CHAPTER 390: BEYOND OUR REACH

Arabella soldered her gaze on him, the sympathetic look on her stronger than ever, "I am terribly sorry to hear that. I hear this time of the year is much colder than the rest around those parts of the kingdom," she half asked.

"That is no lie," he muttered, still unable to meet her eyes.

"And with the king’s drafters coming around this period can’t be easy either. Everything has to look and sound perfect and so everything that is deemed unworthy of their eyes is shoveled to the back and ignored," the consolling look was no more. On her face sat something new. An air even Silas couldn’t decipher.

"Not easy at all," the boy shook his head but then froze at once, his eyes widening.

Erik finally lifted his gaze towards her and did so in an agonizingly slow motion, shivering in his seat through every second of it.

"Yes, that is right Erik. I am aware of the decree that was unrolled ten years ago," she nodded, "I also know that after the rebellion, Vintanotter was listed under the banner of turbulent villages among seven others from the area,"

Silas looked between his wife who sat comfortably in her seat and Erik who shook like a leaf, "What’s the matter?"

"No, please. It wasn’t my idea, but I can’t go back!" huffing air as though he was being suffocated, the boy begged as his hands clutched the edges of the table, "Please, my Lady! I can’t go back. My mother and sister depend on me! They depend on this!"

Arabella remained quiet for seconds that felt like an eternity before turning to the human guards that stood watch over Erik’s shoulders, "Would you please leave us for a moment?"

The guards swiftly turned to Silas who gave them a nod of approval. As soon as the last of them left and shut the door behind him, Arabella pushed a long sigh.

"Whose idea was it to send you here?" she asked in the calmest yet warmest of tones.

"The drafters arrived around two weeks ago to the village," the boy fiddled with his trembling fingers on his lap, "I was in a holding cell when the chief discovered me and told me that he could help me and my family if I agreed to do something for the kingdom," the first sniffles escaped him, "I got to meet the duke and he said that my mother and sister would never starve again if I did everything they asked,"

"I see," Arabella made a short pause before speaking again, "How old are you really, Erik?"

"I... My sixteenth birthday is in a month from now," he cried.

Silas’s right hand rose to cover his eyes and forehead at the declaration.

"Please! Please! They won’t be kind to my family. Please don’t report it!" he wept on repeat.

"It’s alright, Erik," Arabella did her very best to smile but only managed to offer a mangled one, "You may take your leave for now," her voice quivered almost as much as her chin did.

Erik stood up so abruptly that the chair behind him nearly fell. Leaping around the table, he hurled himself at her feet to plead some more as if that would convey his message better.

"Please! They will hurt them! They won’t spare them! Please!"

"Get away from her!" Silas stepped forward but halted upon seeing his wife raise a hand.

Unlike them, Arabella remained calm and merely cupped the boy’s head before guiding it to her lap where his cries turned muffled, "I said it was alright, Erik," she whispered while gently stroking his hair.

After an entire minute of that, the guards were finally called back to claw Erik off of Arabella’s lap.

Her heart was strung along with the boy as his cries echoed through the hallways.

"This can’t be swept under the rug," Silas’s voice came cold to her ears.

So cold it caused her to jump to her feet and spin on her heels to face him, "What do you intend to do?" her eyebrows furrowed.

"I must write to the syndicate about this as soon as possible,"

"Do you really have to?" her hand rested upon her heart.

"What are you suggesting? That we cheat them the same way Lustris cheated us?" He phrased it as questions, but his tone reflected none of it, "Should that come to light, it will be my family’s reputation on the line,"

"No of course," she averted her gaze, "But you heard what he said they’d do to his family, and I believe him. I do believe the Lustrisian government capable of such monstrosities,"

"I believe him as well," he said dryly, "However, his family lives beyond the borders where our hands can’t reach. There is nothing we can do for them. Auctioning a tribute that is under the age of nineteen is against our laws and I am not willing to jeopardize all of the work my parents did to uphold our name. I am willing to go to long distances to help people, but cheating the bidders is too far beyond my limits,"

Flicking her nails together in order to distract from the rising temperature in her chest, Arabella decided to share yet another thought, "We don’t have to auction him to others," she shook her head, gaining enough confidence to look him in the eyes again, "Since he is on the list of tributes, we can bid on him, keep him for the next three years, train him and nurture his talents if he has any and then transfer him to a new family to serve,"

"What if the price to keep him is too steep?" the question shut her up at once, "What if we discover yet another tribute below the age limit. Are we going to bid on them as well? Cost aside, the syndicate is already at my mother’s throat over the death of Edna, arousing suspicion more than that would be overkill. Like I said, I am willing to go to great lengths to help, but not if it affects my family to that high of an extent. I learned long ago that there were always going to be people I can’t help, and I have made peace with it. I am afraid you will have to do the same eventually,"