Page 86 of The Iron Flower

“Then we’ll find somewhere else to go.” His voice has grown hard as flint.

“Yvan, send her away,” his mother pleads. “I’m sure she has more than enough money—”

“No, she doesn’t. She works in the kitchens with me.”

Yvan’s mother makes a contemptuous sound. “I findthathard to believe.”

“When have I ever lied to you?”

“Of all the young women you go to University with, you pick Carnissa Gardner’s granddaughter to be your lover—”

Yvan lets out a bitter laugh at this. “Lover?I already told you that’s not the case. And please, tell me, Mother, exactly how am I supposed to have a lover?”

This gives her pause. “Yvan... I never...”

“I’m not a child anymore,” he says firmly. “And you didn’t raise me to be a fool.”

“I can’t have her here, Yvan. You have to understand that. This girl is a danger to us all.”

“Then I’m leaving. Elloren’s waiting for me out there in the cold, and it’s dangerous for her to travel alone.”

“Dangerous, how?”

Yvan hesitates for a long moment before answering. “There’s an Icaral after her.”

“An Icaral.” There’s an edge of bitter sarcasm in her tone. “Well, Yvan,” she says acidly, “I hope that Icaral finds her.”

There’s the sound of furniture being pushed against the floor and footsteps approaching the door.

His mother calls out, “Wait... Yvan!”

I jump back as Yvan emerges from the house and slams the door behind him. His eyes are blazing with anger. He strides quickly toward me and takes my arm, leading me away from the house, back to the stable. He’s walking so fast, it’s almost impossible to keep up with him.

Once we’re in the barn, I watch silently as he unhitches our horse, his jaw and neck rigid with tension, his movements clipped, the horses responding to his uneasy mood by growing restless themselves.

We walk away from the house on foot, Yvan leading the horse beside us.

“What are we going to do?” I ask, growing worried as his home disappears behind us. It’s dark now, and very cold. I have very little money with me and based on what Clive said earlier about Yvan sending most of his income home, I suspect he’s also low on funds. “Where will we stay?”

He doesn’t answer me right away, and I can just make out his jaw ticking as he stares straight ahead. Finally, he stops, brings his free hand to his hip and looks down at the ground in frustration before looking back up at me. “I’m sorry, Elloren.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I didn’t think...” His words trail off, replaced by a heavy sigh. Yvan motions ahead with his hand. “There’s an inn about a half-hour’s ride east. It’s not the most luxurious place in the world, but we might be able to find lodging there for the night.”

CHAPTER FOUR

LODGING FOR THE NIGHT

“How much for two rooms?” Yvan asks the innkeeper.

I survey our surroundings nervously. Yvan is right about this inn not being the most luxurious place in the world. It’s downright seedy. A crowd of Keltic men linger in the small tavern, more than a few quite drunk, some of them leering shamelessly at me as we enter, as if they’re trying to make out my figure under my winter wrappings.

I’m immediately and self-consciously aware that I’m the only young woman in this place. There’s one other woman here, but she’s a mean-looking, scowling crone who glares at me briefly before going back to angrily serving drinks and picking up the mess left by her unruly patrons.

I instinctively move closer to Yvan, threading my arm through his, and he pulls my arm protectively toward himself. The rancid smell of stale pipe smoke coupled with spirits hangs heavy in the air and makes my lungs sting.

The innkeeper, a surly-looking old man, eyes Yvan speculatively. “Forty guilders for the night.”

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