Chapter 1
The noise of the tavern thundered in his ears as Flynn dropped his empty cup on the wooden table. The taste of ale lingered in his throat as he peeked at the cards in his hands. It wasn’t looking good. The game of Maw was one with many rules, but it was a game that Flynn McGhee was familiar with and one that he had become good at winning.
“How’s it looking?” Adam asked from beside him. His best friend was always looking out for him, but he was still in the card game too, which made him an opponent.
Flynn glanced at his cards before speaking. “It’s all right.”
He was lying, of course, but his friend didn’t need to know that yet. Flynn narrowed his dark eyes. It wasn’t looking like he was going to win, but he didn’t want to be the first to lose.
“Are ye sure about that?” Adam cast him another glance of concern. “This is nae the kind of game that ye want to lose.”
“If ye talk about the ‘Lady With Nay Name’ again, I swear…” Flynn’s voice trailed off as he chuckled and shook his head. “I dinnae believe that she could be so bad.”
“I dinnae think that ye understand,” Adam sighed while rubbing his eyes. He had always been a good friend to him. “Ye should never accept contracts from her. She makes our kind do the most awful things.”
Our kind. Flynn hated how his friend referred to them as though they were some other kind of species. They were sell-swords or mercenaries; the term differed depending on the passersby where they looked for work. Despite the loud chorus of voices coming from the tavern, Flynn still cringed at the volume that his friend spoke at. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of what they had to do to stay alive, but he was ashamed of the way that Adam talked about them as though they were below everyone else.
He was aware of the way that some of the locals would stare at them in the tavern. They were the group mercenaries that wore dark clothes and gathered in the corners like insects. As long as they brought no trouble to the establishments, they were able to stay—as though it were some kind of unwritten agreement between them and the landlord.
“Aye, the Lady With Nay Name is nae someone ye want to work with,” one of the other men playing the card game sniffed. “That’s why nobody wants to lose.”
Flynn’s eyes glanced back to his cards. There were five trick cards within the pile, and a player would need three to win. They’d been playing for over an hour, but Flynn had yet to pick one up. With each round, he knew that his chances of avoiding being the first to lose were getting slimmer.
“She is a wealthy woman, and any one of us would be a fool to refuse the sums that she hands out to do her bidding,” another man said. He was much older than the rest of them, with white speckles in his beard and cracked lines across his weathered skin. The man was missing a few teeth, and yet he was still playing the game with the intention of finding work afterward.
“She is nothing but an old wives tale,” Flynn muttered as he took another card from the pile. This time, he wasn’t able to hide his disappointment at the card he’d drawn.
“A wives tale that ye might be meeting soon, lad,” the old man chuckled as he waited for Adam to take his turn. His friend cast him a worried look, but Flynn still wasn’t concerned. He needed work, and he was starting to need work a lot more than before. Flynn didn’t feel that he was in the position to be picky over what jobs he took.
“I’m nae a lad anymore. I’ve done things for a few coins that I’m nae exactly proud of,” Flynn grumbled as he watched the game continue to unfold.
“And ye would be willing to kill women and children if this woman asked ye?” one of the men asked.
Flynn had already received the same talk from Adam before they’d decided to enter the game. He didn’t like the sound of it, but he’d been confident in his chances that he wouldn’t be the first one to lose. He wasn’t sure what he would do if she asked him to kill someone innocent; it would be a decision that he wouldn’t be able to take as lightly as he would if it were a man who had wronged another man.
“We kill people for a living,” Flynn answered, leaving his words to be interpreted as the others at the table wanted to.
They continued with the game. Their cups of ale were refilled and drained as the stack of cards also dwindled in size. There was a point when silence descended on the table, and each of the men looked up from their cards. Flynn swallowed thickly while rolling his shoulders back. His dark hair was stuck to his forehead due to the heat of the filled room, but he wasn’t going to show his discomfort to his fellow sell-swords.
