Read Ivy's Choice (The Fey Quartet Book 3) Online

Authors: Emily Larkin

Tags: #Romance, #Medieval, #Historical, #Fiction

Ivy's Choice (The Fey Quartet Book 3) (7 page)

BOOK: Ivy's Choice (The Fey Quartet Book 3)
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Ivy glanced at Hugh. He looked as if he tasted bile in his mouth.

“Does he know Hugh changes back into a man for a few hours each night?” Ironfist asked.

Larkspur shook her head. “He seemed not to.” She looked at Hazel. “He’s afraid of you.”

“Me? Why on earth?”

“Because no one’s asked you the right question.”

Tam leaned forward. “What’s the right question?”

“Instead of asking where Hugh is, you should have asked where to find the man who harmed him.”

Tam’s gaze fastened on Hazel. “Where, Hazel? Where is that man?”

Hazel blinked. Her eyes widened. “Oh . . . Oh, it
is
Aleyn.”

Tam settled back on his stool, grim satisfaction on his face.

“How does Aleyn know about our Faerie gifts?” Ivy asked. “Your father said he’d only tell you and the Ironfists.”

“Oh . . .” Tam grimaced, and rubbed his face. “It was when Hazel arrived. Aleyn was so desperate to help find Hugh and he
begged
to be allowed in on that meeting, and . . .” He blew out his breath. “We decided to tell him. He
is
family.”

“Is Hazel in danger?” Ivy asked.

Tam looked sharply at Larkspur.

Larkspur hesitated. “Aleyn is worried she’ll expose him.”

Ivy took that as a
Yes
. From the expression on Tam’s face, so did he. He reached for Hazel’s hand across the table. “Haze
l—

“I’m in no danger,” Hazel said. “Not with you and Cadoc here.”

Tam didn’t look reassured. Nor did he release Hazel’s hand. “If Aleyn offers you anything to drin
k—

“Of course I shan’t drink it!”

Ironfist leaned forward. “Larkspur, did you learn anything else about the spell that binds Hugh?”

“The bargain isn’t complete yet. Aleyn sacrificed a roebuck on the altar and mixed its blood with water. Drinking that made Hugh change shape, but Hugh won’t be fully bound until a second sacrifice is performed. A human sacrifice.”

“What’s Aleyn waiting for?” Tam asked. “Is it the human sacrifice? Can’t he bring himself to do it?”

Larkspur shook her head. “He’s waiting because he wants to get you, too.”

Tam flinched slightly. “Me?”

“Tam . . .” Hazel said, and there was a note in her voice that Ivy had never heard before: fear.

Tam lifted Hazel’s hand and turned it over and kissed her palm. “Don’t worry about me.”

Ivy’s chest contracted in a moment of intense envy. To have a man look at her the way Tam was looking at Hazel.

No, not any man: Hugh.

She glanced at Hugh. He was staring at her, and the expression on his face, even shadowed as it was . . .

Her lungs stopped working. The breath dried up in her throat.

Ivy broke the glance hastily and stared down at the table.
I am not the wife for Hugh Dappleward. He needs a stronger woman than I
. The regret, at that moment, was excruciating.

And then she remembered Larkspur, sitting alongside her. Ivy’s thoughts lurched to a frozen, horrified halt.
Think of something else.

“Can the spell be broken?” Ironfist asked.

Ivy focused intently on the question—
Yes, can it?
—and shoved the regret to the very back of her brain.

There was a brief pause before Larkspur answered Ironfist’s question. “Yes. By killing Aleyn, or . . . something to do with a dead Faerie prince and a barrow. I didn’t understand that.”

From the men’s faces, Ivy thought they understood.

“Killing Aleyn will do it?” Hazel said.

Larkspur nodded. “Aleyn promised to sacrifice his first-born child to the dréor. He sealed the pact with his own blood. If he dies before making the sacrifice . . . the bargain is void. The spell breaks.”

“His first-born child!” Hazel said, her voice sharp with horror.

“A son. Born two months ago.”

“A son?” Hugh sounded baffled. “Aleyn doesn’t have a son.”

“Born to someone in your household,” Larkspur said. “She died in childbirth. I think her father might be one of your grooms.”

“Oh.” Understanding dawned on Hugh’s face. “Rosamund. She never said who the father was. Her parents were distraught when she died.”

“Aleyn plans to kill Rosamund’s child?” Ironfist’s voice was soft—and yet it made hairs prick upright on the back of Ivy’s neck.
He’s dangerous
.

“Yes.” Larkspur’s head drooped. She closed her eyes. Her fingers trembled in Ivy’s grasp.

I think you’ve had enough, love
. Ivy caught Hazel’s eye. “Time to take her back.”

