench against one wall, he sat next to his sister. “If you have troubles, you will send word to me or to Coralyn. Bribe the servants to carry your messages, if you have to. But you shouldn’t fear—they will treat you fairly.” Promising anything more felt too much like a lie.
His tiny sister stared at him, her large eyes welling up with tears. “I don’t want to stay here. I want to stay with you. Why can’t you move back to your house in the city? Then I could live with you.”
His heart broke into a hundred pieces, because under different circumstances, he’d have done just that. But it wasn’t just the palace she was safer away from. It was from him. “That’s not how it’s done, Sara. You know this.”
She bowed her head and began to weep, and he pulled her against him, smoothing her hair. “It’s not for forever, sister. I’ll get you back.”
She lifted her head to look at him, surprise driving away her grief.
“I’ll need some time to do it,” he said. “But as soon as I’m able, I’ll take you away from this place.”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise.” Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he dried her face. “Except when I do, I’ll be needing your assistance for a good many things, so you must remain strong until then, understood?”
She squared her shoulders and nodded, and then her eyes drifted over his shoulder. “You should go. Auntie Coralyn is giving you alook.”
“Thank you for the warning.” He kissed her forehead. “Keep this conversation between us.” He rose, fixing the waiting women with a long stare that promised there would be hell to pay if he was crossed before offering his aunt his arm.
“I see you’ve stooped to threatening nuns,” she said as they stepped outside. “I can’t help but wonder if there’s much lower you can go, boy.”
“One can always go lower.”
