Ren was in her office in town when Lylia came in like a firestorm.
“Where is she? Barnes said she came to the offices, and her office said she mentioned she was coming here! Was she here?”
“She, who?”
“Trini!” Lylia shouted. “That cold, self-centered bitch of our sister!”
“Lylia!” Ren snapped. “You will not use that language when speaking about one of our family.”
“Kij offered for Jerin!” Lylia wailed. “And that—that—Trini refused even to meet him!”
Ren sat. She had no choice as her legs wouldn’t support her. “Whistler didn’t accept?”
“She said they would need time to think, thank gods. It worked just like I planned. I got Jerin and Trini both to the playroom, and just as Odelia predicted, he was terrific with the youngest—I’ve never seen them so good. But all she did was stand at the door and sulk. Then—then!—to top everything off, she insulted him!”
“She didn’t!” Ren suddenly felt like calling Trini a few choice names herself. “What did she say?”
“Oh, nothing really bad. Just that she had better things to do with her time than play with soldiers.” Lylia deflated slightly at a look from Ren. “Oh, okay, it wasn’t really an insult. It just seemed like a slap in the face to me, after Jerin was so nice. He’s such a sweetie. He can do magic!”
“Magic?” Ren could think of only one thing magiclike that Jerin did—and she hoped that he hadn’t done it in front of the youngest.
“He can make coins and little balls disappear. He’s so clever with his hands.”
Ren recalled Jerin being clever with his hands and her body pulsed with a sudden need to be with him again. Had he done magic on Lylia too? The kiss she interrupted seemed mild compared with the embraces she had shared with Jerin.
“What do we do?” Lylia asked, drawing Ren out of her air dreams.
“I’ll order Trini to spend time with Jerin, let her get to know him, and then push the issue. We’ve got to get married, and we want our husband to be Jerin.”
Eldest Whistler was waiting for Ren in the princess’s study at the palace.
“I’ve heard,” Ren said.
“No you haven’t.” Eldest held up an envelope addressed in thin spidery writing. “Eldest Picker has died. Meg is now head of the Picker family. Someone approached her with a better offer. She’s going to hold us strictly to the terms of our contract. Payment for the store will have to be on the contracted date, or she’ll sell it to the other party.”
“I thought you had an exclusive contract.”
“We do, until Jerin’s birthday, which we were assuming would be his betrothal day. We had hoped for some traveling time beyond that, but Meg Picker’s disallowed it. We need to be back to Heron Landing by that date. If we don’t hand the Picker sisters their money on that day, then we owe them the penalty and they are free to sell to the other buyer.”
Ren did the math. Once Eldest accepted an offer, she would need four or five days for the betrothal contract to be written, all prenuptial tests run on Jerin, and then the actual signing. Add another five days for traveling, and the Whistlers actually needed to accept an offer two weeks prior to Jerin’s birthday. “So you only have thirty days or so to decide.”
Eldest nodded. “Have you heard from your sister?”
Ren shook her head. Raven’s people had found no trace of Halley.
“If it was a straight choice between you and the Porters,” Eldest said, “it would be a simple pick. Jerin’s happiness matters much to me, and any fool could see that my brother is in love with you. If I was sure that your family would eventually come around to favoring the match, we could wait financially. We have different options, but they’re not as simple to access as the brother’s price on Jerin, and not without risks.” Eldest looked at Ren with frank honesty. “But I’m not sure. Princess Halley may show up and want nothing to do with us. Or she might not show, and yet your mothers could continue to deny the match. Much as I love my brother, I have to do what is best for my sisters. I can give you until thirty days, and then I must accept Kij’s offer.”
“I understand.”
Ren would face Trini and make her see the facts. If four of the five elder sisters agreed on Jerin, perhaps her mothers would allow the marriage without Halley’s presence.
