From Darkness Won - Jill Williamson [152]
“You caused her misery and left. But I had to stand outside their bedroom door and pretend I didn’t care what was taking place within. I had to stand guard, indifferent to the sound of her crying while—”
Achan shook his head. “Don’t.”
“—Riga took what—”
“I said don’t!”
Harnu gave him a pointed look, his dark eyes like arrows trained on his head. “You need to hear this.”
“I do not!”
Cortland nosed his mount between Achan and Harnu’s. “Your Highness, perhaps it’s time to move on?”
Harnu’s face hardened. “You’re just like him, now, aren’t you? Esek? Ruining lives. Barking orders. Running off to hide in the comfort of your private chambers.”
“Your Highness?” Kurtz rode up on Achan’s other side. “Shall I cuff this drudge for you?”
Achan held up a finger, but did not look away from Harnu. “I helped Gren the only way I could. The wedding would have happened anyway. It—”
Harnu shook his head.
“—would have! And you’re a fool to believe otherwise. Nothing you or I could have done would have changed it.”
“She loved you,” Harnu said. “Loved you. Despised Riga. But me… I was invisible. And I was the only one who didn’t break her heart. And she can’t see that, even now.”
This was madness. “You broke her heart every time you broke my face, or some other poor sap’s.” Achan grimaced. “If you have loved Gren always, tell me why. What about her is so grand?”
Harnu’s disposition softened at this question. He ran his fingers through his horse’s mane. “She’s kind to everyone, no matter their station. She’s loyal, truthful, and honorable. She’s a hard worker and can do as much with fabric as I can with iron. Her voice makes me calm when I hear it. And I only have to look on her face to know peace in my heart. I’ve no joy without her in my life.”
Blazes, the fool did love Gren. “Have you told her? What you just told me?”
“She never gives me opportunity. And I can’t write.”
Scout flicked his ear at a fly. “Where would you live and how?”
“I maintained Riga’s cabin. Added a second room for the child. If she allowed it, I’d live there with her. Or we could live with my father. His age has altered him greatly. The armory will pass to me when he dies, so I’ll be able to provide for her and the child. If the child is male, he’ll inherit Master Hoff’s trade. If the child’s a girl, Gren will teach her to make clothing. I’ll keep the child safe and see she makes a good match in marriage—one of her own choosing as much as possible.”
Achan stared at Harnu, enthralled by the dreamy look in the man’s eyes and weighted down by his own guilt. The idea of caring for Gren had crossed his mind only once since he’d heard of Riga’s death. Was Harnu a better man than he was? What had happened to Achan’s nobility?
He knew the answer without even thinking her name. Vrell Sparrow. She had stolen his heart from Gren. When this war ended, he would find her and do all he could to mend what was broken.
“Harnu, I cannot promise such a thing without speaking to Gren. I will speak to her, though. That much I can do.”
Harnu’s grin looked foreign on his pockmarked face. Achan didn’t think he had ever seen the man offer a genuine smile until this moment. “Thank you, Your Highness. That’s all I ask.”
Achan nodded. “Go on then. Catch up with your men.”
Harnu spurred his horse into a canter along the grassy edge of the trail. Achan watched him go, thoughts drifting like pollen in the wind.
“No one could doubt his love is true,” Cortland said. “He could be a minstrel, the way he talks about his girl.”
His girl. Achan glanced at Cortland, a man who knew nothing of the knotted past Achan shared with Gren and Harnu. And Riga.
Gren, Harnu’s girl?
Only Arman knew the answer to that.
28
“My lady, it’s time to wake.”
Averella opened her eyes expecting to see Bran. Instead, she saw the faint outline of an old bald man. She blinked and sat up to find that