The Alpha's hall was all cold stone and high windows, and my boots made me sound small in it.
Bastian stood at the head of the long table with both hands flat on the wood.
Bastian: Rusk. The father. Bring him back before he reaches the road.
The Beta left without a single word.
They brought my father in between two guards, and his hat was off before he cleared the doorway.
Hobart: Alpha. I signed everything at the gate. The debt's settled.
Bastian: I read that paper after you drove off. That's the part I don't like.
Bastian: You sold your daughter and didn't stay to hear what I'd do with her.
His face went gray, and then he looked at me like I could fix it.
Hobart: She's a good worker. She can count and ride. She'll give you no trouble.
Bastian: I didn't ask what she's worth. I asked why you left before I said what I wanted.
He had not raised his voice once. The room still felt smaller.
Bastian: The boy, Emric. If his name reaches the council before I say otherwise, I'll take the debt back out of your bones.
Bastian: Now get out of my hall.
He bowed three times, walking backwards. He never once looked at me.
The door shut, and the hall went quiet enough that I could hear the candles.
Bastian: Him I don't care about. You I do.
Bastian: So tell me, Tamsin. What do you want?
I opened my mouth and nothing came out. Nobody in my whole life had asked me that.
He didn't fill the silence. He just stood there with that scarred face and waited.
Bastian: Say it plain. I'll know if you're lying.
Tamsin: Emric sees a healer, paid by you. And the debt closes against him. All of it, not just the coin.
Tamsin: If I'm the price, then he goes free.
Bastian: Done. Next.
Tamsin: I keep my satchel and my own coin, and I work. I won't sit in a corner and be kept.
Bastian: You'll work. You'll earn your keep like everyone else in this house.
Tamsin: And nobody puts a hand on me without my say. Not your Beta. Not your father. Not you.
The hall went so still I could hear my own breath.
Bastian: Agreed.
One word. He didn't smile and he didn't flinch, and I didn't know what to do with the relief that hit me.
So I did the reckless thing, because he'd asked what I wanted and I was still dizzy from it.
Tamsin: Then seal it. A bargain needs a mark.
Bastian: What mark?
Tamsin: You know the one.
He crossed the room in three strides and put his hand on my jaw. Careful. Like I was a thing that could break.
His mouth was warm and rough at once, and I kissed him back before I could think better of it.
My hands found the front of his coat and stayed there.
He let go of me and stepped back, and his face was closed up again, like nothing had happened at all.
Bastian: Go eat. Rusk will show you to your room.
I stood there with my lips still warm and no idea what I had just done.