Trini managed to mostly avoid Ren for a week. Their duties precluded her from avoiding Ren completely, but she slipped into court minutes before the first case was called, and then darted out the moment the last case was settled. Unwilling to estrange Trini from Jerin completely, Ren settled on giving a rare command as Eldest, ordering Trini to eat with the family. It was almost comical to see Trini try to avoid Ren, Odelia, Lylia, and Jerin at dinner.
Aware of the days slipping by, Ren finally cornered Trini deadheading her prize roses. “We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t.” Trini snipped viciously at the innocent flowers. “I know what Lylia tried to pull. I know what you’re trying to do. I’m not going to be roped into marriage again so soon. We’re young. We can wait.”
“No, we can’t!” Ren snapped. “Do you want it to end here, with us? After twenty generations, our family ends with us? The entire country thrown into the same chaos of Wakecliff’s estate, with no clear heirs?”
“You’re being melodramatic, Ren.”
“I am not. We’re only ten in number. If something happened to any one of us, our daughters could be even fewer. We have to marry and start having children.”
“Why not this violent outcry last year? Or the year before? Or any time in the last six years?”
“Halley hadn’t gone missing last year. Odelia hadn’t been attacked last year. I hadn’t had a few narrow calls myself. And yes, this opportunity hadn’t presented itself.”
“Opportunity? Let’s call things as they are. You’ve met a pretty boy and you want to be serviced like a cat in heat. This is no different than with Eldest and Keifer.”
“Jerin is nothing like Keifer. This isn’t like our first marriage. The Porters poured a fortune into Keifer’s dress; they kept him under our elder sisters’ nose, and gave full liberties to him prior to the wedding.”
“And this differs how from the Whistlers? It seems he’s here, under our noses, well dressed, and, from what Barnes tells me, well tousled.”
“If Odelia and I hadn’t gone north, we would have never met them. I caught Jerin alone at night and seduced him. I brought the Whistlers here. And if I hadn’t begged Eldest Whistler to wait for our offer, they would have already accepted Kij Porter’s generous offer a week ago and left.”
Trini whirled around. “What? No one’s told the Whistlers what a monster Keifer was?”
“Kij is not her brother.” Ren waved it tiredly aside. “Besides, it would seem as if we were just poisoning the well to keep the water for ourselves.”
“All bad apples come from apple trees.”
“You can’t say Keifer is a fair representation of his sisters, any more than Cullen is like his sisters.”
“I find Cullen exactly like his sisters—intelligent, fair-minded, openhearted, charming, and headstrong. I wouldn’t mind marrying Cullen.”
“Cullen is too close in blood.” Ren rubbed at the bridge of her nose. “I like him too. He would be a safe choice; we know him well and there’d be no surprises, but we can’t marry him.”
“I know. I know.”
“Trini, do you remember how Keifer was with you and Lylia? He could barely be civil even with Eldest watching. I’ve seen Jerin with his youngest sisters while trying to cook for forty people. There’s no way he could have faked being so patient, gentle, and caring with them.”
“I’ve seen Jerin with Zelie and the youngest,” Trini admitted. “He seemed very good with them, but it could have been an act. All of it could be an act.”
“If you don’t trust him, at least trust me to know the difference between genuine goodness and fake. I’ve resisted a second marriage t
his long because Keifer hurt me too. Of all the men paraded before us, Jerin’s the only one I’ve trusted.”
Trini stared out over the rosebushes for several minutes. “And if we don’t take Jerin, Kij gets him?”
“Most likely.”
“I wouldn’t give a dog to the Porters,” Trini growled.
Was it too soon to ask for her support? Ren hesitated, afraid that Trini might construe the next question as her being bullied into a decision. But it made no sense to avoid the issue after pushing it to a head. “Can I tell Mother Elder that you support a marriage to Jerin?”
Several minutes passed, and then, quietly, Trini murmured, “Yes.”
Ren went to her Mother Elder. “The Porters have offered for Jerin. Let me make an offer too.”
“Have you spoken with your sisters about this?” Mother Elder asked quietly.
“Odelia and Lylia are eager for the marriage. Trini has agreed.”
“And Halley?”
