Aurie wanted to dance as she filled the bowls of stew for supper. Four bowls. Her family was together again. To see all of them sitting at the table, even if it had only been for one night, felt like she had truly made herself worthy as a wife and mother. United, that’s what they were, and she had made sure of it. Not the offlander, not his horse, not the village, nothing could ever truly pull them apart. In the end, her dearest husband, the love of her entire life, the father of her children, had found his way to where he belonged. With her, with them.

  She didn’t hand his bowl to Maud, much to Maud’s surprise, but carried it herself to his place at the head of the table. She knew he didn’t see it, but the kids did. They saw that she was truly fulfilling her wifely duties for the man who put his family first, not some barbaric foreigner, like a good man does.

  “Supper’s ready,” she called toward the bedroom.

  Alden and Maud slipped into their chairs at the table. Aurie hovered over hers, waiting. She was beaming at the anticipation of seeing Balor’s smile at the stew she made. Chopped pears and blood oranges sweetened it, potatoes and flour thickened it, and slivers of the deer meat made it full with hints of the spices she and Maud had roasted it with. Her heart had warmed with how delicious it was when she took a taste.

  Her excitement, her giddiness, faded at the sight of him slowly stepping out of the bedroom. He looked as if he had aged a decade with the way he shuffled toward the table with a downcast face. Why wasn’t he happy to be home? Back with her? Back with the family?

  He stopped behind his chair and rested a hand on the back. Aurie’s eyes moistened as she looked for him to see how inviting she was. Her heart sank the moment he lifted his bowl and carried it to the chair on the other side of hers. He sat down and rested his elbows on the table, his eyes blankly staring at the bowl in front of him.

  Maud and Alden looked up to her with the same worried expressions. Aurie reassured them with a dismissive wave.

  “You’ll like this one, Maud and I worked all afternoon to get it right,” Aurie said as she went around him to her chair, making certain to run a hand across the back of his shoulders on the way.

  She sat and reached for his hand with a firm, loving squeeze, hoping that he would turn to look at her. He didn’t pull his hand away when he lifted his spoon and took a bite. A part of her wondered if he wanted to. She was glad Maud and Alden weren’t looking at her at that moment. Her face dripped with worry.

  “What do you think?” Aurie watched his downturned face for any hint.

  He nodded, chewing, then swallowed to turn a grin to her, “It’s good. As always.”

  As always. Aurie’s lips trembled. Now she was sinking her face to her bowl to keep Maud and Alden from seeing that she was near tears. There was a distance between them, wider than it had ever been before, and she was grasping for it. And all she could reach was the silence that separated them. Someone had to do something, say something. She had to reach for him. She had to show him, remind him, that no matter how much he may hate this, it was for the best. For all of them.

  “Now that we’re not talking to the offlander, I can get some more fruits from Coralin. I’m trying some new recipes…”

  Balor cut her off with a guttural, “Get out, both of you.”

  Maud and Alden looked up to him, their mouths hanging in surprise.

  “Go.” She saw his jaw lock hard with a sway of his ears.

  “We’re still eating,” Maud shook at him.

  “Then take it with you,” Balor’s voice deepened.

  “I’ll keep them warm,” Aurie said to them with a nod to the front door.

  They both rose from their chairs hesitantly, leaving their bowls behind. Alden held the door open as Maud stepped through shaking her head and followed. The door latched loudly behind them. Aurie stood and grabbed both of their bowls so she could pour them back into the pot. She was bracing herself. The way his tone had cut into her, jerked the hope from her as harshly as a backhand to the mouth, she prepared for the worst.

  “That was a bit much, don’t you think?” She said as jovially as she could muster.

  “I don’t want them to hear.”

  “Hear what, my love? We were just enjoying our supper.” She turned to him, her grin trembling like Maud’s hands. “I was only saying that I liked how the stew turned out, with the pears and oranges. Don’t you like it?”

  Balor leaned back in his chair. No, not his chair. The chair for if they had another child.

