Semua Bab The Prince’s Outlaw Bride: Bab 1 - Bab 10

The first guard heard the window latch lift. The second heard the rain. By the time either man thought to look up, I was already inside the granary.I kept low beneath the rafters, one hand on the sack at my shoulder and the other pressed to the brick wall. The storm had covered the sound of the horses, but not the smoke from their lamps. Two guards stood beneath the loading doors. A third paced the yard with a musket tucked under his arm. They had been told to protect Lord Markham’s grain from thieves. No one had told them to protect the people who had harvested it.I had seen the ledgers at St Agnes. Markham’s steward had taken half the winter stores from three villages and sold the rest to a merchant bound for France. The poor had been left with flour that smelt of dampness and medicine watered until it was useless. I had watched a mother scrape the last blackened crust from a pot for her children. The next morning, I had put on a mask and come here.The Wren, the papers, called me

I had meant to apologise for the bandages. I did not mean to tell the prince what I thought of him.His eyes narrowed, but he did not order me to kneel. That was something. “I’ll try to remember.”“Good. We have a shortage of clean linen.”The steward began to protest. I cut him off before he could explain how the infirmary’s budget had been spent on a new carriage for himself. I had learnt that the fastest way to stop a man from lying was to ask him to show the ledger.Prince Julian looked more amused than offended. He had the fine clothes and effortless posture of a man who had never needed to carry a pail of water across a crowded ward. Yet he watched the patients rather than the room. When an elderly man coughed, Julian turned before the nurse did.“You inspect every charity house?” I asked.“Only the ones that lose half their supplies before they reach the sick.”The steward went pale.I didn’t like the prince’s confidence. I liked even less that he had noticed the same thing I h

I had expected Lord Blackwood to offer money. I had not expected him to call it mercy.He stood beside the library fire with his hands folded over the head of his cane. Alistair Blackwood was not an old man, but there was nothing soft in him. His eyes stayed on me as if he had already decided what I would accept.“My father needs a wife,” he said. “Someone to sit with him, keep the household, and see to his comfort.”“Your servants can do that.”“Servants leave. A wife stays.”He said it as though the difference were a matter of law and not choice. I looked at the silver-framed portrait on the mantel. Lord Reginald’s face was thin and pale. His eyes were closed.“What happens to my family if I refuse?”“Nothing that isn’t already happening.” Alistair tapped his cane against the rug. “The debts remain. Your father’s creditors may seize what little is left. The infirmary may lose its supply contract.”It was not a threat. It was worse. It was a list of things he had already arranged.“M

The king's chamber smelt of beeswax, wet wool, and the bitter cordial the physicians insisted was harmless. Julian stood at the foot of the bed while the queen dowager counted the king's pulse. Edmund looked older than he had at the autumn council. His skin had a grey cast; his fingers trembled against the coverlet.“Is this what you came to inspect?” Alistair asked from beside the window. “My brother’s illness?”“I came because the palace physician requested me.”Dr Voss lowered his eyes. It was not an answer. Julian looked at the medicine bottle on the table. The seal had been broken and replaced with red wax. He recognised the scent from the scorched warehouse: bitter almond beneath the herbs.The King opened his eyes. “Stop prowling, Julian. I am ill, not murdered.”“I hope you’re right.”Edmund’s mouth tightened. He had never forgiven Julian for questioning the council, and Julian had never learned to stop when an authority was wrong. But this was his brother. Behind the king's i

Mother pinned the dress at the waist and asked me to breathe. The seam pressed against my ribs. I kept my hands folded so she would not see them shake.“Your father will want to walk you to the chapel,” she said. “He’s been practicing his speech.”“I don’t want him to have to do that.”“He wants to.”“He thinks I’m marrying Theo.”Mother set down the pins. “Do you still plan to tell him?”“If I do, he’ll try to stop me. Alistair will take the house before we reach the door.”“He deserves the truth.”“He deserves a chance to keep his heart intact for one more day.”My mother looked at me with a sadness that felt like judgement only because I knew she was right. She tied the ribbon at my back and said no more.After midnight, I met Ned at the chapel. He had a list of families and a small loaf wrapped in cloth. He had also brought a short length of rope and two clean shirts.“You’re not coming with me,” I said.“I didn’t say I was.”“You packed a bag.”“I’m allowed to own a bag.”I took