Chapter 16: The Hall of Houses

The Hall of Houses stood under the old customs house, at the end of a stair that went down for a long time.

Four hundred people were already seated when we came in.

They wore black and silver and deep red, and every face turned toward the door.

I wore my plain black dress and Darian's coat, and I kept my hands in the sleeves.

Darian walked half a step behind my shoulder and did not touch me.

The aisle ran down to a round stone floor.

A pale slab stood in the center, and a low table stood at one side.

On the far side sat the Crowhurst family.

The Lord was in his gray coat, and Alaric's mother sat beside him with her eyes on her lap.

Alaric's seat was empty.

I noticed it and didn't know what it meant.

Genevieve sat at the end of their row in her pastel cardigan.

Her braid lay over her shoulder, and she held a handkerchief.

She looked up as I passed, and her lip trembled.

A woman behind me whispered, "Poor thing. She's been crying for days."

The envoy in gray rose at the High Table, and the whole hall went quiet.

"The Council of the Houses is convened," he said. "House Crowhurst has lodged a petition."

"The bride Rosalind Merrow released the pledge without cause. The Council will hear the matter."

He looked at me.

"Do you attend freely?"

"I do," I said.

"Then sit."

I sat on a plain bench before the slab, and Darian stood behind me with his hands clasped at his back.

The Lord of Crowhurst stood up.

He did not look at me.

"I have held this seat for three hundred years," he said. "My House made a pledge with this woman and her family, in good faith."

"The terms were met," he went on. "The Merrow family received what was owed, and the bride kept her place."

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