Ren bit down on a bolt of anger. She mustn’t lose her temper. “There hasn’t been any word from Halley, Mother. I am beginning to doubt she is alive; I would have expected her to surface when the Herald reported the attack on Odelia. In that light, I do not think it’s reasonable to wait for her. We have a majority.”
“With another man, a brother of a well-established noble house, I would agree with you. While Jerin is a charming man, there will be many objections to him fathering the next generation of rulers. We are the daughters of the Holy Mothers, unsullied by common blood for twenty generations.”
“All the noble houses were commoners at one time, from the Keepers on down.”
“With the exception of the Porters, the nobles have all taken royal princes as husbands.”
“If the Porters were acceptable, why not the Whistlers? They at least married a royal prince. In fact, in many ways, they are more noble than all the noble houses, since their royal blood has been less diluted by successive generations.”
“Truly, Ren, how can you compare the Porters, landowners for twenty generations, to thieves fathered out of cribs?”
“Landowners? The Porters were not much more than river pirates cutting the throats of those who failed to pay for portage around the falls. They claimed to be neutral during the War of the False Eldest, but everyone knew they played both sides, and yet we married them. “
“This is not about the Porters; it’s about the Whistlers.”
Ren realized that her mother was going to hold to her impossible demand. “If you hadn’t planned on giving your permission all along, why did you allow me to hope? You’ve made losing him all the more bitter now.”
Her mother shook her head. “I told you that you shouldn’t engage your heart.”
Ren stood, feeling hollow, betrayed.
Her mother reached out and took her hand. “Ren, I was willing to allow the marriage if Halley agreed to it. In such an unequal marriage, you’re asking your sisters to take a huge risk, a risk a normal marriage wouldn’t entail. If you wished to marry the brother of a noble family, a majority would be enough. This isn’t the case. You must all be willing to take Jerin as husband.”
“Halley is dead!” Ren snapped. “Dead! She went out and got herself quietly killed!”
Her mother slapped her hard. “Shut your mouth! Until her body is buried in the family crypt, she is alive! The answer is no. You cannot marry without Halley’s agreement. That was the case from the very start. Do not whine, child. It does not become you.”
“I am not whining. I believe your grief has made you unreasonable. Even if Halley is alive, she’s passed all responsibilities of her duties to us, her sisters. Choosing a husband is just one more duty she’s neglecting. We have not stopped the courts. We have not stopped the balls. We will not stop choosing a husband.”
“You will! I am still the Queen Mother Elder. You are my subject. I say you will not marry Jerin Whistler without your sister’s approval. Push me any further Ren, and I will refuse the marriage totally.”
Ren clenched her teeth together, balling her hands into fists, trying to keep her anger in. Her mother meant it. It had been years since she’d heard such a decree, since she had lost favorite toys and been barred from outings as a child with such rulings.
“I’m sorry you’ve set your heart on this boy,” her mother said in a softer tone. “But our line can ill afford discord between husband and wife again. Trini tried to block the marriage to Keifer, and no one listened. This time, we will listen to everyone.”
Eldest Moorland cracked the door to Ren’s study and peered in. “Have you seen Cullen?”
Ren waved her in. “He’s usually either with Lylia or Jerin.”
Ren’s cousin sat, shaking her head and sighing. “The younger Whistlers are in the billiard room with Lylia and Odelia. Eldest Whistler is apparently trying to track me down, so I assume it’s safe to say that he’s not with her.”
An unmarried Eldest sister looking for the Eldest sister of a marriageable man—it wasn’t difficult to guess what Whistler wanted. “What are you going to say?”
Moorland sighed again. “Are you going to offer for Jerin? It makes a difference for us.”
In other words, would the Whistlers continue to be poor landed gentry or would they be sisters-in-law to the princesses? Commoners might sell their brothers to the highest monetary bidder, but noble brothers went to the most powerful political tie.
