Page 72 of Castle of Refuge

“I’m sorry, Maris. I’m sorry you had to fight the wolves. That was not my intention, I—” Audrey was trying to reason withher sister, but Maris’s face just grew redder, her expression more tense.

“Be quiet! Let me think.” Maris was breathing hard.

Audrey was doing her best to lean away from the knife pointed at her neck.

Maris glared at Edwin. “Why are you here? You are keeping my sister from her duty to our father.”

“Your father has released her from whatever you claim is her duty.”

“What do you know about my father? Or my sister’s duty? Father sent me away, but it wasn’t my fault that my sister is clumsy. He sent me away for an accident, but Audrey defied Father by running away and refusing to marry the man he chose for her, and he never punished her at all.”

“Your father is probably very concerned for you right now. He is probably worried and looking for you. He knows where Audrey is. It’s you he is searching for.”

“You don’t know.” Maris was silent, morosely staring with a glazed look. “I never could please him. I tried so hard, but he was always displeased with me and pleased with Audrey. He tried to marry her off to you, but he sent me, the oldest, who should have been married first, to a convent.” Her face screwed up like she was about to spit out something hard and bitter. “I cannot let her get what she wants. She always gets what she wants, and I never do.”

“How did you get Umfrey here to help you?”

Umfrey grunted and tightened his grip on him at the sound of his name.

“He worked at the convent where Father sent me. He understood me and wanted to help me.” Her expression softened when she spoke of her henchman.

“He is loyal to you, then?” Edwin would keep asking questions and getting her to talk. Maybe his guards were tracking them and were nearby and would hear them. And though it might be foolish, he was also curious how her mind worked.

“He is very loyal to me. Shall I show you how loyal? Shall I tell him to kill you?”

Umfrey again grunted and tightened his hold.

“No, no. I believe you.”

“Do you know what it’s like to feel you can never get your father’s approval?” Maris’s voice was tight and a bit hoarse. “Umfrey approves of whatever I do, but my father... I wantedhisapproval. I had no mother and I would never be anyone or anything, alone and cast out as soon as my father died. And while I was forbidden from marrying, I had to watch my father plan for my younger sister to get married and have her own home and family. Do you have any idea how that made me feel? Well, I might not be able to stop her from marrying, but I thought at least I could watch her marry someone old and ugly so that she would be as miserable as I am.

“Of course you don’t know anything about the injustices I have faced,” Maris continued. “You are the firstborn son of an earl. You were a knight and in control of your future. You knew you were the favored one, destined to a life of power and wealth.”

“I rarely saw my father, and my mother also died when I was a young child,” Edwin said. “I can imagine you had a very hurtful childhood, from what Audrey has told me. My brothersand sister and I had a cruel stepmother, so I can imagine how you felt. I am fortunate in many ways, but you are as well. You were brought up by a father—you are no orphan. You have servants to care for you, I assume, and food to eat and clothing and a home.”

Maris scrunched her brows, as if thinking. “I am no villein, if that is what you are saying.”

“No, you are not a villein, and therefore you are blessed. You were cared for, were you not?”

Maris glared at him. “Do not distract me. You do not know what you are speaking of. No one has ever cared for me. Our nurse loved Audrey and hated me too. She used to beat me and starve me even though I didn’t do anything wrong. She never treated Audrey that way. But now it is my sister who is doing wrong, and I have to take her to my father so he can see that she is the one who is guilty of wrongdoing, not me, and he can punish her.”

Edwin said, “But your father might not react the way you think. If you force your sister to go home, he may be angry with you and feel compassion for her.”

“Then I will kill her instead.” Maris’s face grew a strange reddish-purple color. “She deserves to die for the ways she has ruined my life. And then my father will love me again.”

“Again, I do not believe you will achieve the reaction you are hoping for. Your father may love her more in death than in life and hate you for killing her. No, it will not go well if you kill your sister.”

“I hate her. I will kill her. Father will never know I killedher.” Her eyes were wide, and she was literally spitting as she talked, tears starting to spill down her cheeks.

“You don’t want to do that, Maris.” He tried to make his voice low and soothing. “You should kill me instead.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you can make up a tale about how I was abusing her, and you killed me to save your little sister. You can take your sister to a convent and tell your father that she wished to go there. Then you will be your father’s favorite. He will be so grateful for what you did to save Audrey. And because I am an earl, your father will be forced to defend you. He will come to your defense in ways you’ve only dreamed of.”

Her eyes cleared, her face losing its strange color. He could see she was liking the idea. But then her face clouded over again.

“Why are you saying this? Why would you want me to kill you? You’re trying to trick me.”