Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 340

Chapter 340: Flashback
Many Years Earlier

Anaisa tossed her fiery hair, glad that her father was once again going far away. Foundrel had always threatened war, but never followed through. It was a ridiculous notion.

At thirteen, Anaisa had the entire world figured out. She felt she knew everything there was to know. Her father was a monster. Her sister was the only person she could trust.

The servants were mostly either useless or tattle-tales.

Today, however, the king was sending her father and his cousin on a far-away mission. Barnabas would venture with Anaisa’s father into the terrible foreign land to attempt negotiations on some sort of peace treaty. If they were successful, at least one of the two men would begin a stint as a guard along the border to help enforce the agreement.

They were to be given a tour of the land, and come back with reports on how the nation worked, the quality and quantity of its citizens, and its value as an ally or threat as an enemy.

This had happened a few times over the years. Peace was always tentative and short-lived before skirmishes began again.

She and Katia had been summoned to her father’s study to give their curtsies and formal farewells before waving to him at the gate like dutiful noble daughters always did. Anaisa wore her ugliest gown, a small act of protest to her father’s demands.

He wouldn’t notice.

“I’m telling you, it works.”

The voice came from down the hall as the girls approached. Katia quivered, always a little more afraid of their father than Anaisa was. The younger girl took the elder’s hand, squeezing it to give the raven-haired beauty comfort.

“I don’t think you even need them, there are plenty of brothels in Foundrel.”

Barnabas’s words made Katia’s steps freeze in place, but Anaisa’s face darkened.

“No, Cousin, don’t lower yourself to that. They have… diseases there. It’s disgusting, and I assure you that you don’t want to catch anything from those fallen women. This is a far better way.”

Anaisa’s father seemed amused at his cousin’s reluctance, and she drew near to the doorway of the room before pausing with her shivering sister.

“And it fools the wenches?” Barnabas seemed skeptical.

“As long as you bring a poor change of clothes. At night you can slip out and find yourself an innocent woman. Cajole her, charm her, woo her. She’ll be reluctant at first, but that’s part of the fun, isn’t it? The chase and the victory. This is the final piece. Poor man that you are, this is all you can offer her before you go off and make your fortune so that you can come back and marry her. It’ll make her yours, for certain, and then you never have to see her again.”

Anaisa cleared her throat loudly before stepping forward and knocking timidly on her father’s study door. She couldn’t stand to hear any more about the men’s plots to prey on women, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Good Morning, Father,” Anaisa curtsied deeply, as did Katia. “We’ve come to bid you farewell and wish you a most pleasant journey and all success on your mission of peace.”

The speech was carefully rehearsed. It would keep father from beating them before leaving if they were compliant and obedient enough. Anaisa didn’t care all that much for herself, but she didn’t like Katia being hurt.

“My daughters!” Hector was obviously more pleased by his upcoming journey than by their presence, but as long as he was in a good mood, it didn’t especially matter to the girls. “Katia, while I’m away you must tend to your skin better and stay out of the sun. You won’t attract a good man if you’re tanned and burned. Anaisa…”

He paused, sneering at her lightly. “Take some vinegar to your freckles and see if you can scrub them away before my return. They are unsightly.”

Anaisa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The freckles were fading as she grew older, but her father couldn’t resist the urge to needle her. Beauty was all the utility they had for him most days, as he raised them to marry off to some wealthy and powerful member of the upper class for his benefit.

“As always, thank you for your guidance, Father,” Anaisa curtsied again obediently. That was by far the easier route, though her pride wanted her to snap back that maybe he should work on his paunch or trim his unruly eyebrows so that the whole family could be more attractive. It would be satisfying for a moment but she would probably be nursing a black eye afterwards.

Hector would probably comment that at least a black eye would make her freckles less apparent.

Barnabas cleared his throat and nodded at the other man.

“Thank you for your advice, Cousin,” Barnabas said far more formally than they had been speaking a moment before. Though Anaisa’s father, Hector, had no qualms about his daughters knowing how vile he was, Barnabas tended to put on an air of righteousness around them. It somehow made him worse. “I believe I will follow your instructions during the upcoming trip, as they seem wise.”

“Here,” Hector held out a small pouch. “I have plenty, so you can take these. I have them made by the dozen by some poor woodworker. Just never let the women see that you have more than one or the game’s up.”

“Understood,” Barnabas nodded slowly and took the pouch from his cousin. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll take my leave and meet you at the city gate with the full retinue for our journey.”

“Excellent,” Hector agreed easily with a beaming smile. “I believe you will find this journey more pleasant than the last.”

“Indeed,” Barnabas spared the girls barely a glance. “Good day, young ladies.”

Katia curtsied dutifully at their relative, but Anaisa stared defiantly at the man. His pleasant facade cracked for a moment as he glared at her, and headed towards the door.

Just before he reached it, the leather pouch slipped from his fingers and spilled open on the floor.

“Oh!” He froze in place, staring down as a dozen small items scattered across the ground.

“Girls, help him, of course,” Hector snapped.

Anaisa smiled tightly as one of the baubles struck her foot. Trying not to sass back at her father, she knelt down to pick up a plain, wooden ring.