He swallowed thickly, the ale making his head buzz and stomach bloat, but he was still trying to keep his mind sharp. Adam was shuffling in his seat and making no attempt to keep his composure, but the nervous glances that he shot at Flynn were beginning to grate on him.
“I’ve got one trick card,” the old man sighed after understanding what the silence meant.
“I’ve got one too,” the other man said while laying his cards down.
“Me too.”
All eyes darted between Adam and Flynn, the final two to reveal their cards, but Flynn already understood the outcome.
“I suppose that means that I win,” Adam said while breathing out a sigh of relief. A smile ghosted over his lips for just a moment before it disappeared as his eyes met his friend’s.
“And then that means…” the older man’s voice trailed off as the realization spread like an infectious disease over the table. Flynn clenched his jaw and kept his eyes on the table. He didn’t like the attention, and he didn’t like the way that they were all looking at him.
“Ye dinnae have to dae this,” Adam turned to his friend as the other men started to gather up the cards.
“I really dinnae think that I have that kind of choice,” Flynn laughed it off. “I have to follow the rules of the game. We knew what we were getting into.”
“Aye, but if ye leave now, then I can hold them off,” Adam started, but his friend held up his hand.
“I’m nae running,” he said while shaking his head. “Adam, I need work. I need this job. Even if it’s nae going to be pretty, I dinnae have much of a choice.”
“What about going back to an old client? Surely someone must need other work soon and—”
“I told ye what happened with the last people. It’s…complicated, and they are nae too pleased with me. I really dinnae have the luxury to be choosing these days.”
In his mind, he had already made the decision that he would be taking the work, but he knew that it wasn’t going to be a popular decision with his friend.
“Ye see that man over there?” one of the men pointed over his shoulder. Flynn followed the man’s finger until he saw the hooded figure standing by the exit of the tavern. He quickly tried to hide the grimace that sprung to his face instinctively. Even if he didn’t want to do the job, the hooded man would not allow the loser to leave without taking the contract. “He’s got the note from the lady with him.”
Flynn could feel the attention return to him as he rose from the table; the last thing that he wanted to show was any fear in front of the other men.
“Flynn…”
“It’s all right, Adam,” he said as his friend stood up next to him. “It’s honestly all right.”
Adam pursed his lips before nodding finally, although Flynn could still see that he wasn’t happy about it.
He turned back to the hooded figure, took a quick deep breath, and started across the tavern. The room was filled with men and women laughing and drinking. Music was playing from one corner, and Flynn slipped effortlessly through the crowd without being noticed. He made his way over to the figure, his nerves rising as he let his hand hover over the handle of his sword.
“Ye work for the Lady With Nay Name?” Flynn asked after clearing his throat.
The figure finally turned to him, although he kept his head down, the shadow of his hood obscuring his features from view. Flynn tried to peer closer, but it was no use.
“She has a job for me?” he continued speaking, not liking the silence that came as a response.
Instead, the figure dug into his pocket with a dark, gloved hand and pulled out a pouch of money. Flynn felt his breath rise and hitch in his throat as he examined the bag of gold that the man held out to him. He took the pouch with some hesitation, for it came with a letter that he was a lot less inclined to look at.
“This is the job?”
The man nodded but said nothing.
“And if I dinnae want to do it?”
Flynn stared up at the figure as he pushed his cloak aside to reveal his sword. Flynn didn’t need the man to speak to understand that he really didn’t have a choice anymore. With a huff, he turned his attention to the piece of sealed parchment that was in his hand. With some slight reluctance, he opened it and started to read through the instructions.
At first, his eyebrows were knitted in concentration as he deciphered the cursive words on the parchment. However, his eyes quickly widened as the realization of what he had to do hit him.
Chapter 2
Leah walked through the town with purpose. Her green eyes were narrowed as she made sure to get to her destination without dawdling or taking any detours. She was determined to get the yeast that her mother had asked for, and she knew that she had to do it quickly, while she still had the courage to do so.
