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“As always. Excellent company.”
“He’s a good boy,” Harlo said.
Her father laughed sharply. “Hardly a boy. He’s a man grown. One death away from inheriting the richest property in Marata, two years from being a husband—and maybe three years from being a father.”
Madeleine laughed lightly. “Well, if I have anything to say about it—as I think Ido—it might be more than three years before Tivol has children.”
Harlo’s face crinkled into a grin, and he patted Madeleine on the shoulder. “Oh, your father has wanted grandchildren ever since I’ve known him,” he said.
Madeleine absolutely could not voice her immediate reaction.I can’t think why. He was never interested in his own son and daughter.Out loud she said, “Yes, he has made it quite clear that he expects me to produce an entire brood! The sooner the better! I think he wants to found a dynasty.”
She couldn’t quite read the expression on her father’s face. Then again, she rarely could. He said, “Exactly right. I’ve amassed a fortune and I need many heirs to spend it after I’m gone.”
“And unfortunately, there is no one but you to present him with those heirs,” said Harlo.
Madeleine felt a sudden stab of grief, an emotion that visited her at the most unexpected moments. Logan had been gone nearly eleven years; she would have thought the ache would have worn down to a manageable dullness by now. But it was still a silver knifepoint in her ribs. “Well, I will do my best,” she said, speaking around a tightness in her throat. “But I amnotgoing to start breeding the instant I get married.”
It was clear that Harlo heard her buried pain. His eyes dropped to the slim gold band on her right wrist, and he patted her shoulder again. “You’ll carry that forever,” he said, so softly her father might not even have heard. “But carry it as a blessing inside your heart.”
She was so grateful for the kindness that she felt her eyes burn with tears, but she blinked them away and managed a smile. “I always do.”
Her father seemed oblivious. “Let’s take our seats,” he said. “Dinner is on the way.”
Normally, a meal with her father left Madeleine tense and on edge, but Harlo’s presence softened everything, even her father’s sharp tongue. The old priest had such a soothing presence and gentle humor that people couldn’t help but relax around him. When Madeleine was a child, Harlo had been her favorite confidante, and he had been the only person who could comfort her after Logan’s death. These days she was much less likely to confide in anyone, and rarely in need of comfort, but Harlo could still make her feel protected and loved.
The conversation revolved mostly around issues that didn’t engage her much—business and politics—since Harlo and her father were both prominent members of the Corcannon Council that ran the city. Not until they were finishing up the meal with some sweet lemon delicacy did the conversation turn to topics that more closely involved Madeleine, and then she wished it hadn’t.
“But I forgot to ask!” Harlo said. “Are you fully recovered from your terrible adventure? I heard you were attacked in a busy restaurant!”
Apparently, everyone in the entire city had been regaled with the tale. “There was a loud man brandishing a weapon, but he didn’t actually attack me,” she said. “We were all frightened, but none of us were harmed.”
Her father glanced at her before turning his eyes toward Harlo. “That is the way she tells the story, but others tell it differently,” he said. “She seems to have been the target of this man’s rage.”
Harlo held her father’s gaze for a moment, his expression severe. “And can you think of any reason someone would have singled out your daughter?” he asked. “Have you engaged in any business dealings that might have left a rival with a grudge?”
Her father didn’t seem discomposed by the harsh implications. “No. Nothing. Perhaps this is purely random aggression from someone who doesn’t even know who Madeleine is.”
“Which is what I’ve been saying,” Madeleine put in.
Harlo looked concerned. “And yet, Alastair, I do not like this! Have you thought about taking steps to have Madeleine more closely guarded?”
“I’ve thought about it,” her father said, which was news to Madeleine. “But it complicates her life to a cumbersome degree.”
“Better encumbered and alive than untrammeled and dead,” Harlo said. His gentle voice made the words even more chilling.
“So you think I would not be out of line to have her watched around the clock?”
“What? Father!No!Harlo, what have you got him started on?”
“One of the temple guards, maybe?” her father asked.
Harlo shook his head. “Think what kind of gossip that would give rise to,” he said. “All over the city, they would say I prefer your daughter to all the other lovely young women of the Council families!” He smiled at Madeleine. “It is true, of course, but I don’t want everyone to know it.”
“But I don’t want a full-time guard—from the temple or from anywhere,” Madeleine said.
“It would have to be a woman,” her father said. “So she could follow Madeleine anywhere. I don’t have any female soldiers in my employ at the moment.”
“Easily remedied,” Harlo said.
