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“Mhm.” Arkhady flattened his back against his chair. He blinked, waiting.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t...” Tyr coughed, dragging hard on his throat as he cleared it. “Do for her.”
“Or to her, it seems.” The man was unreadable.
Tyr pretended to comb his hair back to sneak in a brow mopping on his forearm. “I assure you, there was not... I have never... That is, she was always...”
“Don’t hurt yourself, Penhallow. Speak plainly.”
“I love her, sir,” Tyr announced. He didn’t fight the smile spreading across his face. Arkhady deserved to see how happy his daughter made him. “My family loves her. The child wasn’t planned, but I would die for them, just as I would die for Ana. And since I don’t know how tonight will go, sir, I feel compelled to assure you my intentions toward Anastazja are to ask her to be my wife, once the horrors are behind us.” Tyr clutched the seat of his chair. “But first, I must ask you foryourpermission. I know I’m not of the same breeding as the Wynters, that I’m not a Vjestik or the caliber of man you wanted for your daughter, but I believe I make up for any deficits in passion and dedication and loyalty and—”
“Penhallow.” Arkhady grimaced. “Stop. Please.”
“Sir?”
“Wynters are... Vjestik first. Highborn second. You are neither, are you?”
Tyr shook his head. His heart deflated. “No. No, sir.”
“And you suppose I am concerned about this?”
“I assume so, yes.”
“Hmm.” Arkhady stared down the length of the table. “I should be. My father was. Wynters were given the stewardship of Witchwood Cross from a matter of practicality. We weren’t like our peers across the kingdom, and they knew it. When Niko weds a Dereham, it will be the highest we have risen in many years. But the Derehams, while good and just lords, have done nothing for us that we have not paid our share for. We have always relied on ourselves, our community, and though the Penhallows are neither Vjestik nor highborn, they have shown themselves to be of true quality and belong here as much as anyone. As much aswe,once settlers ourselves, belong here.”
Tyr bowed his head low. “I... thank you for that, sir. It means a lot to hear you say it, and I know it will mean a great deal to my family. Witchwood Cross is home to us.”
Arkhady had a faraway look in his glossy eyes. “And this is what Anastazja wants?”
“I believe she does,” Tyr said. He ran his sweaty palms down his trousers. “Though I’ll respect whatever answer she gives.”
“And this offer is not because you got her with child, is it?”
“No,” Tyr started firmly. “No, sir. That was a surprise to both of us. She’d been so diligent with her grimizh—”
“Notanother word!” Arkhady exclaimed, hands up in surrender. “You understand she’s my child. My little bird. In my mind, she’s still... still ten—eleven—running around with mischief and fire and all the potential in the world. Those days are not so far away for me.”
“Right.” Tyr winced and kicked himself mentally. “Right. Of course. Opros. My apologies.”
“And you’ve considered what this would mean for you? Ana will take my place, sooner than she should have to. Are you prepared to accept the mantle of stewardship and all it comes with?”
Tyr hadn’t considered it at all, and didn’t want to. The prospect was as daunting as everything else ahead of them. But he would sail to Beyond if it was the path required, if Ana was waiting at the end. “I am.”
Arkhady shakily stood. Tyr started forward in case he stumbled, but the steward found his own footing. “I told Ana I would never again deny her what she wants. If this... Ifyouare what she wants, then you have my blessing.”
Tyr gripped his chair with hard relief. “Hvala, sir. Hvala.”
The steward hobbled to the broad, wheeled chair beside him and lowered into it. The agony on his face was palpable, but there was peace at the edges. “Gratitude is not something I will have earned again for many years. But I will accept yours as a promise. A promise to do better by Anastazja than I did. While I may not look the part of a formidable foe these days, Tyreste Penhallow, you’d be wise to remember the man I once was, for I fully intend to be him again.” He gripped the wheels of his chair and nodded toward the door. “Let’s rejoin the others and ready ourselves.”
Chapter28
A Hundred Ravens
The Ravenwoods met them outside the old abandoned hunting lodge north of the Wynter estate. They’d been there a while by the time Ana, Tyreste, Ludya, Grigor, and Addy showed up on foot.You can fly ahead,Ludya had said, but she didn’t know if she could ever fly again. If shewantedto. If she even should.
“Ah, there you are.” Elyria’s feathered shoulders rose in an animated flutter. “Where’s Arkhady?”
“His energy is spent,” Ana said as she and her party gathered to fill out the other half of the semi-circle formed by the Ravenwoods. “He’s been asleep for years and still has waking to do. He wanted to come, but I assured him my heart would feel less afflicted if I knew he was safe at home and not suffering up here in the foothills.”
