Page 42 of Trapped By Vengeance

Eloise gasps and glances around. She seems to be considering jumping in. “Wereyouhuntingus?”

Yes. “I was fleeing from my father. Did you not think it strange that I was a noblewoman traveling alone?”

She wrinkles her nose and studies me. “That’s a good point . . .” Eloise looks off into the distance.

“What is it? You can ask me anything.” I smile sweetly.

“What is your father’s given name? It’s not just Baron, is it?”

I laugh, surprised. “I actually don’t know. He’s been around so long that I thinkhehas even forgotten.”

Eloise’s eyes widen. “Oh! Myaba’sfirst name was Matthias.”

The oars nearly fall from my hands. “I thought your father’s name was Konrad?”

“No, that’s myabi‘s name. Konrad took me in.”

“Konrad didn’ttakeyou, did he?“ I thought I was Konrad’s first abduction, but mayhap he is a serial kidnapper? If that’s the case, I really need to reconsider my taste in men and not let myself get so distracted by the sweetness of their blood.

I won’t have to feel much guilt over Konrad’s fate, though.

“Oh, no.” Eloise shakes her head like the thought of Konrad kidnapping anyone other than me is ridiculous. “Konrad was my ‘cousin’— really my cousin and not justcousinlike we kinfolk call each other. But when our family was killed . . .”

My mind goes back to the dream Konrad woke me from. Eloise’s father must have been one of the men Konrad came upon. And the woman he found dead wasn’t his wife, but his sister-in-law.

“I know I need to remember them more,” Eloise says suddenly, her voice barely a breath. “Remembrance is the seventh and greatest of the Kinfolk Tenants. But it just hurts so much . . .”

If I weren’t holding the oars, I’d be tempted to offer a gloved hand in comfort. “You won’t forget your family. And if they can see you from the Third Heaven, I think they would understand if you have to wait until days to come when you are stronger to let yourself remember them.”

“Like how I can’t be a kinsman avenger until I’m older? So, Konrad is?” She wiggles her nose.

“Uh, yes. Exactly that. About that . . . I’m not familiar with the concept of a kinsman avenger. I mean, I’ve heard of it before you and Konrad, but I’m not an elf, so . . .”

“Oh. Well, I’m not sure if it’s actually legal in Constantinium though it once was in Haya. But since the Emperor legalized a night of our slaughter, even after we have been loyal citizens for centuries, I don’t really care.” Eloise gives a decisive shrug with a sniffle.

I lean back with the oars. “I don’t care about legality. But what all goes into being a kinsman avenger?”

“Per the Fourth Scroll of the Elder, if someone slaughters an elf in cold blood, it falls on the closest kinsman of age to bring about vengeance.”

“And what are the parameters of this vengeance?”

Eloise pets Sir Pigeon like a nervous tick. “It does not please the Creator for innocent blood to be shed. The only way to purge the land of its guilt is to wash it with the blood of the guilty.”

Speaking of blood makes me salivate, but I control myself like the mortal like I’ve been pretending to be for so long— even if it’s no longer necessary. “Further killing is makes it right? But didn’t the mortals determine killing one fashioned in the Emperor-God’s— or Creator’s image was wrong after we discovered your elvish texts along with the Second Revelation?”

She wrinkles her nose. “Didn’t stop your kind on the Night of the Broken Walls.”

I hold up my hands as much as I can while holding the oar. “Hey, I’m an estrie, remember?”

“Which are removed from the Creator’s image after their blood is tainted, whether elf or mortal.”

“Same as werwölves.” I arch an eyebrow.

Eloise drops her gaze. “Well, Konrad’s different. And anyway, the reason it’s wrong to kill someone made in the Creator’s image is because only the One Who gave life has the right to take it away. To take innocent life is to forfeit your own in the Creator’s sight. So, whoever takes the guilty life that has polluted the land does His will and purifies the nation again.”

“Which is what Konrad believes he did to the monsters who . . .” I let the words dangle since it seems so wrong to speak of things to a child, even if she’s experienced them.

“He did what was right, even though it was hard.” Eloise crosses her arms. “You know, estries are accused of taking their own lives when they allow themselves to be re-created by an estrie sire out of the image of their Creator. That’s why they are supposed to be killed on sight.”

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