I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not.
As the peasants who worked the fields, we were the least important and the most reviled. We were at the end of the grapevine, the last to hear the latest news gossiped about in the village.
Often we didn’t hear anything at all.
So it was possible that it took that many weeks from the start of these bizarre trysts before the sniff of scandal wafted to us in the fields.
That week after the Patron’s Daughter begged to be free of her maidenhead, the people began to talk. Everybody in the field couldn’t stop whispering about the bruises they had heard were under her clothes, and those marks in the most intimate places.
“She has definitely come to ruin,” mumbled one.
“She got the look of smut on her,” sniggered another.
“How long before Patron knows his untouchable daughter has fallen?” mused yet another.
And on and on it went.
The one thing that safeguarded a shred of her reputation was that nobody could figure out the identity of the man who brought down the Patron’s Daughter. That was impossible to discern for she had spurned all of her suitors except for the Noble Son.
But that didn’t stop the flow of imagination.
Since I was one of the people, I was privy to what they had to say and I was shocked at the brazenness of some of the gossip that I heard.
Somehow the wantonness of the Patron’s Daughter was starting to show. I can’t really explain it or why.
Perhaps it was the subtle changes in the way she moved her body. She was looser and freer, and her restlessness was always close to the surface, especially when the days neared the night when she would escape her parents’ noble house.
I heard some folks say they could smell it on her. They say a woman’s scent changes when she is no longer pure.
It was impossible that anybody could have any idea of the Patron’s Daughter’s trysts with the Brute because the Sorcerer put a powerful protection spell over the Ancient Grove.
I almost laughed out loud when I heard the workers muttering about the virile head of the stables at the house, or the ironworker that made the horseshoes for the Patron’s stables.
Those men were soft and weak compared to the Brute.
The stream of malice ran free, but had no pond to gather in.
Towards the end of the week, their attention turned to me.
“You’ve been keeping awfully quiet, Addie,” noticed one. “How come you’re all ears and no mouth?”
“That’s right,” another piped up. “It’s no secret you always hated her.”
“So what if I do?” I snapped. “I’m not talking because I don’t have anything to say about it.”
“But ours is the only team she leaves alone,” said yet another. “It’s because of you, isn’t it?”
“Who would seriously believe I’m in the confidence of the Patron’s Daughter?” I snorted.
That shut them up. They all stared at me, some looking rather abashed.
“Let’s get back to work before she decides we need her special notice,” I snapped. “We’ve been lucky this season. I prefer that to last.”
The bluff worked that time and the subject was dropped.
But one thing was clear.
The time had come for me to go.
If the Patron’s Daughter got caught sneaking out on her late night trysts, the opportunity would be lost whether I was caught with her or not.
I was so shaken I had to walk off my agitation in the trees, praying the Patron’s Daughter was unaware of the gossip about her.
If she knew, she might lose her nerve and not show on the usual night.
I shook my head.
There was no way she wouldn’t turn up. She was completely enthralled and hooked on the Brute. Eventually, she would get caught.
I reviewed everything I learned from the Sorcerer in my head as I made my way to the river. To reassure myself, I stomped on the ground of the tree where my treasure was buried, relieved at the arrangement of stones that told that nobody had found it.
I hoped the Patron’s Daughter would bring me enough to wear this week because it would be the only chance I had for some decent clothes.
I reviewed in my mind the district behind the theaters where I could ask about lodging, knowing nobody would ask too much if I paid for a few months rent up front.
I trembled as I thought about it all.