Hazel stood.

“One final question, Larkspur . . . if I may?” Ironfist’s voice was still soft, but no longer terrifying. He sounded gentle, not dangerous.

Larkspur raised her head and looked at him.

“If Hugh’s in deer form when Aleyn dies, will he change back into himself? Or will he be stuck?”

Tam shot him a sharp glance.

“He’ll change back.”

“Are you certain? Absolutely certain?”

Larkspur hesitated. “Aleyn seemed to think that would be the case.”

“Seemed to think . . .” Tam grimaced and shook his head. “Let us err on the side of caution. We do it when Hugh’s human.”

“Now?” There was a note of disquiet in Ironfist’s gravelly voice. “Cut Aleyn’s throat while he’s asleep? That’s too much like murder for my liking.”

Tam grimaced again. He glanced at Hugh. “Tomorrow night at Dapple Meadow. A closed court—and an execution. Justice, not murder. If you can wait another day?”

“I can,” Hugh said.

Ivy looked down at the table. Two more agonizing transformations . . .
Gods, can he cope?

But Ironfist was correct. Cold-blooded murder was no way to undo this unholy bargain.

“I don’t want Father to witness me changing shape,” Hugh said. “Promise me you’ll keep him away.”

“I promise,” Tam said.

She looked up to see Tam stand and bow to Larkspur. “Thank you,” he said, formally. “My family is very much in your debt. If you ever need our help in any matter, you have only to ask.”

Hazel held out a hand to Larkspur. “Come on, love. Let’s get you back to the woodcutter’s cottage.”

Larkspur released her grip on Ivy’s fingers. She pushed slowly upright. She looked frail, almost elderly. The shadows under her eyes were as dark as bruises.

Ironfist stood. “I’ll come with you.” He made a bow to Larkspur. “That is, if my presence won’t disturb you?”

 

 

CHAPTER NINE

TAM, IRONFIST, AND
Aleyn carried the roebuck off in a wagon. Ivy stood on the doorstep with Hazel and watched the wagon trundle out of sight.
I pray that the gods protect you, Hugh Dappleward.

Calmness wasn’t a quality she possessed this morning. Anxiety and worry were the emotions that rode her. Anxiety and worry—and a foolish, wistful sense of loss that tightened her throat and made her heart ache in her chest.

She wanted to be on that wagon with Hugh. She wanted to protect him.

Me? A cripple? I can’t protect anyone.

“What if Aleyn manages to bespell Tam?” Hazel’s voice was agonized, her hands clenched. “Or finds some way to kill him? O
r—

“Ironfist is with them.” Ivy managed to find a shred of calmness. “He’s more than a match for Aleyn. He’ll keep Tam safe. And Hugh.”

“But—”

“You’ll know where Tam is every mile of the journey. You can ask yourself where he is once an hour—once a minute, if you need to.”

“I do that all the time anyway.” Hazel unclenched her fists and scrubbed her face with her hands. “Gods, I’m tired.” She sat on the doorstep, her shoulders sagging. “A midsummer wedding? I was a fool to agree to wait. I should have married him two weeks ago.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Ivy said. “If you hadn’t been here to help me with Larkspur . . .”

They exchanged a sober glance. Hazel pushed wearily to her feet. “Let’s go see her now.”

“You don’t want a nap?”

Hazel shook her head. “I’m too worried to sleep.”

So am I
. “Where’s Tam?”

Hazel’s eyes unfocused slightly. “Crossing the bridge.” She blew out a breath and smiled wryly. “Crossing the bridge, alive and well. As are Hugh and Cadoc. And . . .” Her eyes unfocused again. “And Larkspur’s awake. Come on, let’s go.”

 

 

THEY SAT TOGETHER
on the mossy doorstep, the three of them, with the hounds basking in the sunlight at their feet. Another beautiful, golden day. Ivy gazed across the little glade, at the summer-green grass and the wildflowers nodding in the breeze.
This is how we sat three days ago
. She had an odd, unsettling sense that they’d slipped back in time. Any moment now a roebuck would come crashing from the trees . . .

She remembered Hugh as he’d been then: filthy, shaking with exhaustion, half-mad with terror. Her heart clenched in her chest. And then she told herself—and Larkspur—fiercely:
I do not love Hugh Dappleward
.

Larkspur slipped her hand into Ivy’s. “He’ll be free of the spell soon.”

Ivy looked at her sister. Anxiety jolted through her. Larkspur’s cheeks were even more hollow today, the shadows under her eyes darker. Guilt followed swiftly on the heels of anxiety. “We shouldn’t have asked it of you. It was too muc
h—

“No, it wasn’t. I’m fine.”

