Page 12 of An Honored Vow

Elaran’s neck tensed. It was a sad story, but not unheard of. Surely Gerarda had told her of the families we were sent to discipline when such a union was discovered.

Elaran shook her head. “But she lived … After her child was discovered, her entire family would have been exposed.” Elaran took a step back. “She told the guards that she didn’t know. She begged them to spare her while her family paid the consequences of her actions?”

I bit my lip. It had not been a guard who had been begged to. It had been me. Though it was not Victoria who had been on her knees.

“I was the one dispatched to dispense the king’s mercy that day.”

Elaran’s eyes went wide and she stilled, little Julian nestling further into her shoulder to sleep.

“I told the Shades to take the family to the city circle.” I cleared my throat. “Aemon liked his punishments to be conducted in public for everyone to see. And fear. It was my blade that cut each of their palms; it was I who discovered Victoria was Mortal and the rest of her family was not.”

Elaran’s lips snarled. “She trusted you because you spared her.”

I scoffed. “No, she hated me for it. It wasn’t Victoria who begged for her life that day. She was so calm she would have tied her own noose if I’d asked her.” I kicked at the grass and looked up at the city. In almost thirty years, so much had changed and yet so little. “But her husband pleaded first. He swore that Victoria didn’t know. That his daughter, who was barely eight, didn’t even know. He swore he had deceived them all.”

“And she agreed to this?” Elaran pursed her lips in disgust.

“No. Victoria said nothing. But her parents came to her defense. They had never known the truth about their son-in-law or grandchildren. They corroborated his lie.”

“And you believed him?”

I shook my head. “Of course not. But why should all three die if I only needed to kill one?”

Elaran’s shoulders fell. “Oh, Keera.”

“Landyn was killed by my blade and hung in the city circle on my orders.” My voice sounded far away, like it wasn’t my memories I was divulging but instead some story from long ago. “I made sure the children didn’t see it. That was the best I could do for them. The son was given to a kind agent in Cereliath with a small plot of land to farm. He kept his wards’ paperwork up to date and allowed them some leave after each harvest so Victoria was still able to see her son.”

“And the daughter?”

I met Elaran’s gaze. She already knew what happened to young and able-bodied girls in the kingdom. “I let her have her last evening with her mother, and then Willa was brought to the Order to train.”

“What happened to them?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Idris was stopped by some guards on his way back to Cereliath. His paperwork was in order, but they insisted it was a forgery. He was beaten and left on the edge of his agent’s property.” I swallowed. “He didn’t survive.”

A tear rolled down Elaran’s cheek. “And Willa?”

“She trained hard. She was a favorite of Myrrah’s.” I smiled, remembering the ambling little girl who would leap from post to post in the training grounds dreaming of the days when she would get to join the Shield at sea. “She died during her Trials. I brought her body back to Silstra. I thought a mother should see her daughter one last time. Have the chance to bury her properly. She deserved that much.”

“How did she ever agree to work with you when you caused her so much pain?” Elaran’s words were not hard with judgment but rather breathy with disbelief that someone could be that forgiving.

I shrugged. I didn’t know the answer to that either. “I think because she was a mother to Halflings. She loved them with all her heart and saw what choices they had to make—she had to make—to give them the best chance. And then when that was ripped from them, how to make the best choice for their survival. She had been angry at needing to make those choices for so long that by the time I brought her daughter back to her, she could see that I was forced to make hard choices too.”

Elaran readjusted Julian on her hip. “How many Mortals have helped you along the way?”

I sighed, tallying them up in my head. “A few, but not many. It was too dangerous to give Mortals the chance to prove themselves.It puts everything in jeopardy.” I beat my palm against the hilt of my dagger. “But Victoria knew of many Mortal parents hiding their Halfling spouses and children over the years. She helped them hide in plain sight and move when they were close to discovery. She even managed to help some hide before the soldiers could get to them once their families had been found out.”

Elaran took a deep breath. “She was remarkable. To take all that pain and fight so tirelessly with it. With no care for the consequences.”

“She was remarkable.” I nodded. “But I think Victoria always knew the path she forged would end with her death. Yet she fought anyway.”

Elaran took a step forward, and I was grateful her questions were done. The best parts of Victoria were entangled with the worst parts of me.

“I always thought if we were brave enough to take the kingdom to war that it would end in so much bloodshed either there would be no Halflings left standing or no Mortals. I never pictured a world where our kin won and there would still be Mortals left. Mortals who might not want to fight us.”

I froze, unsure of what Elaran was suggesting.

But when she turned to face me, there was nothing but concern etched upon her face. My story had shaken her so completely a few loose curls had fallen from their twist. “What if we win and the survivors don’t want to leave but don’t want to fight? What do we do with them?”

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