Vesper Brynn's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Her father's summons came within the hour. A guard found Vesper in the corridor and told her the king wanted her in his chambers. She said she would come. Then she turned the other way. She found James behind the manor, where the flowering vines hung thick down the old brick wall. He still wore the dirt of the field. He looked up when he heard her, and his hands went still. "He knows," Vesper said. "My father saw you look at me." "I know." James did not move. "I shouldn't have." She crossed the grass and kissed him. She had thought about it for weeks and never done it. His hands stayed at his sides a moment, then found her back. Pale blossoms trembled above them on the vine. She pulled back far enough to speak. "It's you. It was always you. Not the lord from the east. You." "They won't allow it," James said. "Then make them." She held his face. "You unhorsed their champion. The whole crowd cheered a man with no name. Keep winning. Win until they can't pretend you're nobody." He was quiet. His jaw worked under the stubble. "Your father has a contract. A lord with land." "Contracts break," Vesper said. "Proof is harder to argue with. Give them proof." "I'm a repairman," he said. "I fix gates." "You fixed mine." She almost smiled. "You can fix this." He looked at her for a long moment. Then he nodded, once, the plain way he did everything. "I'll win," he said. "Whatever it costs." Footsteps scraped the gravel path beyond the wall. Vesper went cold. She stepped back out of his arms. A servant passed on the far side of the hedge, carrying linens, not looking their way. But the fear had already done its work. "Go," she whispered. "Before someone sees us both." James caught her hand before she could turn. "Vesper." He said her name like it was only a name, the way he always had. "Don't let him marry you to the lord. Not yet. Give me time." "I'll buy you time," she said. "I'm going to him now." She left James under the vines and walked back inside. Her heart still raced, but her choice had settled hard in her chest. She had come out here afraid, half hoping he would tell her to stop. He had not. He had promised to fight. Now she had to face her father with the truth already in his eyes. She climbed the stairs to his chambers. The guard at the door stepped aside. Vesper pressed her hands flat to still them, and knocked. She had kept her secret for weeks. She would not keep it one more minute. She would tell King Aldric herself, before he could tell her what she was allowed to want.