Page 69 of The BoneKeeper's Daughter

“Isn’t it her choice? From what I’ve been told? The women in your village are free for three days to keep any company they desire?” Keeping my voice level, I glance between the two groups.

“She is not a woman.” He bites out the word like an injured dog, baring teeth and snapping. His friends shift anxiously at his flat statement though, and then from down the table there’s a surprised sort of huffing sound that catches everyone’s attention. The smaller of the two women, tilting her head, brow furrowed, interrupts the conversation, much to the displeasure of her partner, who is frantically trying to shush her.

“What?” she asks, confusion naked on her half-smiling face. “Of…what, Councilman? Ofcourseshe’s a woman?”

“Mind your mouth around your betters.” There’s a sharp intake of breath from the surrounding groups, the sudden change attracting the attention of my people, and now everyone seated around the long table looks toward us as silence falls. Clearly realizing his mistake, he clears his throat and tries to soften his voice. “It’s not a matter for you. The actions of the Keeper are not yours to discuss,” he offers in a semi-placating tone, but he can’t strip the tension from it altogether, and she leans forward on the table now, looking down toward the curled-in woman in front of me.

“What funny tales you are telling, Councilman Nickolas,” she offers, a sickeningly sweet smile plastered on her face, furrowed brow belying her expression. The man beside her groans under his breath, and she hushes him with a hand on his leg. “Is it a game with the Traders? I love games.” Looking at me briefly, her smile softens into something real. “Ofcourseshe is a woman, Trader. Such astrangething to say. Every Keeper has been one of our people — most have had a wife, sometimes children. But they all have had the same choices as the rest of us. She is shy. More quiet than many of us. Prefers her own company. But sheisa woman. And has all the rights of one, even if she exercises hers by being alone.”

Across from me, Wren inhales raggedly without looking up. No one else around the table notices the sound other than me and the small woman down the table, who suddenly looks incredibly concerned, as though something has occurred to her, some uncomfortable truth escaping, loosed by the dark drink and the darkening night.

“Keeper?” she asks quietly, and, almost despite herself, Wren turns her head toward the hesitant sound. “Are you…doyou like being alone?”

The question catches the attention of everyone,everyonenear us. Wren is a carved piece of marble, no emotion showing on her smooth face, chest barely rising and falling as we all wait for the answer. It feels like a year before she responds, very,veryquietly.

“I amusedto being alone.”

Most of the men relax minutely at her answer, as though they have been proven correct, but the women exchange a long look across the table, and some unheard conversation passes between them. In one movement, both stand, and glide down the few feet until they are next to us, and though they are clearly uncomfortable, the more talkative woman sits directly beside Wren, the other next to me.

“I’ve met you of course, Keeper, but to remind you, I’m Bri. Married to Davvy there — he’s a blacksmith in the village. This is Grace. She’s the most talented seamstress in the village. Has a little shop in the Second Ring.” Wren nods awkwardly, and Bri and Grace look at each other again. “I’ve never thought to ask, didn’t want to bother you, but the trade and the mead are making me bold —” she is trying to put laughter in her voice to mask her unease, but her breath is shallow, and she’s unable to hide the worry completely. “We’ve never seen you at the sewing circles, or at the women’s pool. We all assumed it’s because you…did you not want to come? It’s of course fine to prefer your own company, Keeper. Not everyone is made for my non-stop chatter.” She cloaks her concern in self-deprecating humor, her friend joining in with a forced sort of laugh.

“She’s a lot to listen to on her best day, Keeper. Some are for silence, and there is no shame in wanting to be alone.”

“I…I am never truly alone,” Wren replies, staring down at the table. “I am used to endless conversations.” She tries to smile at the women, but it’s barely an expression.

“But…” Bri darts a quick look around her, at the men pretending to ignore the conversation, at the eyes which flicker over their bent heads, and she lowers her voice again, so even I have to strain to hear her. “Are you…I’m sorry, Keeper, if I’m overstepping. But are you lonely?”

“Is there a difference between being lonely and being alone?” Wren asks with a sad sort of shrug, and Bri reaches out and grabs her hands, holding on even as Wren flinches back slightly at the contact.

“Yes.Yes,Keeper. There is quite a difference between the two. There is aworldof difference between the two, actually.”

“Then I suppose I am one and not the other.” The words sound torn from her stomach, but are hollow, a strange juxtaposition of aching fullness and terrible emptiness.

Nodding tightly, Bri’s jaw clenches at the words, though she tries to smooth her face. Grace, beside me, also sounds tense when she speaks, though she tries to hide it, studiously ignoring the three Councilmen whose faces look like thunder. With a sort of forced casualness, she smiles at Wren, saying, “Well. Now you’ve done it, I’m afraid. We were under the impression that you didn’t join us because you…we wanted to respect your wishes and…Well.” She clears her throat and tries again. “I forget that the women’s pool is far from the bone wall. It would be a difficult road for you to travel on your own. Bri and I will come get you in the morning, if you’re free? Most of the women will meet there for a swim before the day begins. If you are interested, of course. And not busy at the time.” The last is said with a flickering smile toward me, and Bri nudges Wren’s side in a gentle sort of teasing motion.

“She can’t go,” Nickolas snaps, having watched the exchange like a raptor, talons sharp and bared.

“I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, anyway,” Wren says gently, cutting Nickolas off, but the women are drunk and determined.

“You wouldn’t make anyone uncomfortable, BoneKeeper!”

BoneKeeper?BoneKeeper. The word echoes in my head.Keeper. BoneKeeper.

“She’d need a Protector with her in any case, and none are permitted at the women’s pool,” one of the men by Nickolas says by way of explanation, trying to diffuse some of the growing tension. Nickolas nods imperiously, as though that settles the matter, face creasing in a cruel sneer, Wren’s clear discomfort bringing him some obvious satisfaction.

Grace, though, tilts her head and smiles, lips pressed in a thin line. “Why would she need a Protector, Councilman? She’d be with the women. Bri and I will keep her safe. If she wants to come, of course.”

“Do you? Want to come, I mean, Keeper?” Bri turns back to Wren, and everyone waits on her answer.

“I…I think I would…” she says, surprise clear in her voice, and both women try to smile in response, though they look incredibly sad and not a little bit guilty.

“Butisit safe for you, BoneKeeper?” The words burst from Tahrik unintentionally, earning an approving glance from Nickolas. “I’m sorry, I…do you swim? What if something happens? Is is wise?” He looks truely anxious, so lost to his own emotion that he fails to notice Wren’s jaw tightening and the odd look of hurt that flashes quickly across her face before she can catch it.

“Tahrik!” Grace says laughingly, his name lingering in a teasing, familiar sort of way. “What a question!” She and Bri roll their eyes in exasperation. “Men,” Grace huffs jokingly. “As though we can’t teach you to swim, if you want. Sun and earth.”

“Well then. That’s settled, no? And tonight you have the company of this fine Trader to enjoy, if that’s yourchoice, of course,” Bri says, putting heavy emphasis on the words.

Nickolas’ countenance is murderous, and he stares at Bri, fury clear in every line of his face. “Bri, is it? How kind you’ve been to our Keeper. Tell me. I like to get to know the people of our village. Are you married? Do you have children?”

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