She glanced at her father’s shack as they made their way to the headman’s hut. She wanted to go and speak to them one final time and, at the same time, she wanted to turn her back and never see them again. She understood why they’d sold her — and part of her would always be grateful, even though they couldn’t have been sure where she was going or what would happen to her — but she also hated them. They’d sacrificed her to ensure the remainder of the family would live to see another year…
And there’s no point dwelling on it now, she told herself. You won’t be coming back.
The headman eyed them both nervously. “My Lord,” he said. “What happened?”
“The artefact proved to be very dangerous,” Hoban said, shortly. He didn’t go into details. The last thing they needed was someone looking for another one. “And I’m afraid your son was consumed when it tried to come to life.”
Frieda watched Ivanov closely as Hoban’s words sank in. Did he know what Ivanovo had been doing? Had he been quietly encouraging his son to do… to do what? Frieda suspected the artefact had been playing everyone for fools, offering them whatever they wanted in exchange for sacrifices… and twisting their minds, so when the time came they offered themselves without hesitation. Had Ivanovo been alone? Or had there been more than a handful of locals involved? Or… she shook her head. It wasn’t her problem. The remnants of the gang would either run for their lives or be hunted down and killed by the local aristocracy.
“My son…” Ivanov let out a deep shuddering breath. “I… why?”
“You raised him to be a little monster,” Frieda said, curtly. Old hatreds bubbled through her, fueling her magic. It would be easy, so easy, to give the headman a taste of what she’d endured at the hands of his son. A single spell, little more than a joke at Whitehall, would break him so completely he would never recover. “You let him run wild and…”
She shuddered. “Do better with your younger son. And don’t even think about letting him run wild again.”
The headman’s face was blank, but Frieda knew what he was thinking. He couldn’t strike at her, but he could strike at her family. The moment the diggers turned their backs and left, her parent and siblings would be kicked out of the village or simply beaten to death. It wouldn’t be hard, either, for Ivanov to convince the rest of the villagers to get rid of her family. She’d cursed a bunch of young lads…
She felt conflicted. Her parents were her… parents. They’d birthed her, raised her… and then sold her, to save the rest of the family. She loved them and hated them and she wanted to go to them and she wanted never to see them again. And… she told herself she owed her parents one thing. Just one.
“My parents are under my protection,” she told Ivanov, meeting his eyes in a manner few village girls would dare. She smiled inwardly as she saw the headman recoil. Young women were meant to be neither seen nor heard, let alone challenge the headman openly. They were lucky there were no villagers to witness the scene. “If you hurt them, because of me, you’ll spend the rest of your life in a pigsty.”
The headman flinched. “Yes.”
Frieda pushed her advantage. “Yes, what?”
“Yes, My Lady,” Ivanov managed. “I won’t harm them.”
“Good.” Frieda knew she was bluffing. There was no way she could cast a lingering spell of protection over her parents, not without spending the rest of her life in the village. But it was unlikely the headman would try to call her bluff. He had too many enemies. If they knew he’d been turned into a pig, they’d chop him up and turn him into dinner. “And I hope we never see each other again.”
She stepped outside, leaving Hoban to say their goodbyes and ensure the ruined village and cave network would be left untouched for a few years, at least until a new team of diggers could come to study the carvings. The air was fresh and cold, clearer than she recalled from their first visit… the looming shadow of the artefact was gone. She frowned as she looked towards her father’s shack, wondering if she should go see her parents before dismissing the idea once and for all. They’d kicked her out, disowned her, sold her. She owed them nothing, nothing beyond ensuring the headman wouldn’t lash out at them for daring to be related to her. She couldn’t walk back into their lives and stay there, not any longer. They were just too far apart.
Hoban joined her, a moment later. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah.” Frieda mentally planned the week. They’d go down to the nearest city, report to Hoban’s superiors, and then… they could go somewhere else. She had time before she had to go back to school for her final year. Who knew? Maybe she’d have a chance to meet up with Emily, again, before she returned to her apprenticeship. “Let’s go.”
She took one final look at the village, knowing deep inside she’d never return, then turned and walked away. It was time to go back where she belonged.