Ivy reached for her crutch. “I think we should go. You need to rest.”

“I’m
fine,
” Larkspur repeated.

“Last night, you were too weak to walk,” Hazel said. “Cadoc carried you.”

Ivy’s guilt intensified.

“Don’t!” Larkspur said sharply. “Don’t feel guilty! How could I not help after what I’ve done to you!”

“You’ve done nothing to me,” Ivy said, climbing to her feet. “It was Father who broke my leg, not you.”

Larkspur’s lips twisted. “He broke it because I was born.”

“He broke it because he was drunkard and a fool,” Hazel said, standing.

Ivy glanced at her, and wondered how much she remembered of that day.
Nothing, I hope
. Her own memory was mercifully disjointed; she remembered her first glimpse of Larkspur—wrinkled and pink—but not their father’s drunken rage.

“My lameness is
not
your fault,” she told Larkspur firmly. “Not then, and not now.”

Larkspur shook her head.

Father may not have wanted another daughter, but if he had lived, he would love you now
. Ivy reached down and touched Larkspur’s shining hair. “You regret your wish, love, but remember this: because of it you’ve saved two lives.”

“She’s right,” Hazel said bluntly. “If you couldn’t hear people’s thoughts, Hugh would have died a roebuck. And Tam, too. And Aleyn would likely be Dapple Vale’s next Warder. We should thank the gods you wished as you did!”

Ivy stroked a strand of hair back from Larkspur’s cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “Hazel’s right. We should thank the gods for your gift.”

Hazel bent, and hugged Larkspur fiercely. “Make sure you eat everything we’ve brought! And that you
sleep
.”

“We’ll be back tomorrow.” Ivy hugged Larkspur, too.

She tucked the crutch into her armpit and hobbled across the glade. The crutch would be with her forever, but she didn’t regret it. If it meant Larkspur and Hugh were safe, she would willingly be lame the rest of her life.

 

 

CHAPTER TEN

HUGH SAT IN
one of the huge oak chairs in a corner of his father’s work chamber. His legs were too weak to stand for long, his hands too weak to shave the stubble from his face, but he was home, home and human, and about to be free of Aleyn’s spell.

He glanced around the shadowy chamber: the long table, the chairs and stools, the shelves of scrolls and books. He would work in this room one day, pass judgments here one day. But not, he hoped, for a very long time.

He looked at his father and Tam, seated at the far end of the table, closest to the fire and the candles. Light and shadows flickered across their faces. For a second, it was almost impossible to tell them apart; they had the same bony faces, the same strong noses, the same unruly hair, and then the light shifted and the difference was clear: his father looked old. Older than Hugh had ever seen him.
This affair has aged him
.

Rage flared anew in his chest. Rage at Aleyn.
How dare he do this to Father?

Next to Tam sat Cadoc, huge and bearded and grim. None of the men talked. They waited silently. Gravely.

Behind Hugh, the door opened. “But I was
asleep,
” he heard Aleyn say petulantly. “I don’t see what’s so urgent!”

“Your uncle will explain it,” Rauf Ironfist said. His voice was the same deep rumble as his son’s.

Hugh tensed. He sat motionless as Rauf Ironfist and Aleyn entered the room. Rauf shut the door and turned the key in the lock. Hugh heard it
snick
firmly.

Aleyn strode across the floor to confront his uncle and cousin. “What’s so urgent?” he demanded. “I was sleeping.”

Rauf crossed to stand alongside Aleyn, moving quietly for a man of his size; like his son, he was light on his feet. Cadoc stood. Between the two Ironfists, Aleyn seemed as small and slight as a twelve-year-old boy.

“What?” Aleyn demanded again.

Hugh’s father gestured silently towards the dark corner where Hugh sat.

Aleyn swung round and peered into the shadows. “What?”

Hugh pushed to his feet and stood swaying.

“Who—?” Aleyn froze. Shock and disbelief were clear to see on his face.

Hugh braced himself for what was to come—Aleyn’s pretense of joy, the protestations of ignorance and righteous innocence—but instead of feigned delight, Aleyn’s lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. “You!”

So, no pretense
. Hugh was relieved.

Rauf gripped Aleyn’s right shoulder; Cadoc took hold of his left arm.

“This is a trial,” Hugh’s father said, his voice low and sad. “A closed trial. The charges ar
e—

Aleyn moved—snatching the dagger from Rauf’s belt, burying the blade in Cadoc’s upper arm.

It happened so fast that Hugh barely had time to blink: the flash of the dagger in the candlelight, Cadoc’s yelp of pain, Aleyn wrenching free.

BOOK: Ivy's Choice (The Fey Quartet Book 3)
4.92Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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