Seri refused to come down for dinner, which took Brand aback. Often on the first night, girls didn’t want to leave their room. Sometimes, a few weeks into their stay, a girl would suffer a fit of hysteria and lock themselves in. No one had refused to come down on the second night. This, Brand thought, was not simply nerves. This was an act of defiance, a test of his will.

So be it. Still in the dining room, Brand signal a mirror to show his face across the waiting room. The dim light cast his face in shadow.

“Berta,” he said. “Bring Serihilde down now.”

Berta had been here second longest after Rilla. She had green eyes and blond hair and often seemed younger than her fifteen years. She was very nervous, as she scampered up the stairs.

Brand shifted the view from the glass and focused on Seri’s room. She had covered her mirror so that he could see nothing, but he could still listen in on her conversation.

“Seri,” Berta said in a quiet voice. “It is past seven.”

“Yes, I know.” Seri’s voice was clear and steady. “If he wants me to come down, he can fetch me himself—but if he does so, he’ll need to use magic, for I will not be coerced with words.”

Brand cracked his knuckles. There were always some girls who took his civility for weakness. Some girls who tried to test him.

“If you do not come down, we’ll all starve,” Berta said.

“You won’t starve,” Seri said. “I brought food from the kitchen. It is humble, but filling. If the girls get hungry, tell them to come upstairs. There is plenty of food for everyone.”

That little minx, Brand thought, more astonished than angry. Oh, she was devious, trying to turn the other girls against him. Leading a rebellion after one day.

“Would you like some bread?” Seri said.

“You can’t do this!” Berta said, in a high-pitched shriek. “He’ll get angry. This is the one rule you can’t break. You’ve seen what he can do.”

“I know very well what he can do. Let him do his worse.”

“He told me to fetch you. He’ll punish me, too, if you don’t come down. He’ll punish us all.”

Punish? Brand thought sourly. I’ve never punished any of you. What is she babbling about? Granted, he ought to punish Seri. He couldn’t let her defiance stand. And maybe Berta was lying to get Seri to come to dinner. Still, it irritated him that the girls should be here so long and not know him at all.

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He passed his hand over the mirror and watched it turn to glass. He could storm into Seri’s room in a rage and throw magic around, but he hated to use force. It made him feel like a tyrant. It made him feel weak. Instead, he adjusted his illusion to the face of his grandfather (the most intimidating man he knew) and threw open the double doors.

The three remaining girls jumped in surprise.

“Brand, what—?” Rilla began.

“Seri has invited us all to eat at her room. We will dine there.”

He threw open the door to her turret and ascended the stairs. Brand burst into Seri’s room. Berta, who had clasped her hands and looked to be begging, gave a yelp and dove behind a chair.

“Please,” she said. “Don’t hurt me. I’m sorry, I tried.”

Seri crossed her arms.

She was sitting on the bed. She’d pushed the various wines off her table and had used her tray to hold grapes, breads, cold sausages, and cakes. One of her pitchers was filled with stew.

“How nice of you to steal food from my kitchen,” Brand remarked coolly. “A feast indeed.”

He took the chair, placed it right up to Seri, and sat down inches across from her, staring her in the eye.

“Berta, serve the food to the other girls.”

The room grew silent, except for the shuffle of Rilla, Lotte, and Ida entering the room. Brand waited for Seri to look away, but she did not. The silence grew. Brand leaned forward. He was not going to let her win. This was his house, not hers. And for all her bravado, he knew she was scared. Her shoulders and chest rose and fell with each heavy breath.

“I understand,” Brand said quietly, “that there are women who like when men are rough with them. When they yell and curse and strike them. Is that the kind of men you favor? Brutes?”

Seri’s eyes flashed. “No, I like good men. Honest gentlemen. You seem to think that’s what you are. You are not. You are the brute.”

“And you want me to display this for you?” he said. “Is that your plan? To provoke me into screaming and yelling and throwing you to the ground. Would you derive some smug satisfaction from that scene?” He stood, looming over her. “I won’t lose my temper over you. I have other ways to deal with troublemakers.”

She did look down then, but only briefly. Much to his surprise, she rose to her feet.

“I imagine it’s too early for you to lose your temper,” she said. “You will, eventually, and then you’ll hurt me. Or maybe you won’t, but still you’ll hurt me. That is a guarantee. That has been set in motion, by you.” She jabbed her finger at him. “That’s why you are a brute. You may think you are not a rapist, because you do not tear off women’s clothes. But if you hold a knife to their neck and tell them you will slit their throats if they do not sleep with you, is that not rape? For you that knife is magic. It doesn’t make you any less evil.”

Brand was speechless. He was actually sort of shaken. Did they really see him that way? His eyes flickered to Berta, who was hiding among the other girls, mouth agape. She’d been scared of him, certainly. He looked at Rilla. Her face was blank. His gaze traveled to Lotte and Ida. They were staring at him. Waiting for him to respond.

Brand squared his shoulders. “You are a Lord’s daughter,” he told Seri. “Spoiled and selfish and naïve. You have never felt a knife to your neck. I have given you a room, food, dresses, anything you desire. All I ask is for you sit with me politely for an hour in the evening. If you cannot do this, I will take away what I have given you. It is as simple as that.”

“What do I care for these things?” she said. “You can take everything from me, but you will not take my soul. I will not yield it to you.”

“Get out of this room,” he said. “You may stay in the kitchen while the rest of us dine, and sleep on the floor tonight.”

“It would be my pleasure,” she said and walked down the stairs.