Page 43 of To Love

“Some are saying ’twas set intentionally,” Corwin said.

Alden wondered what Elara had uncovered and was eager to learn more after the meal. Although, to be fair, it was not all he looked forward to later.

“Indeed?” he asked. “Who is saying such? And how do they know?”

He shrugged. “A maid I . . . speak with—”

“Speak?” Darien laughed. “Is that how you name it? Speaking?”

“Piss off,” he continued. “So the maid said that one of the stableboys told her the fire began in more than one spot.”

Alden froze.

The others seemed to shrug off such a notion, saying it had to have been an accident. Conversation quickly moved to the injured mounts and rebuilding of the stable that collapsed.

They’d dismissed the notion as it likely seemed implausible to them. But to Alden, with the information he had about the traitor, it was anything but. In fact, if it was true, and the fire did begin in multiple locations, he would tend to believe it was very much intentional.

Without thinking, he looked up to the dais. Finally, he had something to offer, though Elara likely knew this information already.

When her eyes darted down to him, Alden became immediately uncomfortable on the bench. He shifted, attempting to turn his mind away from the very last thing he said to her. The thought of Elara on her knees in front of him was not something he could imagine and continue to sit naturally.

He looked away, but not before Darien caught him.

“Be careful,” his friend whispered. “The others may notice.”

“Pardon, my lords. I would refill your pitcher of ale.”

Alden turned toward the maid Lila as she reached for the pitcher. He was no lord.

Though she’d once had attentions for him, the maid no longer seemed inclined to them. And neither was he interested in a dalliance with the woman, pretty as she may be. There was only one in this castle he cared for.

Cared for.

He realized it was true, that initially he’d been enamored by Elara, and later intrigued, but he was now in the precarious position of wanting to keep her safe. Of needing to protect her even as he wished to be with her. His feelings, Alden realized, had quickly become complicated where Elara was involved, and he liked it not.

Cared for could easily become love, and loving a woman he could never have would be the worst sort of torture.

“As to the fire,” Darien said to the others as Lila finished pouring ale into their pitcher.

Alden had been about to thank her when he noticed the maid’s expression. As Darien once again speculated about the fire, his friend less ready to dismiss it as an accident, Alden could not dismiss the sense that the maid appeared . . . disturbed.

She quickly moved away, and Alden tracked her movements. Since her back was to him, he could no longer see her face, but something about the interaction bothered him.

Returning to his ale, he dismissed such thoughts. Attempting to uncover the traitor had begun to make Alden see and hear things that were not there.

It wasn’t until the meal had ended, his tablemates beginning to leave, that Alden allowed himself a final glance up to the dais. Elara was speaking with Eamon, but looking at him from the corner of her eye.

She then glanced to the exact direction above them where her chambers were located. As if he wasn’t headed there already, Alden was now tempted to break into a run leaving the great hall.

Corwin’s voice stopped him.

“We’re going into the village tonight. Some are saying Matilda is once again on the move, which means some of us will likely be as well before long.”

His implication of their impending demise hung in the air. All knew that, when they left these castle walls, they would be thrust into the most dangerous of situations. One of their instructors had been killed not long ago, a man as skilled as Gareth on horseback, reminding them even the best trained men were not impervious to injury, or death.

“Perhaps,” Darien hedged, looking at him.

“Go,” he said. “I have some business to attend to.”