Page 4 of Stars May Burn

But I had to admit her smile was beautiful.

“Lady Cuthbert?” The shrill cry came from across the lawn.

I leaned farther over the battlements and relaxed slightly when I saw the maid hurrying over. Just a maid. I looked back to the girl, expecting her to maybe huff or roll her eyes at being discovered outside and forced by her servant to return to the party.

Instead, she had frozen. The lightness and joy vanished like a candle being snuffed out. As the grey-haired maid approached, the lady stood rigidly. Her back became straight and formal, and her face vacant.

The girl of a moment ago had completely disappeared, and the loss created a strange ache in my chest.

My mouth opened in shock as the maid took her by the wrist and yanked her around the bench, tossing her silk shawl back over her shoulders. In the silence of the windless night, the maid’s voice carried well. “What do you think you’re doing? Sir Cuthbert is bound to hear about this, and what do you think he’ll say?” She pointed to soil stains on the hem of her pale dress. “Just look at what you’ve done! Could you be any more ungrateful for the hard work that went into making this dress. You look a disgrace.”

I couldn’t believe a maid was talking to her mistress that way. But the woman I now knew to be Lady Cuthbert did nothing to rebuke her. Instead, she let herself be dragged across the grass and stood perfectly still as the servant rearranged her shawl and refastened her hair in the pooled light of a window.

The maid turned on her heel. “Follow me quickly and maybe nobody important will notice your absence. But don’t think for one moment that your husband won’t have noticed your departure or the state you’re in now.”

Lady Cuthbert followed silently. The carefree woman I had seen earlier was replaced by a mechanical doll with perfect steps, a straight back, and blank eyes angled down. I swallowed down my disgust.

How could she live a life where even her own maids were allowed to speak to her like that, yet still keep that hidden joyful part of her unscathed? The part that could feel excitement as if nothing wrong had ever happened. She was an enigma, and I wished I had her gift.

I stepped away from the battlements and tried to wash the sour taste from my mouth with the remainder of the wine. Still curious about Lady Cuthbert, I took the winding steps down to the Great Hall.

The air of the room was heavy with smoke and gossip, the king’s speech finished. Nobody had noticed my departure, and now, nobody noticed my return. I lingered in the corner—people kept out of my way—until I caught sight of the maid and Lady Cuthbert entering through the side hall. It was like her body was empty, with no trace of emotion. If it weren’t for the dash of mud on the hem of her cream gown, I would have never imagined she’d been running free and excited only minutes earlier.

The maid’s face bore an expression of masked victory and smugness. My fingers had already curled around my sword hilt, and I released them one by one. I vaguely knew Sir Cuthbert, a high-level merchant with a trace of old nobility. He was easily twice the age of the woman I now knew to be his wife.

Lady Cuthbert nodded as she was returned to her husband’s side. He barely broke off his conversation with Lord Lyrason. She looked defeated and resigned, despite her polite mannerisms. I noticed the way her husband’s lips tightened, showing a flash of anger when he looked down at her dress. My own anger rose in response, but I turned away. It was none of my business. I knew next to nothing about the family. Besides, I had problems of my own to deal with. Like avoiding being killed by my father or Kollenstar soldiers. Not to mention working out whether Lord Lyrason’s mysterious illegal activities affected the safety of my home. Yes, I should be watching the man Lord Cuthbert was talking to, not his wife. Lord Lyrason was powerful and in favor with the king, who I could only assume was ignorant of his experiments. I couldn’t show any weakness in front of the lord or let him detect any interest in Lady Cuthbert. He was shrewd, and it would only make things worse for her.

Still, I glanced back, my anger bubbling beneath a tight lid. Lord Lyrason noticed and met my eyes with a small smile. His nod caused light to glint across the lenses of his glasses, ever perfectly polite.

I ignored him, refusing to nod in return.

Rightly or wrongly, I returned my wine goblet to a servant and left before I could see anymore—what I’d observed was already enough to haunt me.

The following week, we’d left on the next campaign, half convinced this would be the one I never returned from. The king put my regiment in riskier situations with every battle; with every campaign, I lost a greater percentage of my men. Yet, despite his best efforts, I survived the Kollenstar attacks. Barely. That arrow wound still hurt.

When I’d returned to the capital nine days ago, I had heard that Sir Cuthbert was recently dead at the age of forty-three. I had been bed bound from my injury for two days in my townhouse in Highfair, but once I’d recovered enough to walk, some strange impulse led me to his funeral. I wanted to know what had become of his wife, only to see her in the talons of her father.

Then the rumors began spreading throughout Adenburg. Sophie Cuthbert was using her maiden name, Halfield, a clear sign that she was already looking for a new husband. Speculations of how her husband had died quickly followed. The physicians declared he had died of complications from consumption, but since everything worked so simply to benefit Sir Halfield, the rumors didn’t stop. The gossip had been one of the reasons I’d decided to return to Kasomere so soon after my injury; I couldn’t escape her name and the conflicted thoughts that came with it.

I couldn’t help remembering her joy and the way it had been snuffed out by those around her.

Now the rumor mill would also include my name, since her father’s acceptance of our betrothal was clenched between my fingers. I felt sick again as I read his detailed letter drawing up the terms and conditions as if it were merely a business transaction. He wanted us wed within the week. What sort of a man rushed his widowed daughter’s wedding?

I tossed it to one side and straightened my cuffs, preparing to return to my office. I shouldn’t waste any time when there was much to do.

Still, my eyes glanced back at the letter. Had he asked her opinion at all? Probably not. If he had, she would have been sure to say no.

Should I be doing this at all? I had never wanted to marry a woman against her will.

But surely life would be better for her this way?

My resolve trembled a little, but then I remembered the way her smile had cracked open her mask, and the beauty I’d witnessed beneath. My chest tightened. This would be one thing I was not going to mess up.

I needed to get Kasomere ready to receive her so she would be as comfortable and happy as possible.

A knock on the door startled me from my thoughts. I dragged a hand down my face as Callum pushed open the door still wearing his cloak and muddy boots. I was working up a scowl at the mess he was making on the carpet when I caught his grim expression.

“Kasten, we’ve got another body on our hands, and this one is really not pretty. We suspect it’s Lord Lyrason again.”

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