Page 6 of Heart of Defiance

Her tan face looks strangely solemn amid the revelers, but her dark eyes burn so fiercely I can’t look away. The waves of her black hair tumbling across her shoulders as wild as always only make her more breathtaking.

The lantern light glances across her face, and I spot the purpling splotch of a bruise on her jaw. My hand closes into a fist as if I could punch it into the past to smack down the prick who battered her.

Of course it would have been her who spoke up first, who launched herself at those soldiers rather than freezing up in fear. She’s never let all the caustic whispers stop her from doing what matters to her.

No one’s sneering at her now. Even as I watch, a couple of our neighbors raise their mugs to her in cheers, and another gives her arm a quick squeeze with a look of gratitude.

There’s something delightful about the startled awe she can’t quite hide beneath her wariness.

I saw her aunt and uncle among the dancers. What do they make of their niece’s sudden shift in status?

No one spoke against them when they kicked her out of their home at sixteen and left her to fend for herself. Trouble enough having to take in an orphan after they’d just finished raising their own children, but one who was rejected by her godlen? Who skulked around the town like she had nefarious deeds in mind?

Who could blame them for wanting no part in that? That’s what everyone murmured behind Signy’s back.

Funny how one brief act could shift opinion so quickly. I only hope it doesn’t swing back toward disdain by tomorrow.

She deserves better. She’s deserved so much better frommethan simply trying to divert a little hostile attention away from her.

Gods, she must hate me. She must hate all of us.

And why shouldn’t she? Here I am, still playing along trying to win my own game.

“What is the bint doing?” Leonhard says, peering at Signy as she moves through the crowd toward the fountain.

Between the milling bodies, I catch a glimpse of her setting the bucket down on the rim of the basin. Several chunks of broken marble have been laid out along it nearby. She picks up the largest piece of arm and hops onto the rim to hold it to the statue’s stump.

Rupert figures it out at the same moment I do. He snorts. “Of course. She thinks she can fix it. Always poking around in the trash. I suppose like calls to like.”

Deiter shakes his head. “Why’s that fountain matter so much anyway?”

The words jolt out of me in a sharper tone than I intended. “Her mother made it. It’s the last sculpture she carved before a Darium soldier killed her.”

Rupert turns his attention on me, keenly enough that my skin prickles uneasily. He keeps his voice smooth, but I can hear the undercurrent of warning. “If the woman was anything like her daughter, I’m not sure the soldier should be blamed for it. No doubt she was asking for it.”

He’s goading me, wanting to see if I’ll react. And Great God help me, the urge to slam my fist into his smug face rushes up so fast I’m not sure I can contain it.

My shoulders stiffen with tension—and a clatter of hoofbeats breaks through the music, cutting off my anger with a startled hitch of my pulse.

Most of the crowd whirls toward the arrivals: several armed men on horseback who’ve drawn to a stop at the edge of the square. My heart thuds even louder in the split second before I recognize that they’re not wearing the eerie Darium uniforms but the burgundy jackets and steel caps of the Veldunian armed forces. The hobbled remains of our army that our Darium overseers allow to handle local disputes.

One of the soldiers prods his horse forward, his bright blue eyes blazing in stark contrast with his bronze-brown skin. “Stop the music! Grab what you can. You need to evacuate the townnow.”

Chapter Three

Signy

An unfamiliar voice rings across the courtyard, and the musicians abruptly lower their instruments. I spin around on my fountain-side perch with a wobble of my pulse.

Did he say we need toevacuate?

The man leading the pack of Veldunian soldiers points across the square. "Everyone, head to the west of the town as quickly as possible. Keep going until you're well beyond the buildings. Hurry!"

With a shaky breath, I set down the bucket of supplies I brought with me. What is going on?

My uncle steps forward with his usual bluster. "Why should we leave? Are you even going to tell us what's going on?"

The head soldier lets out a strained sound, his chiseled face taut with frustration. He motions to his companions. Most of them split off to ride off through the city streets away from the square.

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