Page 42 of To Honor

“I cannot keep it from him forever. Even now, ’tis so difficult to do so. And Amalia too.”

“You can tell her soon enough. Once Gareth returns, I will arrange for us all to meet so that we can discuss your future. I may be your father, but Lord Ashcroft is your legal guardian. We must tread lightly.”

She nodded and they began to move forward once again. Thankfully, Lord Ashcroft was engaged in a conversation with Lady Lyra and did not notice her and Eamon.

“She is quite beautiful.”

“And skilled, both as an archer and healer.”

“Another archer.” She smiled. “Will Sir Darien be threatened by the competition? And a woman?”

“I do not believe he is the sort to be so. But the kind of tactics used by our order make archers some of the most sought-after. We are lucky to welcome her to our ranks. She learned the trade from her father, also extremely skilled, and he was most reluctant to allow her to come.”

“Why did you not recruit him instead?”

“He was injured years ago and cannot walk without the aid of a walking stick.”

“I am sorry to hear it,” she said, just as they sat.

“We discussed your father,” Eamon said to Lady Lyra. “I was telling Lady Evelina that he is quite skilled.”

A serving maid filled each of their goblets with wine.

“Indeed, he is. Our village is just on the outskirts of Sherwood Forest. My father and I spent many days among the trees, which served as our foes in my training.”

“Oh, my lady,” Evelina exclaimed. “What a wondrous thing to have been trained with the bow and arrow among the trees of your home.”

“Wondrous, indeed, as I was the only girl allowed to do so.”

Evelina avoided looking at Lord Ashcroft, who always forbade her to train with any weapon.

“Though I am no lady. My father was a forester, my mother a healer. They are not noble, in title at least.”

Evelina had been so distracted she had missed Eamon’s introduction.

“Apologies,” she said, though Lyra did not seem bothered.

“It is most kind of you to welcome me here. Can you tell me more,” Lyra said to Eamon, “about what I can expect at Castle Blackwood?”

As Eamon did just that, Evelina peered at him—Lord Ashcroft. If he thought it ironic that Lyra would live in a place Evelina was forbidden to even visit, he did not give as much away.

“Is something amiss, Evie?”

All three of her companions looked at her.

Aye, something was amiss.

The man she loved could be in grave danger even as they sat here, sharing a meal.

Her father was not her father, and probably never cared for her, which was why he treated her akin to one of their servants.

And her actual father could not claim her as such, despite that he clearly loved her more than the man who raised her. Of course, he’d not done much of the actual raising. Between her wet nurse—a woman who later became Evelina’s de facto mother until, like her real mother, she left Ashcroft Manor—and her tutors and the staff at Ashcroft, he was not present for much of her raising.

“Nothing is amiss,” she lied. “Please do continue, Sir Eamon. I’m most interested in the comings and goings at Castle Blackwood as well.”

Eamon understood her meaning well enough. With a slight frown, he continued sharing information that Evelina knew already. About the grounds and the knight school’s instruction. About some of the missions that were not as secret as the Guardians would like, ones all in this region were aware of, knowing that without them Matilda’s cause would have been lost already.

He was partway through explaining one particular mission, a tale Evelina had heard many times, when their steward cleared his throat from the entrance to the hall.