Eclipse: Time Thief (Romantasy)

19. Fathers

We'd arrived at Nash's family's home soon after nightfall. I sat on plush pillows on the floor with a steaming mug of tea on the short table before me while Nash talked with his child's mother, Trish, in the other room.

This was a nice house, the kind meant to last a lifetime. There was a kitchen and small living area with two bedrooms attached. Canvas paintings of the valley hung on the walls. Fresh wildflowers fanned from a vase on the table. Enough time had passed for smoke to blacken the wall behind the indoor stove. The Prophet was able to offer people forever homes, with the promise of steady food and protection. No wonder so many served him.

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself properly earlier. I'm Trish." She'd quietly entered the room while I gawked at her house. Long hair lay over her shoulders.

"I should apologize. We've interrupted your day." I stood and bumped into the table. Tea sloshed onto the surface. "Sorry." I stumbled over my apology as I sopped up the steaming liquid with my shirt.

"Oh, I have towels." Trish opened a basket over by the stove.

Of course, she did. She wasn't some barbarian who cleaned up with the clothes she wore. I was a mess. Speaking of which, I looked terrible. Mud and grass stains streaked my dress. There were tiny tears and even specks of blood from the branches I'd hit. I didn't even want to think about my skin or hair.

Trish passed a towel to me even though there was nothing left to clean, except for myself, and I would need a stream or tub for that. Maybe the entire sea.

"My husband is a farmer and a politician," Trish said. "Important business called him away to the Prophet's village. We don't have to worry about him coming home."

Nash had brought us to the home of a councilman? Was he insane? No wonder Trish and her husband had gotten bound. They weren't just pious but the most loyal to the Prophet.

"I should have mentioned that," Nash said to me. "He's always away at this time."

Interesting. Did Nash come here often when the other man was away? Trish cheating on her husband would be one thing. Betraying the mate she'd bound herself to? I couldn't fathom Nash putting his family in such danger.

Trish clasped her hands in front of her. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him. I wish Nash would make safer choices for himself, but I've sworn to honor him as my daughter's father, and that means making sure he doesn't get himself killed."

"I'm sorry, Trish," Nash said. "I know how you feel."

"Well... That doesn't seem to matter to you."

Nash looked away, jaw tightening. For Trish and Nash to entertain any semblance of feelings for one another, they must not have been able to help it. Trish was betraying not just the man she was bound to but the Prophet they had sworn their eternal souls to by welcoming us. Disgust filled me at the thought of such a vow.

Even if no one ever found out that Trish helped us, surely she believed the gods knew. Protecting Nash was worth the stain on her soul.

Must have been love. Love that could never be. At least, not now that Trish had bound herself to another man.

"Elsie is playing out back," Trish said to Nash, easing the tension they'd created.

Nash nodded and then hesitated. "Take Elsie to the cabin until I return. Promise me you'll stay there."

Trish's voice tightened. "What will I tell him?"

"Whatever you have to. Soon, we'll all be free of the Prophet, including your husband. I know you both want that."