Page 48 of Dishonor Among Thieves
“One of the foundlings killed a man,” I sighed. “Gini and I argued at times, but I kept my anger to myself. I felt it was a more potent weapon if she was unaware that I had it. But denying what you are, what you feel… That’s only possible for so long. And for some of the foundlings…”
Neo lifted an arm, and I tucked closer to his side. His arm was heavy behind my shoulders, but the weight of him was a soothing balm. I leaned my head back against his hard bicep as he asked, “Killed a man?”
“I hardly know the details. All I know is something was changing for Gini. She’d been feeding all of the children less, and I grew as much as I could in the garden, tried to bargain hard in the market to buy more with less, but it was just never enough.” I shook my head and lifted my chin, my eyes hard. “Ordinarily, Gini treated the foundlings fairly well, preferring to let the useless human feel pain, if there was suffering to be had. But there was one girl, one foundling who seemed to believe that Gini was pure evil.” My voice cracked as I imagined the dewy skin and silken eyelashes of the pretty young thing. “A foundling vampire. She gave Gini a lot of trouble, and that only made Gini treat her differently, worse than the other children. To keep her weak, she only let her drink every third day, provided only tiny field mice—not even the large rats and cats she offered to the other children.”
Neo released my hand and brushed my hair away from my face, watching me as I spoke. “She was blood-starving the girl,” he surmised.
I nodded. “A merchant happened by the foundling home. Knew nothing of what the place truly was. I met with him, tried to send him away, but I believe since he was alone, Gini thought she could manipulate him. Steal from him.” I rested my head against the firm plane of Neo’s chest. I closed my eyes and whispered my story against his skin. “She invited him in, perhaps to barter. Perhaps her plan all along was…” I sighed. “I know not. While she entertained him with tea, she sent me to ransack the goods in his cart.”
“When I returned, the man was dead and the girl—Valkiva—wouldn’t speak of what had happened. All I know for certain is what Gini told me. Perhaps she killed the merchant and blamed it on Valkiva in exchange for something? I don’t know. I only knew that had to be the last night I could spend there. If I wanted any sort of life, I had to try to find a way to freedom.”
The rain outside the windows of the bedroom began to ease up, leaving the sky gray and foreboding.
“That was an agonizing decision, though. I’d been the one to show true care to those children. I felt like I was abandoning them, not seeking something for myself.”
Neo held a lock of my hair between his fingers, twisting the strands tenderly. Then he set the curl back against my shoulder, his fingers skimming my arm. I wanted to get this out, to release the fear and shame I’d carried over leaving. I wrung my hands together as I spoke, twisting the end of the soft blanket between my fingers.
“While Gini disposed of the merchant’s body, I slipped into her treasury and stole several half and quarter-pennies. Enough that she might not notice the loss, and certainly not enough to damage her ability to feed and care for the other foundlings. But I must not have been as clever a thief as I thought I was. The next morning, before the others were awake, Valkiva crept into my room. She climbed in bed with me, hugged me, and gave me that necklace. Told me the charm was to protect me, to thank me for keeping Gini’s secret.”
I’d put the necklace on and stroked the charm for good luck. Its smooth, rocky surface and natural hole in the center felt so good beneath my fingers. Just like the layers of tightly bound fabric felt now in my hands. Neo pried the wrecked material from my fingers with an understanding smile. I’d grown so used to reaching for something to bring me comfort. I knew it was a habit I’d need to quickly break. I folded my hands on my lap and faced him as he asked questions.
Neo used one hand to hold my chin as I talked, exploring my eyebrows, my cheeks, the long plane of my nose with the other hand. “A hag stone?”
I shrugged, my eyes closed so he could continue to explore my face, his sensuous, caring touch unlike anything I’d ever felt. Ribbons of delight warred in my chest with the grief I felt sharing all of this with him. “I’ve never heard of such a stone. Never considered that Gini might have controlled me with enchanted objects. Perhaps she controlled me while I was in her care. All those years! How can I trust my own mind, my heart, knowing the power she had over me? I thought I was the keeper of all their secrets,” I whispered bitterly. “What a fool I was.”
“Brexia.” My name rumbled deep within his chest, his heartbeat a rhythm I could listen to for all time. “You could not have known.”
I lowered my face and snuggled against him while I described the sunrise the morning I left the home. The watery blue sky clotted with clouds. I walked several miles from the wilds of Byrlad, heading northeast along the coast. I reached Fish Head End before the market even opened. I checked the public posting to find the office of the shire-reeve. I was hoping to find a job or transport out of the shire, far away from any place Gini would find me.
“That’s when I met you.” I looked up into his eyes, praying he would see the truth in my words. “I did not know the charm was enchanted. I should have, Neo. I should have known that Gini was behind it. Once I left Byrlad, it was like my memories of the place shifted. I couldn’t remember the face of the sister I believed I had. But there was never a sister. I never found that charm under my pillow. All the memories of my mother were perfectly intact, but Gini was controlling what I remembered about the home.”
“She wished to lure you back,” he said. “The charm was enchanted so she was able to track you, and she controlled your memories and reasons for wanting to return to Byrlad so that when she found you, you would return willingly.”
He laughed, his arms tightened around me. My stomach fluttered, and a curious heat seeped through my core. I was still fully dressed in the clothes I’d worn to the market, but I rubbed my bare toes against the tops of his feet.
“She did not expect that you’d find a completely new life before she could find you.”
“Now that she has,” I said gently, “I must go back.”
Neo startled. Intertwined as we were, I felt the movement in my body.
“Why? Do you wish to resume a life of service to her? A life without skills and hope? Without love?”
His words made my eyes flutter shut, closing out any hopes or dreams I might have had for myself. For my freedom.
“None of you will be safe until I return,” I reminded him. “She wants me. I know not what ends will satisfy her thirst for vengeance. I cannot remain here and put your family, your home at risk. She knows where I am, and if she feels that the enchantment is broken, she will be back. She may not be far even now.”
“What would you choose?” he asked. “You were orphaned by those who shared your blood. Lost to a mother destined for death. Kept by a mage who only wanted to use your gifts. Your kindness. Your intelligence. She knew nothing of your beauty or your heart. Your strength.”
He trailed a finger along my lower lip, making it impossible to think, let alone speak.
“Brexia,” he growled, lowering his nose to mine. His breath tickled my lips. “What would you choose for your life?”
I swallowed hard, transfixed by the tiny scars that mapped his lips. This close to him, I could see so clearly the pain he’d suffered, the healing that had scarcely released him from those injuries. Those tiny scars, this close to me, told his most intimate secrets. I licked my lips. “I have never had the luxury of choice,” I whispered.
“Earlier today.” He wove his hand through the long panels of my hair, tugging lightly so my face lifted to his. “When you held my hand as though you cared for me… All I could think was what a fool I was. To think that I could conduct a marriage as a business transaction. Perhaps with any other woman, I could avoid complications. Avoid feelings. Pairing a human with one like me…” He trailed off, a sadness overtaking the warmth of his words.
“Your mother?” I asked. It had never occurred to me that I might remind Neo of his mother losing her second spouse—a human.
