Date: 1188 E.Y.

Told as witnessed by Stella herself

What felt like a sea of eyes searched Stella, and not in a very nice way. She could feel her face getting hot. She’d never thought she had a complexion that would betray her blushes, but she wasn’t entirely sure. She hoped now that she was now holding her back upright like her mother had taught her, and that her strikingly bushy brows were looking more fierce than comical. She took a deep breath and looked past all of the eyes, which ranged from inquisitive to downright hostile, to meet Geller’s gaze.

Geller was hardly a theatrical individual, but, to his credit, he was a decent actor. His face was a picture of pleasant surprise. “Lady Stella!” he said mildly. “How lovely to see you. Can I help you?”

Stella was a horrible liar, but she would have to lie. With no clue of what she was trying to say, she stammered, “I-I just wanted to—”

“Is this about the security on the north side of the manor?” Geller interrupted, to Stella’s great relief. “Yes, absolutely, I’ll be with you in a moment. Just as soon as I’ve finished up here.”

There was a great silence. Stella tried to turn around so she could get out of this cursed square, only to find that Jon and Taron still had her firmly by the arms.

“And you three,” said Geller to the Jon and Taron as well as Reed. His tone had changed completely to his absolute harshest. It was the very tone that he had used all that time ago, that Stella knew frightened the boys out of their wits. How they still had the guts to misbehave when they were so spooked by their teacher, Stella could not understand. But judging by the expressions on the boys’ faces, which were shifting rapidly from smug pride to dismay, she almost thought they must have actually believed Geller would approve of their behavior.

“Estra damn me to the Underlife, I forgot how he always acts when it comes to her,” Reed muttered to Jon under his breath.

“What was that, Reed?” barked Geller.

“Nothing!”

“Nothing what?”

“Nothing, sir.”

“It’s truly fascinating to me how your minds work,” Geller snarled, pacing back and forth. “I suppose you three slackers thought I would forgive you for sneaking away and wasting my and everyone else’s time if you put your hands on a woman against her will—something you must know is incredibly wrong—and dragged her out in front of everyone like a piece of meat on display.”

“We—” Reed began.

“This woman has done nothing to you! How hard is it, really, to just leave her alone?”

There was a silence. The boys exchanged glances. Stella tried to figure out the meaning of their expressions, but she had never been the best at reading people.

“My lady, I escort you home?”

Stella did not want to go home. She wanted her fighting lesson. “I want to—”

“May I escort you home?”

Geller’s voice was firm. Stella realized he was trying to get her away as quickly as possible. She nodded, and let Geller steer her away from the crowd. She could hear muttered condemnations and expressions of confused amusement fading behind her.

“No sword lesson, today,” said Geller once they were out of earshot of all the boys, who were still milling around in the square, watching them go. “That was a close call.”

“But why?” Stella demanded. She wrenched her arm out of Geller’s grip and turned to face him. “Why won’t you let me defend myself for once? You know I’m better than them. I’ve watched them fight, they’re not even half as good as I am!

“I know that, Stella! I’m your teacher, for Estra’s sake. Of course I know that. But there are lots of dangers out there, well beyond the length of your sword or the strength of your arm. You don’t know what could happen.”

“I’ve lived here my whole life. I know every person in this town, and I know what they’re capable of.”

“Ah, you truly are your mother’s daughter,” Geller remarked.

There was a sour taste in Stella’s mouth as she said, “What does that mean?”

“She’s kept you so isolated—and, admittedly, so safe—in that manor up there that you don’t even know what kinds of unexpected dangers there might be waiting for you. Listen, I know you do your best to establish yourself, to be your own person—but you’re under her thumb, don’t you see? She’s the one person in your life who has any power over you.”

“But—”

“What do you think would happen if you challenged one of those boys to a duel and he ran off and told your mother?”

“Well, that would make him a godsforsaken snitch, for one thing—”

“And it would mean your mother would make it impossible for you to pick up a sword ever again. Don’t make your life more difficult than it already is. Pick your battles.”

“An unexpected thing for a mercenary to say,” said Stella bitterly.