  “This is the last time we will discuss this. After this, it ends. No snips, no snarky little punches.”

  “Balor,” she leaned over the edge of the table to reach for his hands. He pulled them back and crossed his arms over his chest. There was rage in his look. She had to do more. Forcing a warm smile, she forced her way onto his lap and looked for his eyes. He lifted his chin and turned slightly away, never uncrossing his arms. “You did what needed to be done. For us. And I love you for that.” She leaned her head into his chest despite him arching his back like he wanted to get away from her, “You’ll see, my love, this is what’s best for us.”

  He lifted her fast and hard from his lap, nearly making her stumble into the hearth had he not kept hold of her hips.

  “Hey!” She exclaimed, regaining her footing.

  “You push.” Now he was growling, those angry eyes blazing holes through her. “You push and you push and you push. Our entire marriage, you push until you get your way. And I always let you have it. Every cursed time, I let you win.”

  Aurie pulled from his grip on her hips. His hands were gripping tight enough that it would begin to bruise if she didn’t. It was a sensation she had never had from him nor ever expected. “It has always been for the betterment of our family. Why can’t you see that? Ever since that offlander came, we’ve been tearing apart.”

  “You’ve been tearing apart, Aurie. I admit, I went too far with Maud and him, but this…you don’t understand what you’ve made me do.”

  He wasn’t yelling. He wasn’t even being loud. But she could hear the anger in the deepness of his voice, could see it in his face, feel it forming a barrier between them she worried she could never break.

  “I made you do what had to be done for us to survive. I said ‘us or him’ and you chose us and I,” she smiled and went to her knees in front of him, hesitating as she took hold of his hands and looked up to him, “and I understand what that meant.” She lifted a hand to his cheek. “I understand how this feels for you, but it was the right thing for us.”

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  “You didn’t see them, Aurie,” Balor’s anger instantly disappeared. He wanted to cry. Her husband wanted to weep from this. She felt her breath stick in her throat. “There was evil in their looks. All of them. They’re planning something. Something terrible and I helped them. I saw it and helped them,” now his lips were trembling, a single tear spilling down his cheek along the side of her finger, “because you forced me to.”

  “Good,” Aurie wiped at the tear with her thumb and raised herself closer to him. Her voice was soft, filled with her love for him. “You’re joining them which means we won’t be exiled anymore. My strong husband.”

  “No.” Balor shook at her, that angry look returning with a vengeance. “They know about his injury. They’re going to kill him, Aurie.”

  She let out a laugh of disbelief. “What about it? No, they’ll just burn him out and he’ll find himself a better place. One more suitable for him.”

  Balor leaned closer, a firm hand under her chin to lift her. She knew the truth even before he said it. “That land can’t be sold or parceled, Aurie. They’re going to kill him. It’s the only way to do it. And I—listen very, very carefully now—I will never help someone be a murderer. I refuse to allow my son to think that’s the sort of man he should become. That, Aurie, that’s what you made me do.”

  Aurie sunk into her knees, staring. The gods, this can’t be true. They wouldn’t.

  Balor rested his head on the chair, “I don’t think they trust me. They see me as a traitor begging for forgiveness because I’m on the losing side.”

  “At least they won’t count us with him, then.”

  “I’d rather be counted with him than those bastards. But, as you said,” His eyes glared down at her. “Us or him.”

  “I’m sorry,” Aurie muttered, rising into a long kiss. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry you had to do that.” His embrace around her was tighter than she expected, warmer, and his kiss deeper than ever. When she drew back to take a breath, he ran his hands along the sides of her face. “Do you know when they will do it?”

  He shook his head.

  “Pa!” Alden threw the door open, a shadow against orange firelight from behind him. “The whole village is coming across the bridge.”

  Balor let out a long, defeated sigh. “Right now.”

  “Maybe we can turn them back, or at least convince them not to murder him,” Aurie said as Balor leapt to his feet.

  “We?”

