man took a trebuchet to her defence against her argument to leave.
‘Everyone saw you with the child first.’
‘You mean by the men who are in my pay?’
This man wasn’t like anyone she’d met before. She’d always been able to bargain her way out of a situation. But every argument she could think of, he’d already anticipated.
Panicked, she blurted, ‘I can’t stay.’
‘You’re a thief, homeless, on the streets. Before I snatched you from that predicament you were to be sent to gaol to suffer for your crimes. Wouldn’t staying here in this home, taking care of that child, be preferable?’
Darkness was a madman. ‘No one snatches a complete stranger off the streets to care for a child. No one takes a thief and brings them into their home. You do not know me.’
‘True, but you do not know me.’
Oh, but she did. Her instincts never lied. He was far more dangerous than his act of bringing in a thief. And she let him know she knew him. ‘I saw your blade.’
‘Yes...you did.’
Threats. If he set her free, she’d go to gaol. He’d insist; Ido, the arrogant baker, would as well. There her sentence would be an ear, a hand, her life.
That is, if he set her free. After all, there were other means to dispose of her. For all she knew, she was the second woman he’d offered to care for the child. Maybe another kidnapped woman declined his offer and it was her blood on his clothes.
‘If I refuse?’ she asked.
‘You can’t.’
He didn’t say any more, but he didn’t need to. It was the truth. She couldn’t refuse though she had a compelling reason to beg. Pleading did no good with the mercenaries, but pleading was all she had left. She’d tried reasoning and that failed.
But what could she plead? He wouldn’t believe the little bits of work she did or her scavenging were important.
She couldn’t tell him she had others in her care. That would give him an advantage and put her family in jeopardy. All he would need to do was find them and threaten them and she’d comply with his demands.
Her only recourse was to agree, then escape. Gabriel wouldn’t stay at home, might already be in the streets looking for her. Maybe he’d listen to Helewise and Vernon. They’d talked of a situation like this. That if she was caught to give her time to return.
She prayed he’d give her time.
Striding to the bench, she plopped herself and the child down. It was enough to wake and feed her again, which is what Aliette did.
‘That is your answer.’ He indicated to the food, to the child.
‘I can’t refuse you and this child needs care. If you are so insistent that I’m the one to do it, who am I to argue?’
‘The house and food for your belly doesn’t hurt.’
That is what he thought compelled her. Shelter and food? Once it might have been enough, but her dingy room with her family was worth so much more than that. With them she laughed and told stories.
Darkness never smiled.
She smiled at him. ‘If I’m to be treated as well, I’d be a fool not to accept.’
Narrowing his eyes, he stood. It forced her to raise her chin as Darkness loomed over her.
‘I do not mean you or the child harm. I intend to give you a roof over your head and all the food you could want. A bath and clothes have been ordered for you as well and they are to be prepared for you in the room next to this one. You could have all this daily.’
‘Until the child is well?’
He slowly shook his head. ‘Food and shelter for years. Something you’ve never had.’
She hated that he guessed the truth.
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