Geller froze. His eyes were the color of lead. Few people in the town knew of his mercenary past. It wasn’t information to be tossed around carelessly.

Stella regretted what she’d said, but before she could apologize, Geller said—in an more thoughtful voice than she’d expected—“It’s the opposite, really. The first lesson I learned was that some battles aren’t worth fighting. And I think you could learn the same. You’ll face far worse than those boys, mark my words. And they’ll face far worse than you.”

Stella almost laughed. “What’s worse than me?”

As if he could sense the humor in her voice, Geller smiled a little, but it was a sad smile. “Illness. Famine and drought. Marital issues. Children. The things that really matter.”

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Stella didn’t have much to say to that. Geller was taking her back to Fennel Manor; she walked beside him for a minute. But she could help but break silence with a pouty defense: “I’m not my mother’s slave. Or her pet, either.”

“Of course you’re not.”

“Then why must I always be worrying about what she’ll say, and what she’ll do?”

“You mean you don’t already?”

She had little to say to that.

“Stella, I’ve spent my whole life running away from my past. First by taking jobs that I should never have even touched, and then in healthier ways—finding the love of my life and settling in what might be the farthest town from everything and everyone that ever troubled me. But even now, I live in fear of myself, and in fear of who might find their way here. I’m still that person. I’m not different. I only found a better way to be the person that I am.”

Stella was trying to piece together what he meant, but she felt she was missing some key information. She didn’t know what he meant by fear. She’d never heard him speak this way.

“You’re your mother’s daughter, Stella,” said Geller. “You always will be.”

“And I’ll never be more than that?”

“You will. Much more, I wager. But making foolish decisions, being careless—that’s not how you’ll get there.”

Stella huffed. She didn’t have much to say to that. But apparently she didn’t need to say anything, because just at that moment, someone approached them. It was strange; Stella and Geller were almost back at the manor, working their way up the sloped lane that led right up to the front door. It was framed by trees and shrubbery, and Stella could only guess that the man had stepped right out of the bushes.

He was a slight man—shorter and thinner than Stella, although that did not necessarily mean much. His hair and beard were close-cropped in a way that Stella had never seen before, and he wore a long velvet cloak, beneath which she caught a glimpse of a fine doublet with what look like stars embroidered onto it in silver thread. The only person in this town who owned clothing that fine was her mother, and those garments were more than twenty years old, dating back to the days when her mother dwelled in a wealthy merchant household. In fact, Stella was not sure if she’d ever even seen a doublet apart from the illustrations in her books. They were supposedly out of style in Evermor. The stranger’s clothes looked new and very clean. His face was clean, too, probably cleaner than both Stella’s at this very moment.

“How do you do?” asked the stranger. He had a strange, reedy voice.

Stella didn’t say anything, because she’d never heard that phrase in her life, and for a split second, she could not fathom what it meant. But apparently it meant that he was asking after their health, because Geller immediately said, “Well enough. What brings you here, Master Stranger?”

The stranger bowed, much to Stella’s surprise. No one was supposed to bow to commoners in this country. “I have traveled a long way, kind sir,” he said.

“Really?” said Geller doubtfully.

“I come to fulfill one mission, and one mission alone.”

“Well, spit it out, already,” said Geller. “We haven’t got all day.”

Something akin to irritation flickered through the man’s eyes, but the polite smile on his face didn’t waver. “Young ladies,” he said. “I search for young ladies.”

“Good heavens, what are you going to do with them?”

“You’re my newest suitor, by any chance?” Stella asked dubiously. She’d been expecting the suitor to arrive with a full procession of steeds and servants, but she supposed this suitor could be a little different from the rest.

But the man just looked confused. “My mistress is an important lady from a faraway land,” he said, “and she is building a school for young ladies. I have traveled far and wide in search of the perfect candidates. And as it is my mistress’s belief that such candidates may be found anywhere, I do not hesitate to explore even the humblest of towns.”

Geller started to say something, but Stella interrupted, “Well, I’m a young lady.”

