"Narelle, is it really you? What are you doing here?"
He strode over and lowered his voice to a hiss.
"If you wanted to see me, you could have sent word through the servants. Why make a scene in front of everyone?"
"Besides, I told you in my letters not to come back on your own. When the time was right, I would have sent someone to bring you."
I held my daughter tight and stared at him in cold silence.
Five years apart, and Finn looked even more handsome than before. Younger, somehow.
His robes were made of the finest fabric, the cuffs embroidered with gold thread.
My daughter and I, by contrast, were dressed in rags. Our rough-spun clothes had more holes than I could count.
"Husband, didn't you promise me yourself? You said within three years, you would send someone to bring me back to the capital. It's been five."
Finn's expression darkened, though a flicker of panic crossed his eyes.
"Narelle, I will bring you back. But not now. The manor is hosting a banquet for high-ranking officials and dignitaries. Take the child and leave. We'll talk later."
He slipped a heavy pouch of silver into my hands, expecting me to take the money, walk away, and pretend we had nothing to do with each other.
I smiled coldly, opened the pouch, and turned it upside down. Silver ingots clattered across the stone ground.
"The Marquess has done well for himself. And this is how you dismiss the wife who stood by you when you had nothing? A few coins?"
My voice carried just far enough for every servant and guard within earshot to hear every word. Finn's face went darker still.
He clenched his jaw and leaned in close. "What do you want from me? I said I'd bring you back. Can't you just take the child and wait a little longer? Just until tonight—"
I turned away with a cold smile, shifting my daughter in my arms as I walked toward the manor gates.
"Our daughter hasn't eaten in three days. I'm afraid she can't wait."
"Tell me, my lord, why are you so desperate to keep your own wife from stepping through the door? Is there something in there you'd rather I not see?"
I knew exactly why Finn didn't want me inside. The banquet hall was filled with the most powerful officials in the empire, and among them sat Imperial Consort Rosalind, the Emperor's most beloved consort.
Every guest seated comfortably at those tables believed that Edith Henson, his sister-in-law, was the rightful Lady of the Eastholm Marquessate.
A wife appearing out of nowhere was a problem Finn had no idea how to explain.
And that was precisely why I was here. To make sure he couldn't.
Finn stared at me, his face drained of color, scrambling for a way out.
Edith's eyes darted, and then she stepped forward with a warm smile, reaching for my arm.
"Sister-in-law, what are you saying? You're Finn's wife, which makes you family. You and the child arrived so suddenly that Finn was simply overwhelmed with joy and didn't know what to say. He would never hide anything from you!"
She tried to steer me toward a side chamber.
I pulled my arm free. "You must be the elder sister-in-law."
Edith's smile froze for a heartbeat before she forced it back into place with a nod.
In my previous life, I had pitied Edith for losing her husband so young. I never thought to guard myself against her. So when she led me to that side chamber and offered me pastries, I never once suspected her intentions.
I had no idea that the poison in those pastries was what killed my daughter and me. And the hand that placed it there was Edith's.
"I think I'll skip the side chamber. Didn't my husband just mention there's a banquet going on? My daughter and I are starving. We'll eat there. And while we're at it, my husband can introduce us to everyone."
"Narelle!"
Finn's voice dropped to a sharp growl. "You want to walk into that banquet dressed like that? You'd humiliate the entire marquessate on purpose?"
"At least change your clothes first. Edith, would you take her to—"
