Page 36 of Anathema

“He hurts you,” I said before I could stop myself.

On a sharp inhale, she stepped back, dripping water onto the floor.

“I’m sorry. I …. Please tell me. Did Mr. Moros do this to you?”

Her brows came together, clearly not wanting to say.

I placed a gentle hand on her arm. “Please. I need to know.”

Fidgeting with the cloth, she still seemed hesitant to say, but she eventually sighed and gave a solemn nod.

“He pretends to be kind, but he’s cruel, isn’t he?”

Another nod.

My stomach sank into itself, and I longed to wrap my arms around her. To let her know not every soul in Foxglove loathed the Lyverians.

A busty woman in an apron with graying hair appeared and hobbled over to us. “What is going on here?”

“Mr. Moros asked that I clean her dress. I … spilled tea on her.”

“Red God in Heaven, Danyra, you mustn’t be so clumsy!”

“I’m perfectly fine. I’ve got plenty of these godawful dresses to last me the year.” I chuckled, catching the clipped smile Danyra tried to hide.

“Well, then, I’ve got a platter of desserts and hot tea on the way, Miss. If you’d like to return to the table.”

I didn’t, though. I’d have much preferred to stay in the kitchen with the two of them. How could I possibly entertain the man, or pretend to enjoy myself, knowing he’d hurt the poor woman that way? Perhaps worse.

When Danyra walked off, Shireen smiled at me in a way that had my skin crawling. “Say the word, Miss and she’s gone.”

“I’m sorry … what?” Gone? As in let go, or executed?

“You’re to be the new madame of the house. If she displeases you, I’m happy to rid the house of her.” Still wearing the smile, she casually set plates of dessert onto a brass serving platter.

“I do not live here as of yet.”

“We’re making preparations, Miss.”

Preparations? My stomach twisted at the thought of marrying him. It was one thing when I thought of him as mildly decent, but knowing the abuse he’d inflicted changed the landscape of that. I doubted I’d have been any safer as his wife. “Do you …. Are you asking if I want you to let her go?”

“We do not let Lyverians go.” Her spinechilling words held me speechless for a moment.

“She doesn’t displease me.” Eyes squinting at the confusion, I shook my head. “I want to keep her here. In the house. Alive.” I spoke with as much clarity as I could muster, given the urgency I felt in my chest. “The spill was merely a mistake and nothing more. My fault, really. I distracted her.”

“As you wish, Miss.” A long nod, and she waved me toward the door. “Please.”

I never wanted to leave a room so much in my life. At the same time, I didn’t want to return to Moros, either.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MAEVYTH

“He’s physically abusive. I’ve seen evidence.”

Lolla brushed my hair as I sat on the edge of the bed staring out the window toward The Crone Witch’s shack in a trance of thoughts.

“What evidence?” Lolla gently combed through a rough tangle, the twinges of pain hardly noticeable with my preoccupations.

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