The stranger looked at Stella. There was now a slight curl in his lip that she disliked immensely. He didn’t think much of her, that much was clear. Stella could not help but notice that, almost tucked away, there was a long knife strapped to his waist. The blade was sheathed in fine leather, but she had no doubt that it was sharp. She wished it could be socially acceptable for her to carry around a blade, too.

“A young lady you are,” he said, “but a candidate you are not.”

“But—”

“You won’t find many candidates in this town,” said Geller gruffly. “The women here all have jobs to do and families to take care of. Everyone would be better off if you chose not to disrupt their lives.”

“Ah, but are those the lives they want?” said the stranger. “If given the choice, would they do that? What if they wanted to escape?”

Escape. Stella disliked the stranger, but he was starting to hit close to home. She wanted to ask more questions, but Geller spoke first. “But it’s not your decision to make, now, is it? I recommend looking elsewhere. You’ll only be disappointed.”

“Shouldn’t I be the judge of that?”

“What—” Stella began.

“You’re free to do as you please,” said Geller. “But I won’t help you with a hopeless cause. Come along, Stella. Your mother might be worried.”

Geller seized Stella with an unexpectedly firm grip and pulled her up the lane. Stella didn’t bother to resist, but she did look back at the stranger. He watched her for a second, winked, and headed off toward town.

“Didn’t you think what he was saying sounded interesting?” Stella hissed at Geller. “You could have let him speak a little more.”

“Because I’ve heard it all before,” Geller hissed back. “I met many men like him in my mercenary days. They always used to spin stories about needing young ladies to fill their schools, or their social societies, or whatever else they think of. But at the end of the day, they all had one objective—to find attractive young women and enslave them. This is what I mean by unexpected dangers, Stella. This man is clearly involved in some human trafficking ring.”

A cold feeling stole through Stella’s bones. “You mean—”

“I mean that if you—or any of the women in this town—agreed to go with him, you’d likely be sold into sex slavery, and probably end up serving some pervert in the farthest reaches of Evermor, if not somewhere much farther.”

Stella blanched.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t be telling you these things, you being a young lady and all, but it’s important for your safety, and besides, it’s more common than you might think,” said Geller frankly. “You’re young, Stella. Evermor twenty or even ten years ago was a more lawless land than many will have you believe, and it’s taking years to clean up some of the toxic crime networks that got strong during the reigns of Queen Raven’s father and grandfather. From what I’ve heard, some of those networks are still active, although the Queen’s Knights have eliminated most of them. However, that man was rather strange. Perhaps they’ve changed their approach, but most of the traffickers I met twenty or thirty years ago were not nearly as good at pretending to wealthy and sophisticated as this man. And most of them were clearly from some part of Evermor; I don’t think I could even guess where this man comes from.”

“But we have to stop him!” Stella cried. “What if he lures some of the Rowan women away from their homes, and they—they—”

“There’s we here,” said Geller sternly. “Security in this town is my job, Stella. Don’t worry. I won’t let him do anything to anyone.”

By now, Stella and Geller were passing through the large, dark hedges that framed the small, overgrown garden. They were almost home. Stella stopped walking and turned to Geller.

“But I want to help!” Stella cried, exasperated.

“I know you do, my lady. And I know you can help. But remember what I said about your mother. You wouldn’t want to get in trouble.”

That made Stella angry. She was terrified of her mother, it was true. She knew that she was very much under her mother’s control. But she couldn’t believe that everyone else was under Lady Fennel’s control as well, even Geller, the one lone person who always told Stella that she actually had a chance of being someone great. It was all Stella could do to stop herself from stamping her foot. “When will I ever get to do what I want? I don’t understand how I am supposed to be what you think I’m capable of being, when all you do is tell me I can’t do things that I want to do. When will I get to escape? Am I supposed to run away?”

Geller smiled wryly. “Perhaps, if that’s what it comes to. All I ask of you is caution and prudence. Mainly prudence—there may be moments when caution must be thrown to the wind.”

Stella opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She was thoroughly confused.

“When the moment comes for you to take control of your life, you’ll know,” said Geller. “I have no doubt of it. Things like that tend to become very clear all of a sudden. All right, run along now. I’m going to go find that man again and make sure he isn’t stirring up trouble.”