The baker was a tough man to negotiate with, but Leah knew he could be persuaded. She bit her lip and pulled her curls back so that they were out of the way. Her dark hair complimented her green eyes like a forest tree.
The town was bustling with people. It was market day for the local farmers, a good time to sell their produce of the week. But Leah knew that she and her mother wouldn’t be able to treat themselves from the contents of the stalls; they would be living on the bread that her mother would make.
As soon as the baker saw her, his pink face fell, and he shook his head quickly. The customer in front of Leah was just leaving, and Leah stepped up to the counter with a rather sheepish smile on her features.
“Nay,” he said simply.
“Ye have nae even heard what I have to say!” Leah said with a groan.
“I dinnae have to hear what ye have to say. The answer is nay, unless ye can pay for it right here and now.”
Leah could feel the heat rise in her cheeks, but she ignored it and clenched her fists.
“I just need some yeast. My mother and I can—”
“I’m nae getting into another one of yer negotiations, Leah,” the baker sighed and rubbed his face. “Ye and yer mother already have debts with me that ye are yet to pay off.”
“I ken, but we’re waiting for some money from a wealthy woman to come in,” Leah quickly said. “She is paying us for the seamstress work that we’ve already done. We just have to wait for the money to come in, but—”
“It’s nae happening!” the baker shouted.
Leah suddenly felt very small as she stood on the other side of the counter. She was hungry, her mother was hungry, and she felt like a fool for not fighting for what she needed.
“Ye have my word. I promise ye that I will pay as soon as—”
“Ye want me to trust ye?” the baker scoffed as he shook his head. “Ye think that the word of a bastard means anything to me?”
Leah stopped her pleas and stared at the man as her mouth closed. She could feel the lump in her throat forming, but she didn’t want the man to see her cry. Instead, she channeled how she was feeling into a glare while clenching her fists.
“Get out of my shop!” he said, watching as Leah’s eyes widened, and she swallowed thickly. She knew that there was nothing more she could do or say that would help her cause, and so Leah turned on her heels and headed for the door.
She put the hood of her cloak up as she stepped out into the cool morning air, not wanting to invite the attention of passersby who might wonder why she was causing a scene in the bakery.
Leah walked through the rest of the town on her way home with her head down. She was dreading having to tell her mother that they weren’t going to have good bread for their meal. All she had needed was the yeast, and she had been willing to pay him back as soon as she had the money.
She winced at the thought of how he’d shouted at her in front of other customers. Even people out on the streets had heard him.
She wished that there was another baker in town who was unaware of her past and would simply smile as she entered the shop and comply with her requests.
Leah felt foolish for even thinking that the baker would take pity on her and give her the yeast. However, she was also concerned as to how her mother would react to this. Sometimes her mother would tell her that it didn’t matter, that they could manage without whatever she had failed to bring. Yet other times, it was as though Leah’s words would trigger a storm within her.
She tried to push the dread away as it rose up within her and simply continue on her journey home—her arms much lighter than she had been anticipating.
The rest of the walk went by in a blur. Leah didn’t look at the townspeople around her and, instead, just stared down at the ground. Their house was a little farther out, but she still arrived back too quickly for her liking.
“Did ye get the yeast?” The sound of her mother’s voice as Leah stepped into their small house filled her with dread. She didn’t want to talk about it, but she knew that her mother was bound to push at learning why she hadn’t succeeded in getting it.
“Nay.” Leah shook her head and wiped her eyes. She winced, knowing that her mother would detect the way that her eyes were red and puffy.
“What did he have to say this time?” her mother, Rosie, asked in a softer voice.
“He did nae want to loan us anything else, even though I promised that we would pay him as soon as the money came in. But he…he said that he does nae trust someone like me.”
Leah knew that she didn’t have to say it for her mother to understand. Rosie’s face was a picture of realization as she nodded slowly.
