Page 17 of Silverbow
“Did she cold back him?”
Liam jumped at the voice at his shoulder and whirled to see Lord Ryerson leaning casually on a pitchfork.Light. The man was as quiet as a shadow cat when he wanted to be.
“She did, my lord,” Liam muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “She was looking for a fight.”
“When isn’t she?” Lord Ryerson asked with a wry smile.
Liam tried to hide his own grin by turning back to watch. Renley Ryerson was the unconventional sort of lord who mucked his own stables given the opportunity, but Liam’s da would box his ears if he thought he’d forgotten his manners. The man was still a lord, after all.
“Are your coppers on her or the horse, boy?” That made Liam jump again, and Lord Ryerson let out a laugh. “You ought to know by now, Liam. Nothing happens in my stable I don’t know about.”
“Her, of course, my lord,” he mumbled quickly, heat rising above his collar.
“Of course,” Lord Ryerson repeated. He scratched at the stubble on his jaw and watched Igg buck. “I’ll admit, boy, I put mine on the horse.”
“You don’t think she can tame him?” Liam stammered. “My lord.”
The man chuckled. “The rest of us have a little wager of our own, you see. We couldn’t all bet on Enya, so I took the horse. I’ll be happy enough to lose my coin to Griff and your da.”
Liam gaped.
“But I’ll admit, I’m not sure about this one, boy. Dragons aren’t meant to be caged.”
Liam considered pointing out some dragons took riders, but he held his tongue.
“Tell me boy, what do you think of the suitors?”
Light, what am I supposed to say to that?
He shuffled his feet, casting around for the right words. “She doesn’t like any of them, my lord.”
“I know she doesn’t, I was asking whatyouthought.”
Liam hesitated again.How in Sakaala’s watery domain…
He certainly couldn’t tell him the truth. Since he was a boy, he had known Enya would wed a lord or knight, but it never bothered him until they actuallystarted riding through the gate. He still hadn’t worked out what exactly it was that knotted his insides almost as badly as the wielders did.
“I well…I don’t suppose what I think matters much, sir, seeing as she doesn’t like them.”
To his surprise, Lord Ryerson laughed again. Liam only stared, trying to work out the joke. Finally, Enya’s father sighed and said, “You’re a wise man, Liam. Much wiser than I was at your age. I reckon you’ve already discovered the secret to life.”
“What’s that, sir?”
He chuckled and vaguely waved a hand around at the walls. “My name might be on the gate, but I certainly don’t run this house. Remember it, lad, and you’ll find your road smoother for it.”
Liam still wasn’t sure he understood.
“What about you, boy? Any particular girl you have your eye on?”
That heat crept up to his face now. Sure, he danced with some of the farm girls on Sun Day and at the Harvest Festival. Last fall, Ella Coblegh, all big eyes and shy smiles, danced with him twice. Pretty as she was, he couldn’t help but shudder each time he thought of her brother.
“No, sir.” He shrugged. “I suppose Enya’s the only girl I really know.”
Time seemed to slow as Liam realized what he just said aloud.
“And what of Enya?”
Solignis’s nine hells.His da ought to box his ears for his fool tongue, talking about the daughter of a lord to that lord, nonetheless.Light.He cast around for the right words again.
