Page 6 of To Desire

“It was the wrong question.”

Sir Darien’s brow furrowed. “What is the right question, then?”

Mother, forgive me.

“What is missing? As my mother correctly told you, though the runes do not lie, neither do they offer a full vision of the future. At least, normally they do not.”

“Why do you believe something is missing from your mother’s vision?”

A twig snapping in the distance made Liana take a step toward Darien. He grabbed her arm, as if to position himself in front of her, when a deer ran through the trees. They were a rare sighting near the marshes, but a sign she was doing the right thing.

If one believed in signs, which she did.

She stepped back as the earl’s son dropped her arm.

“My mother has cast her runes many times, asking for the outcome of Empress Matilda’s claim.”

“At my father’s bidding, I’m certain.”

“And at times, of her own volition. She is not the only one who fears for the safety of the only child of our beloved earl. I’ve done so as well, and . . .”

She was here to say these next words, but they were stuck in her throat.

“Tell me, Liana.”

Sir Darien was his father’s son. It was a tone meant to be obeyed, but it wasn’t that command that freed her to say the words. It was Liana’s conviction that something more was written in the stars for Matilda’s claim than her mother read in her runes.

“My mother claims she does not see it, but each time either she or I attempt this reading, one of the runes, Sowilo, briefly glows with an inner light.”

“What does that mean?”

His intensity did not frighten her, though perhaps it should. Liana took a deep breath. “Sowilo is the sun. Its glow hints at a renewal, or maybe even a victory.”

She let that sink in.

“You believe your mother’s reading is wrong? That Matilda will be victorious?”

Liana hesitated. This part was tricky, and why her mother wished Liana to hold her tongue. “I do not know. Perhaps, with continued readings, more will become clear. Or perhaps not. I know only there is a hint of more and felt that I should tell you. As Mother says, the runes do not lie. But perhaps they are being misinterpreted.”

She watched as doubt and confusion crossed through Sir Darien’s eyes. Finally, they fixed on her. “What do you believe?”

“I am but an apprentice,” she quickly explained. “My mother is more skilled, more⁠—”

“What do you believe?” he asked again.

Liana squared her shoulders. “That there is more to the reading we do not yet understand.”

It was Sir Darien’s turn to breathe in deeply, his head dipping back as he looked to the moon, as if it might offer some answers. Running his hands through hair that made Sir Darien a thing of legend—how many times had she heard of it, and his pleasing visage, these past years?—he finally looked back to her.

“Come with me.”

Liana was certain she’d heard him wrong. “Pardon, my lord?”

“Liana, if we are to travel together. It will not be a pleasant ride to Castle Blackwood, nor are there many women there. But I will not abandon the cause, or my friends. If any clarity comes from your visions, then even better.”

This was not at all what she’d expected.

What, then, had Liana expected? Hadn’t she wanted him to take in her information before making a decision? “What if I am wrong? If you are killed supporting a failed claim?”