“That baker has always been a petty man. He refuses to see any further than his own large belly. There is nay way that he would show compassion,” Rosie murmured while turning back to the dough on the worktop.
They would be having flatbread. Again.
Without the yeast, the bread didn’t rise and, therefore, didn’t reap enough to last for as long as she knew that her mother would have liked. She ignored her mother’s futile attempts at hiding her disappointment and instead turned back to the various sewing tasks that she still had to complete that day.
“It’s fine,” her mother said, but the tone of her voice sounded strained. Leah knew that she didn’t want to have to say those words. Her mother’s lips were pursed, and she braced herself. “We can find a way manage without his yeast…again.”
She did her best to ignore the comment, but Leah knew that it was all her fault. Her mother’s words were like tiny sharp points that cut into her resolve, whether she meant it to or not.
Leah could feel tears rising up again as she tried to push her feelings away. The last thing that she wanted was for her mother to see how much the situation really affected her.
If she was being honest with herself, Leah was tired of having to tolerate how the people in the town treated her and her mother. She was looked at by those who knew their history as though she were nothing more than a pariah. Her mother had given birth to her outside of wedlock. Leah never had a chance to meet her father, who had been involved in a passionate affair with her mother before he disappeared. Rosie didn’t talk openly about the subject, and Leah had worked for years to pry any detail that she could from her.
“We could always move to a new town,” Leah suggested as she stared down at the work table. She knew her mother’s answer before she could speak the words.
“What about the business?”
The seamstress business was starting to provide them with a bit more money, but Leah didn’t feel as though it was reason enough to stay.
“We can pick it up in a new location,” Leah said with a shrug.
“This property belonged to my family. I cannae just leave it,” Rosie said after a long pause.
“But we can take the business with us. We’re able to work, and we could start again somewhere where nobody would ken who we are,” Leah said while looking up from the table.
“Leah,” Rosie sighed as her shoulders sagged.
“Nobody would have to ken that ye were nae married when ye had me. We could make up a white lie about who my father was and why he is nae around. We would nay longer have to dread walking into town with the feeling that the people around us dinnae like us all the time,” she continued.
“Stop this nonsense now,” her mother said. “We’re nae leaving my family’s house, and we’re nae going to move to another town. We have work here, and that’s all that ye should focus on for now.”
“It’s hard to work for the same people that hate me,” Leah murmured.
“They dinnae hate ye. I just think that they dinnae understand,” Rosie’s voice was softer as she spoke to her daughter.
“They would nae have to understand if my father was here. Nobody would talk to us the way that the baker spoke to me today,” Leah said back to her mother.
Rosie was silent for a moment as she narrowed her eyes. Leah knew that she had perhaps overstepped with her words.
“Will ye go and wash yer hands so that we can have some food?” Rosie murmured as she quickly got to work in the kitchen.
Leah remained where she was by the worktable for a moment before leaving the room, her anger still built up within her. All she wished for was that she could speak to her father just once. All she wanted was the answers that her mother would not give her.
She wondered who he was, what he was doing at that very moment. Leah knew that he wasn’t worried about them, because if that was the case, she assumed that he would be there at their sides. Instead, they were left alone. But Leah’s mother had insisted that it wasn’t his fault. She’d told her that they’d been separated for another reason. Yet that still didn’t make it any easier on Leah, for the identity of her father was still a mystery to her, and she had no idea how she was going to learn more about him.
Part of her longed for a time when he would come back—that one day there would be a knock at the door, and the entirety of her past would be revealed to her. She often wondered if he would become curious and seek her out. But Leah tried to banish those thoughts quickly from her mind whenever they arose. They had plagued her ever since she was a child, and now that she was an adult, she knew that she was going to have to move on with her life.
Her father wasn’t coming for them. She was never going to learn about who he was, not ever, and there was nothing she could do about it.
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