  “Yes,” Aurie stood beside him. “What? You think I want to be married to a murderer? Or live in a village full of them?”

  “With any luck, we won’t. Come on but stay on the porch.” He grabbed her hand.

  As they stepped out the door, the night sky was aglow with torchlight. Maud and Alden crowded the doorway behind them, holding each other as if the mob walking up the road from the village was coming for them alone.

  Aurie felt Balor’s hand stiffen and release from hers at the sight. Alden was right, it was all of them. Every man of the village, their boys too. Torches were held high enough that their spears were lines cutting through the light over their heads. Behind them, standing at the bridge, were their wives and children huddled as shadowy bulges at their sides. Everyone was going to watch them kill.

  “Stay here,” Balor said as he stepped off of the porch and went to the middle of the road in front of them.

  “See,” Aurie recognized Balian’s voice even though all she could see were silhouettes beneath the bright torches. “I told you he was a coward.”

  “Why are they carrying pillars?” Maud whispered a little too loud from behind her. Aurie blinked. What was she talking about? And then she saw the two pillars, one longer than the other, being carried by the oldest boys. Her mouth fell open in horror.

  “Come to watch, or are you going to help, Balor?” Gregor pushed through some of the others to come to Balian’s side in front of Balor.

  “I’ve come to talk some sense into you. This is a bad idea, believe you me.”

  “Ah, we know you haven’t the stomach for it,” Preston called, being near the front holding a spear as a walking stick. “Just move aside and enjoy the show.”

  Aurie slid back, pressing for Maud and Alden to go further inside.

  “Step aside, and cower with your women,” Balian growled. “Let the real Talkrois men handle this.”

  “Stop this, Balian,” Balor grabbed Balian’s wrist with a jerk. The way Balian looked down at his hand and then back at Balor made her heart stop. “You don’t know what you’re doing. Please, brother, I beg you.”

  Balian jerked from his grip, “You’re no brother of mine.”

  “You all know what will happen if you do this!” Balor stood back from Balian and called to the rest of them. “The land can’t be sold or parceled or seized, not even by the King. Pierre told me so!”

  Aurie’s skin crawled at the laughs from the crowd and Gregor’s, “We know! That’s why we brought the pillars. The offlander will have the honor of dying his god’s death. Least we could do.”

  Balor, come here. Please, just move away from them. Run if you have to, I beg you.

  “Are you all mad? Have you lost your minds? The Cathols will burn the village to the ground and worse if you do that!”

  “Last chance, Balor,” Gregor shoved Balor hard enough that he stumbled back a step, “Step aside or you all join him. We got plenty more pillars. Or join us. That injury you told us about will make it an easy fight. Won’t have to get your pretty hands dirty.”

  Aurie’s knees nearly buckled. What have I done? He was right. The gods, he was right. If they waited, if he hadn’t told them, the offlander could run away from them, could save himself. Alden steadied her with a grip on her shoulder.

  “Us,” Balian growled, stepping up to Balor with balled fists, “Or die with him.”

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Balor growled back, his own fists forming at his sides.

  “Balor,” Preston’s voice was almost pleading. “Just move aside. We mean for the offlander, not your family. Don’t. Force. Us.”

  Balor hesitated.

  Balor, my love, I’m sorry. Aurie couldn’t breathe. I did this. I sentenced a man to death and made you do it. What have I done?

  Us or him. She felt it cut through her, deep in her gut. She never imagined that this was what it had meant.

  Balor shook and hung his head as he stepped sideways toward the porch. Balian didn’t move as the others began to walk around him. His eyes reflected the fires of the torches as his glare remained fixed on Balor.

  “Pitiful,” Gregor growled as he passed.

  Preston slapped Balor’s shoulder with a smile wide enough that she could see his teeth, “Glad for it, friend.”

  Balor’s fists remained tight as they shifted around him. He and Balian were aglow in each other’s glares.

  He’ll never forgive me for this, Aurie struggled in Alden’s hold to not fall to her knees. What have I done?