Page 31 of Legacy of Thorns
“Success!” Morrow grinned from the forest floor, raising his voice to add, “Come on, Archie!”
Archie appeared in the doorway behind Finley, moving with uncharacteristic reluctance. Usually he was more than willing to help with the unpleasant task of cleaning and preparing themeat, given he was no use in catching it. But that was before he had someone anchoring him to the cabin.
“I was about to help Daphne peel potatoes,” Archie said slowly. “I can’t abandon her to do that alo?—”
“I’ll help Daphne,” Finley said, recognizing his opportunity. “Go, Sprout.”
Archie shuddered. “That’s worse than Archie! I’m not a child anymore!”
“I know,” Finley said implacably. “That’s why you have to do your fair share—in this case helping clean the carcasses.”
Morrow grinned. “We can’t have Daphne thinking you’re the sort to shirk unpleasant tasks.”
Archie’s eyes widened, and he leaped off the porch. “You’ll have to tell her the truth, Morrow.” He gave the man a pleading look. “You know I’m the helpful sort!”
Morrow chuckled. “That you are, lad, that you are. I’ll see if I can work it into conversation. Natural like, of course.” He winked at Finley and led Archie off.
Finley watched them go with a strange mix of excitement and reluctance. He hadn’t expected his opportunity to talk to Daphne to come so quickly.
She appeared in the doorway with a bucket of potatoes on her hip, her lips twitching as she watched Archie’s retreating figure. But when she transferred her gaze to Fin, her expression turned more serious. “You don’t actually have to help with the peeling. I can easily do it on my own.”
“Of course I’ll help.” Finley took the bucket from her, and she turned back to fetch an empty one for the peeled potatoes. “Shall we peel out here on the porch? It’s a beautiful day.”
Daphne agreed, and they were soon settled on the porch, their hands falling into a natural rhythm. Fin tried to think of a smooth opening and failed. With a sigh, he gave himself a mental shake and plunged straight in.
“I hope you believe that I didn’t mean to involve you in our mess. I thought you would be free to walk away after waking Archie.”
Daphne’s hands stilled for a moment before she resumed her even movements. “I accept that.” She didn’t look at him.
He took a breath, grateful she was willing to concede that much. “The current situation isn’t what any of us wanted, but there’s no denying that you’re involved now. So I think I should explain the background more fully.”
She looked up quickly, her brows lifting. “I thought you don’t know why you’re being pursued.”
“We don’t know the specific offense.” He sighed. The words were hard to say. Harder than it had been with Nisha or Morrow. “But we know where it started.”
His hand bore down on his potato, accidentally taking off a chunk of the vegetable along with the peel. Grimacing, he forced his hands back under control.
“To explain it properly,” he said, “I have to go back to our childhood.”
Daphne’s brows rose again, but he kept going.
“Archie already told you we grew up in the southern city of Mirandar. What he didn’t say is that our mother was both beautiful and kind—the epitome of goodness and love. But our father was not. He never deserved her.”
The words came a little more easily now he had begun, but he didn’t look toward Daphne. He didn’t want to see her reaction. “Father was often absent, off on some scheme or other that always came to nought. And when I was ten and Archie was five, he didn’t come back at all. For five years, Mother raised us entirely on her own. I helped where I could, of course, but it was difficult for her. Although she tried her best to shield us from that truth.”
He laughed roughly. “She was always telling me to stop worrying and be a child while I still could. But I had to help—of course I did. I couldn’t watch her struggling and do nothing.”
He risked a glance at Daphne. She had stopped peeling and was watching him instead. He couldn’t read her expression, so he grabbed blindly for another potato and kept talking.
“When Archie was ten, our mother got sick and died. The sickness came on quickly, and the local doctors could do nothing to save her. If Father had been there, perhaps he could have gotten her to the capital in time. But even at fifteen, I couldn’t manage it on my own. Not when we always had so little coin.”
“I’m sorry,” Daphne said softly. “If you don’t want to talk about this, you don’t have to.”
He frowned as a droplet balanced on his chin before dropping free. When had he started crying?
He brushed the moisture away angrily. They were tears of anger more than sorrow, but he needed to get himself under control.
“You need to know this.” His voice sounded hard even to his own ear. Did she realize his anger and resentment weren’t directed at her? “It’s the beginning of how we ended up in this predicament. An interfering neighbor managed to contact our father, although I have no idea how. He told him of Mother’s death, and Father actually showed up.”
