Spurned

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Evil?”

  “Yes. I found her journal and she plots terrible things. I read how she plans to murder her parents. On her eighteenth birthday, after she is legally old enough to be the Lady of the estate, she is going to murder both her parents so she does not have to wait for them to die naturally. Or be married off against her will. She doesn't want that either.”

  Kara supposed she could not blame her sister for not wanting to marry against her will. It was a common occurrence amongst nobles to marry their offspring off to another powerful noble family more for political alliance than love. In some ways, she was freer than her rich, entitled sister. Strange that she had never realized that.

  “Do you think she was just writing these ideas of murder down when she was having a bad day? Many people fantasize but do not act.”

  “I know her, and I know she means it. But if I can somehow figure out how to stop her and get her title, I could free all the slaves the minute I became Lady of the house.”

  “You do not think your sister would free them?”

  “I know she wouldn't.” She shuddered with seething emotions. “Goddess only knows what she will do to the slaves once no one can stop her.”

  She turned to him with fierce determination. “I have to stop her. I have to. And the first step was taking the name of 'Brahm.'”

  Icari gave her a look full of doubt. She said, “What?”

  “I just cannot comprehend such evil in a young woman. She is how old?”

  Kara did some math. “She is sixteen.” Her heart climbed up into her throat. How had she not realized the contract she had signed with Hither lasted past Anna's eighteenth birthday? She took three deep breaths. Would she have to break contract to stop her mad sister?

  She said, “I know it sounds crazy, but trust me. She was one of those kids that would find a cat and set the tail on fire. I saw her do it. I told my father and Lady Brahm called me a liar. Said I did it.” She could still hear the cat's pitiful screams, smell the seared hair. “I drowned the poor thing. It was burnt all over. It would have been in misery for days.” Burning the cat was one of the least terrible things Anna had done...

  He touched her hand softly, and she wrapped her fingers around his and released. She said, “Now I need your opinion.”

  “I am at your service.”

  “I think my father spurned me because Lady Brahm bullied him into it. I don't think he was ever really upset with me. If he was truly angry, it has been a year and I can't imagine he still is. He is not one to hold a grudge. Do you think I ought to sneak on the estate using the secret tunnels and try to talk to him alone? Or should I wait until he makes an appearance outside the estate? Usually he goes into the village of Augustus Reys on Sundays for church. He likes to make sure the commons see him mingling. He is unusual for that. Most Lords take private worship in their manor chapels.”

  “Hmmm. I am thinking you wish to free your mother as soon as possible.”

  “Yes.”

  “What is the worst that could happen if you were caught on the estates?”

  “If Anna caught me, she would send her dogs after me.” Kara winced. “I'd be mauled to death.”

  Icari shook his head. “Wait until Sunday. We should arrive to our new camp on Thursday. Wait three days.”

  “I doubt she could catch me. The entrance to the tunnels is on the very edge of the estate.”

  “I still do not think you should go on the property. Wait. That is my opinion.”

  “Icari!” She stomped her foot as she kept slowly walking in the heat and dust. Her throat was growing painfully dry from too much talking and not enough water. “Every day my mother is a slave it kills me! While I have been out here, free as a bird, she has been chained.” She had expected Icari to support her, to validate her idea, and he was doing the exact opposite.

  She sheepishly realized she had not wanted his true opinion, just his support. She pulled out a water skin and took a deep drink. It tasted silty. Had the roadies been unable to find a fresh supply before traveling?

  “If you are mauled to death, your mother will likely be a slave her whole life. And her heart would be broken if you died. If you are careful and time everything right, she should be a free woman soon.”

  Kara turned her face away from him in the imitation of wiping water off her chin. She glanced at the carnival wagons to see how they were doing.

  Two wagons with broken axles were pulled over far behind them. The horses that had been pulling them were usually calm for so much work under the hot sun. That was one bit of fortune. She saw clusters of people, some pulling little wagons, some with satchels like hers. Everyone looked irritated, sweaty, and tired.

  She twisted around further, coming to a stop, curious if she could find Lyla in all this slow chaos. Her heart lifted a bit when she saw her. Lyla was riding atop the mother elephant's back, scratching her knobby head. The elephant kept playfully swatting at her hand with its trunk.

  Adam flipped past her on his hands. His foot smacked her shoulder and she snapped, “Watch where you are going!” She rubbed her shoulder. “That hurt.”

  He gave her a dirty look and did another back flip. Confused, she glanced at Icari. Why would Adam be so rude to her? They were not friends, but they were on polite terms.

  Icari called out, “Apologize to Kara. It is rude to hurt someone, even by accident.”

  Adam cast a glare Icari's way as he wiped his damp yellow hair back. “I don't apologize to someone who steals from her own.”

  With a flip and a twist, he disappeared between wagons. Kara was flabbergasted. She glanced around and noticed for the first time how far away everyone was from her and Icari.

  Suspicion began to tickle at the back of her mind. She said, “Do you think Naomi is spreading rumors about me? Blaming me for her theft?”

  He looked down sadly. “Likely. People have been complaining about the theft inside the carnival for weeks now.”

  Kara should have known this was coming, should have prevented it by telling everyone the truth. Leave it to Naomi-and maybe even Vayne-to falsely accuse her of stealing from the others. Naomi would not want to be labeled a snitch, so she just likely spread around a little gossip, saying she heard it from a few others...

  And the lies spread like wildfire.

  And Kara would have to work with most of these people for the next three years, if they did not leave or die.

  She muttered to Icari, “You know the truth. Lyla too.”

  “I will spread the truth. But I doubt anyone will listen. Once a scapegoat has been chosen by the group, the stigma lingers unless the true offender is caught.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “It will linger even if she is caught. Don't even bother telling people what really happened. It will just make me look worse, like I am lying about her.”

  He touched her shoulder. “I will stand beside you. Let us act like nothing happened. When Naomi is caught out, which is inevitable given her desperation and clumsiness, you will look that much more gracious.”

  She laughed. “You are wise like an old man of fifty. Yet you're only what, twenty?”

  “I am twenty.”

  She smiled at him, immensely grateful he would still stand beside her during this second spurning. Would fate always ensure she was outcast, rejected, despised?

  Well, if fate is going to play me like that, I will make my own fate, she decided. I've got Icari and Lyla and they are the only people worth being friends with if the others turn on me that quickly.

  He said suddenly, “If you decide to sneak onto your father's estates, do you need me with you?”

  “Oh, Icari,” she whispered. “You'd risk your life for me? You're already risking your reputation by still being seen with me.”

  He looked at her with those clear blue eyes. “I would.”

  She threw her arms around him, bringing them to a complete halt. “You are the best friend I could ever ask for.” She drew ba
ck and held him by the shoulders. “But going to my father's estates is something I must do alone.”

  “I understand. Tell me if you change your mind.”

  “I will. Thank you so much for offering.”

  They did not talk much more for the rest of the long, hot day. They kept drinking tepid water and eating dried goods from their packs. Icari loaned her a scarf to wrap around her head to keep the worst of the sun off her head. It was cooling when she poured water over it. Occasionally, beyond the King's Posts, past a farmer's field, they would see the roiling mists, always there, always waiting.

  For what she could not say.