Page 41 of Ruthless, But for Her

He and Sorren, more than any of the others, could speak without speaking. They’d spent many stretches in silence together, something Ryker never could manage.

Sorren likely already knew what Ashton was thinking. What they did next would depend on Lady Cassia. He would not leave her. But neither, he guessed, did she wish to remain here.

“We can decide on the morrow. After I speak with her.”

It was late, and the day’s events had gone further awry than the one before. Sorren sat back, he and his mug of ale paying tribute to the fact.

Ashton turned his attention to the maps before him. His eyes went where they had gone too often of late—to a thin spit of land north of Mere’s End, claimed by no crown, held by no man.

“If he attempts to control it,” Ashton said, leaning forward, a finger on the spit of land, “we cannot allow it.”

Sorren placed his mug on the wooden table with a thud and leaned forward as well.

“Always thinking ahead. He’s not attempted it before. The King of Scotland would certainly see it as a violation of the truce that keeps the coast neutral.”

“If they claim murder, that too could be seen as a violation of March law. Roland Heron was no ordinary man. De Grey named him, after much delay, as deputy warden. I can only assume the two men shared some familiarity. It will mean an escalation of some sort.”

Sorren stared at the patch of land none of them controlled.

“We need to make it black sails territory,” Ashton said, a proposal he’d considered before, though stretching themselves that thin had made him wary.

“How? We’ve three men and one ship.”

And that was the crux of the problem. When their previous land route had been blocked by de Grey, it was Leif who had offered his ship to take their operation to the sea. Margot had coin enough for the Daisy, but not for the building or purchase of a new vessel.

“Our own coin.”

Sorren’s eyes shot up to meet Ashton’s. “No.”

Since they’d earned their first coin hauling other men’s cargo off the docks as boys, the three of them had pooled their resources. Anything earned beyond basic necessities, they saved, hoping one day to use it for a life that wouldn’t see them nearly killed each day.

“We relegate ourselves to the sea forever by using it,” Sorren argued, not unreasonably.

“Think on it. We’ll talk to Ryker. Then, one of us, along with a couple of the men, can gather what news we can. It’s not an ideal solution, but one we may need to consider. If de Grey takes the spit, his footing could close in on Mere’s End and on the Reach beyond it.”

First he had strangled the land, the old Drove Road closed to them a half-year gone. This would be the next road shut.

CHAPTER 24

Cassia

Everything was wrong.

She opened her eyes, unable to tell if the sun had risen. She lay there, acclimating to her surroundings.

She wasn’t in her bedchamber at Grantchester. Nor in her bedchamber at Denby. Cassia was alone, at the Daisy in Mere’s End.

And her husband was dead.

She turned to the other side, the bed surprisingly comfortable. Cassia didn’t know how long she lay there in silence, thoughts tumbling around in her head like the loose stones on the bluff path.

Eventually, she rose from the bed and dressed in a simple rose-colored kirtle. It was Nell’s favorite. She said Cassia looked like a princess in it, despite the gown’s simplicity.

Nell. She should be back at Grantchester by now. Cassia’s father would have learned what happened. Mere’s End was not a place he could readily find, but she had no doubt he would try. And when he learned she’d killed her husband?

What would her father think of that?

Would it matter that it was accidental? Roland was no longer for this world. His family…what would they learn of what happened?