Bryson looked in surprise at the 7-year old girl sitting quietly at his table, and then up at the Lord who was looking at him expectantly.
“I’m sorry Lord Farrow,” he said slowly. “I must have heard you wrong. I thought you said that I would keep your daughter here.”
“You heard me right,” the Lord said tightly, ignoring the warning in the man’s eyes. “Things are dangerous and unstable right now, and there have been direct threats against Trinity’s life. I need you to keep her safe, because I don’t know how to do that right now.”
Bryson gritted his teeth, steel in his eyes.
“So you are handing her over to an active assassin? You know what my line of work is. How am I your best option?”
“You are my best option for that very reason,” Lord Farrow insisted. “You have been loyal to my family for as long as I can remember, Bryson, and have never given me reason not to trust you with my life. Now I am entrusting you with the life of my daughter. Your skills are exactly what will be able to keep her safe.”
Bryson closed his eyes, knowing that he would not win this argument. He had known Lord Fallow since he was a boy, and never once had he declined a request from him or his family. Despite his misgivings, he knew that he would not be likely to do so now.
An hour later, Bryson placed a plate of food in front of the girl he was suddenly responsible for. Lord Farrow had left fifteen minutes earlier, ensuring him that this was for the best, but he wasn’t sure that he agreed. What did he know about taking care of a child?
The child herself, Trinity Fallow, had been silent since she entered his cabin. She hadn’t cried when her father left, a small mercy, but there was something in her eyes that was far too old for her years. He suspected that she knew and understood things that most children would not have encountered at that age, that was often the case with nobles. They tended to grow up faster than they should.
It wasn’t until they had eaten, and he was putting the dishes away, that she finally spoke. Her voice was soft and careful, and he felt himself tense at the gentle sound.
“I want to go home.”
Five words, but Bryson immediately felt his heart constrict. What must she think, to have been dropped off and left with a man that she had never met? What had her father told her before coming here? But he knew that he couldn’t give her hope, that would be a cruel thing to do since he didn’t know how long she would have to stay with him.
“And I want to go to the moon,” he said with a soft sigh. “Things rarely turn out the way we want them to kiddo, better get used to the idea. The sooner you accept the way things are, the better for you.”
He had expected her to cry. To demand to be brought back to her home and family. Maybe even to hate him for keeping her there. What he didn’t expect was for her to look at him with her brows furrowed and childlike curiosity in her eyes.
“Why the moon?” The question was innocent, and Bryson couldn’t hold back a wry smile as he met her eyes.
“Because there are no people there,” he answered honestly, and her eyes widened for a moment, before a small giggle escaped her mouth.
“Don’t be silly,” she giggled. “If there were no people, you would get lonely.”
He blinked in surprise for a second before chuckling softly.
“Perhaps you’re right,” he admitted. Then he looked her over seriously. “Now, what am I supposed to do with you?”