Ren sighed. She owed it to her cousin to be truthful on the matter. In sketchy details, she told Moorland where negotiations stood. “Not a word of this, though, should leave this room. I don’t want to raise Jerin’s hopes, only to disappoint him. If he has to marry someone else, I would rather he be ignorant that we love him.”
“So that’s the way the wind blows? Well, yes, let him start with his wives with a clean slate, so to speak.”
Ren flinched at the idea of another family being Jerin’s wives. A knock at the door saved her from having to reply. “Yes?”
Eldest Whistler opened the door and stood in the doorway. “Eldest Moorland, I would like to speak with you.”
Moorland made a gesture to indicate that now was as good a time as any. “It would spare me having to repeat it all to my cousin anyhow.”
“We wish to marry Cullen.”
There was a shout from behind the heavy drapes and Cullen tumbled out from his velvet hiding spot. He gave another whoop of delight and flung himself into Eldest Whistler’s arms. Whistler shook her head, smiling indulgently, and was soundly kissed. Ren had never thought of Cullen as a sexual creature—in that moment of frank passion, she realized he was as mature in that matter as Jerin. Her heart went out to Eldest Whistler and Cullen.
“Cullen!” Moorland growled. “We haven’t accepted. We haven’t even heard terms.”
“I want to marry them! Things will work out for Ren. I know they will. It’s not like any of those other fusspots would ever offer for me, anyhow. They want a biddable, beautiful man.”
“You are beautiful.” Whistler didn’t address biddable, but Ren had no doubt that Eldest Whistler could keep Cullen in line. “But Moorland is right. We need to discuss terms. We’re not nobles with deep pockets. We might not be able to afford your brother’s price.”
Cullen clung to Whistler, throwing his sister a tragic, pleading look. “I want to marry them. They would be good to me; I’ve seen them with Jerin. They have little brothers; I’d have other men around. They would teach me how to ri—” Cullen broke off at the word “ride” before it escaped completely, and changed it to “—write and read.”
“We can only afford two thousand crowns for the scamp,” Eldest Whistler said. “Payable on Jerin’s betrothal. We might be able to work up more, but we’ll have to take futures out on our little brothers. It would take time to raise more money.”
Moorland looked from Cullen to Eldest Whistler and then to Ren. The woman who loved her brother warred with the woman responsible for her family’s best interests. Ren could
offer nothing, and waited, sure that Cullen would lose out.
Amazingly, though, Moorland said, “You won’t have to work up more. We’ll settle on the two thousand. It doesn’t pay to beggar your sisters-in-law.”
Whistler had been braced for a no and looked as stunned as Ren felt. Shouting, Cullen leaped to hug his sister, then mauled Ren in a hasty, exuberant hug, kissed Eldest Whistler again, and dragged her off in search of Lylia, Jerin, and the others to break the news.
The office seemed bare after they were gone, like someone had plucked the sun from the sky, leaving vast emptiness behind.
“Why did you say yes?” Ren asked Moorland. “You know it’s unlikely we’ll be able to marry Jerin.”
“Mother calls your father her sacrificial lamb sometimes. He bought us a lot of power, at the cost of being poisoned at the age of thirty-five. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with the same guilt my mother carries.”
Ren woke the next morning from another night of horrific dreams. The worst nightmare started in the garden, where she talked to Trini as her sister deadheaded the roses. Ren realized suddenly that the wilted flowers had Halley’s face, and the cut stems seeped blood. Ren pulled up the rosebushes to find Halley buried underneath, but then her mothers wouldn’t come to the garden to see the body. Every time she gripped their hands, they would slide away like a bar of wet soap. She woke in the dark, crying in frustration and fear. Other dreams plagued her after she went back to sleep, none as vivid, but all filled with pain and the sense of loss.
She was still in bed when Raven came in.
“I received this via regular post.” Raven held out a battered envelope.
Ren took it. It was addressed to “R. Tern” at Raven’s town house address; the captain had torn the canceled stamps in opening the envelope. Inside was a common sheet of foolscap, folded once. Ren pulled it free, and the word “Eldest” in Halley’s bold script made her catch her breath.