Chapter 4: The Heir Arrangement

Aldric dismissed the healer with a nod and shut the door.

He did not come near the bed.

He stood at the window with his back to her, and the winter light lay cold on his shoulders.

"Say what you want from me," he said. "I will not offer you less than the truth."

Linnea sat up against the pillows.

"I want the truth, then."

"Skarreth has no heir. I have been duke for six years and I have no child, and the lords of the council have waited out every one of them."

"And now you do."

"Now I do." His jaw tightened. "The council will insist the child is legitimate before Midwinter. Two months."

"Meaning marriage."

She laughed, short and bitter.

"Yesterday I was a wedding dress in a carriage. Today I am a wedding dress in a bed."

"It is not the same."

"Tell me how."

He turned then, and met her eyes.

"I will not strike you. I will not sell you. I will not lock a door."

"That is a low standard, Your Grace."

"It is the one I can promise." A muscle moved in his cheek. "I can promise more, if you ask me."

Linnea pulled her knees up under the blanket.

The anger she had been swallowing for a day finally came up.

"Then listen. I want my own room. A room with a key that only I hold."

"Yes."

"I want a say in every decision about this child, and no council gets to take him from me because I'm a tanner's daughter."

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