He pushed off of her and pulled his pants up. "Get up. You will come down to the dining room with me. You have dresses in the wardrobe, you will wear the blue one. Pin your hair up. You will behave, do you understand?"
"Yes my love."
"There will be guests."
"I will make you proud Wynter," she said breathlessly, hurrying to change. She fumbled with her hair and he had to help her.
He took the bandages off of her fingers and looked at the cuts. "Be careful, do not open the cuts. The bandages are unseemly. I do not want you to bleed, so be very careful. Do you understand?"
"Yes my love. I will be very careful. Will I need shoes?"
"No. You were never fitted for shoes, you will have to be careful not to let your feet show."
He pulled on his jacket and on and held his arm out to her. She took it quickly and tried to stand tall as he led her out of the room and down the hall. The waxed wooden floor was cold on her feet as she hurried to keep up with his quick, long strides.
He led her into a large dining hall where there were more than a dozen men both sitting and standing around the table. Larkin looked around quickly, but dropped her eyes just as she saw Yvette staring at her wide eyed and shocked. He led her towards the cluster of men and held a chair for her. She sat down, perched on the edge of the seat as he stood next to her chair with his arm across the back.
"Lord Bixby, I was hoping to see you this morning! I needed to speak to you about your next journey into the old villages."
"A moment Wyatt. Yvette, serve your mistress. Larkin, these are some men of my aquaintance. Business partners mostly, but a few men who I have kept around to entertain. You know Yoseph I believe."
Larkins eyes shot up to the man Wynter was gesturing to. Yoseph was looking at her, licking his lips nervously and smirking. Larkin felt sick. She couldn't do this. She was sure she knew what Wynter was about to make her do and she was ready to dive for a knife when he did.
"And of course, you remember Cotton?" he asked, amused.
Larkins eyes jerked down the table where Cotton was sitting in a chair looking wild eyed and little terrified. He was obviously tied to the chair.
Yvette set a glass of wine in front of Larkin, her eyes filled with a venomous hate. Larkin hardly noticed her, her eyes darting back and forth between the two men.
"Cotton was idiot enough to follow you all the way here. He meant to take you from me. I have been holding him for some time now. He may be a little worse for wear after all this time. And Yoseph... I intimated a promise to him. Do you remember?"
"Yes my Wynter," she answered fearfully.
"I thought to offer you a choice. Your young farmer has been begging to die for some time now. He has tried to take his own life so many different ways. Yoseph... I am sure you know what he wants. So here is your choice. You can fuck them both, or you can kill them both."
Larkin let out a sound of shock and fear as she looked up to Wynter pleadingly. His smile was vicious.
"Lark!" Cotton cried. "Please, let me die! I couldn't grbb!" A man grabbed him from behind, holding his mouth shut.
"What will it be, Larkin?" Wynter asked harshly.
Larkin looked at Yoseph, who suddenly looked horrified as two men held his arms. She saw Abel and the other men who had defended her on the floor of the inn and it was no real decision. "Let them die," she said softly, tears in her eyes. She gave Cotton a sorrowful look, but ignored Yoseph as they dragged him away. Cotton only looked thankful as they took him out still bound to the chair. Larkin turned back to Wynter with her eyes down.
"Yvette. Set out the brunch. We will watch the executions after. Drink your wine Larkin."
"Yes my love," she answered softly as he sat next to her. She picked up the wine and took a sip, then grimaced. She did not like wine, but she sipped it as the servants laid out the large brunch. She knew she could not eat, but also knew Wynter fully expected her to. He served her food with a smirk and she made herself eat it without him having to tell her to. She tried not to cry, but she was doing a poor job of it.
Wynter chatted with the other men at the table, ignoring her after she proved she did not need his prompting. She ate as much as she could, then moved closer to Wynter, slipping her fingers into his hand. He let her, holding that hand still as he gestured and spoke to the men. She traced his fingers gently and stared down at his hand, trying to avoid the looks of the men around her. Finally, she slipped out of her chair and sat on the floor next to Wynters chair and laid her head on his thigh. She hugged his leg tight and he put a hand on her head, gently petting.
Too soon he was standing and she stood as well, taking his arm. She knew what was coming and she tried to steal herself. He led her outside along with the other men and she immediately moved closer to him. It was snowing and it was freezing. He stopped her and she glanced up. There was a gallows set up. Cotton and Yoseph were both standing with ropes around their necks. Their hands were tied and they were both gagged. A man stood up there with them, his hand on a lever.
"Allow them both last words. The farm boy first," Wynter demanded.
