The Lady Who Left

V. A Somewhat Perfect Charade

"Are you out of your bloody mind!" she hissed, and she saw him frown as she cursed. "One reason I want to escape is to not marry you. Or did that small piece of information too big for your brain?"

"Calm down, Cressida," his voice droned.

"I'm calm, my lord. This is the calmest I can be, in fact. I'm simply emphasizing words in case you have missed them, which you apparently do quite often." She placed her hands on her hips and huffed, closing her eyes for a few seconds to gather her wits and self-control.

"What I'm trying to say is that marrying me won't make you a married woman if you get out of here. And the same goes for me. No wife, no marriage. Marrying you will solve my problem once you leave. While you have your adventure up there, I will not have to deal with the inconveniences of an eligible bachelor. I'll be a married lord, only that I would not have to deal with a wife. My father will have to turn to my other brothers for the heirs he wants."

Cressida stomped her foot with frustration, imagining the ground was his face. "But I do not want—"

"Neither do I. But a wedding will happen or you won't have your chance of getting out of here at all. Either way, you'll still end up with me."

"People will think you murdered your wife if I disappear."

"You do not have to be murdered, Cressida. You simply have to disappear," he said, flashing a smile. It was the first time it actually reached his eyes.

"This is incredulous."

"This is the perfect plan. We marry, we go off to the other side of the Town to Easton, I take you to a passage and you'll go on an adventure aboveground. It's the most convenient way by far. Getting to the nearest passage out of here will take days of travel. How am I supposed to get you there if we're not married? As husband and wife, no one will raise questions if we disappear for a long period of time. We can tell everyone that we will take permanent residence in Easton, far from Willowfair, and no one will know you're gone for months, even years."

"How about my parents? They will come calling. They will want to see me now and then. They will bother you more if we're married because then I'd be your problem—I mean, your responsibility."

"That shall be my problem once you're gone, not yours."

"You mean to say that you shall lead them to believe that I left you, eloped with someone else?"

"An elopement with a lover is more likely going to be everyone's deduction even without word from me. It's not something you will not have to bother with because you'll have a completely different life in a different world by then."

Cressida paused. She hated that he was making sense. If they wed, everyone would leave her alone. No one could do anything about it. And if Calan claimed it would be more convenient for him, then she would not deny him of it. After what he would do for her, he deserved it. The consequences would have to be faced by him, not her. He could deal with it because he was a Leaguer. And Leaguers were powerful and he could get away with an investigation should one ensue upon her disappearance. There would not even be enough evidence to point out he killed her. Everyone would be left with naught but the gossip that she ran away with a lover. Cressida Did It Again, the gossip section of the Town Herald would say.

In the end, they would both achieve their goals. She would disappear from the Town, away from prying eyes, and she could not give a care if people were to think she left her husband for a lover. And Calan would get his peace by being a married man—in name. People would fear him if they were to believe he killed her, or sympathize with him if the elopement story would prove to be stronger, which was probable, considering her scandalous reputation. She could always leave a note for him, explaining her elopement. Yes, of course! That way he would remain a married man with a missing wife.