They made it back in time to clean up and join their parents for dinner, but not with much room to spare. As Vituccia had said, Ferrand joined the Cristovals, and Josceran the Glaedwins, and Aelfeva thought both were relieved not to have to eat at home with Giefroi.

Einwulf was no more pleased with Aelfeva’s decision than Melisend was, but to Aelfeva’s astonishment he turned his attention towards more practical issues.

“No point to your settlement including anything for cooking or weaving,” he grumbled. “Dragon, obviously, stays with you, although Maerwin knows where, Giefroi doesn’t have the facilities for a second stallion.”

“We’re not living there,” Josceran said.

“What’s that?”

“We aren’t living in my father’s house. There’s land across from the mill that belongs to it. My brother and I are trying to talk our father into giving us the mill jointly. Ferrand is staying at the inn. We can build a house across from the mill. Although making arrangements for much livestock may take a little longer.”

Einwulf, for no reason Aelfeva could see, brightened considerably. “Well, then. We’ll back the credit for getting a proper modern house of reasonable size built. Maybe even look at those new wooden shingles instead of thatch, Ximeno says they’re working well for the inn. Leo won’t need the bed and linens that were going to go with her, you’ll need those...”

“And kitchen equipment,” Melisend said doubtfully, “since you need to eat somehow. I’m sure we can find a woman in Rosebridge willing to come in during the day to help out, or I’ll ask one of my maids to do it.”

“But for a livelihood,” Einwulf said, “half the mill would be excellent. We’ll get a bit of land broken for a garden, and a pen for a pair of good cows, and poultry... geese make good guardians, chickens are easier to feed, maybe a few of each.” He frowned. “Like I said, Dragon...”

“We, ah, might have found a future business contact today,” Aelfeva said. “Involving horses.”

“Oh, yes?”

Between them, they described their adventure. Richold, who had heard it, listened quietly but grinned a few times.

“That was a foolish risk,” Melisend said.

“A calculated one,” Aelfeva said. “It’s the same risk I’ve taken plenty of times. I’m not going to stop working with horses.”

“I’m not going to ask her to,” Josceran said.

“A horse trader from the south,” Einwulf mused. “Curious about how you handle Dragon and interested in our stock. That could go somewhere, beyond what you’ve already been doing. Dragon and Blizzard are both excellent sires and we make more on foals from our mares than on letting them breed someone else’s mare. Could use some new blood in the area, too.”

“It wouldn’t be a big deal to let Dragon stay where he is,” Richold pointed out. “We have the space and barns and corrals—enough for a few more broodmares, even. The main limitation until now has been having enough of a market to sell them to.”

Einwulf nodded. “No harm in that. Can’t make a living just on the horses, but you could certainly add a good bit of extra coin that way. Barter doesn’t help with taxes, and more and more tradesmen in Rosebridge want coin. Cattle don’t need so much training, just enough handling to be docile, but there’s always a demand for beef, hides, milk and butter and cheese. That and half the mill and whatever else you can do around a farmstead to give you a bit to eat and a bit to barter... should work out well enough, a decent living and enough to pay off the house and pay a cook.”

“We can make it work,” Josceran said. “It’s not like either of us is scared of working hard, and we have a solid head start over a lot of people.”

“Giefroi wasn’t about to let either of you marry on his own, was he?”

“I... no, I don’t think he was. The only mention he ever made was telling me I was supposed to court Leofeva. He wasn’t pleased that I refused.”

“I’m still the reeve of Rosebridge. It would be a conflict of interest for me to lean on him about a settlement if one of my children is involved. The only ethical thing for me to do would be to request an impartial arbitrator to take a thorough look at his property and finances and make a binding decision on what constitutes a legally fair third divided two ways. You could point that out to him if he won’t give you a proper and prompt reply. Maybe remind him that the hefty fine for refusing to give married children their due settlement comes out after it’s divided.”

“I’ll do that, sir.”

“Three cows, maybe, one with a heifer calf and the other two already bred to drop calves in early spring...”

“That plot of land,” Josceran said, “is better for pasture than growing anything. There are a lot of rocks on that side of the river.”

“I know land normally comes from the husband’s family,” Richold said, “but not always. What about adding one of the pastureland plots? The one at the back of the inn, maybe?”

Aelfeva shot him a startled look. No one particularly wanted that field—it was an awkward place to reach with anything wheeled, and there was scant flat ground in it to build a house, though the slope of large rocks at one side did shield it from the wind. That reduced the value to most people substantially. To her, if they were living just across the river, it would be convenient, and it would put any horses in it within the view of inn guests, or even let her offer an arrangement for any overflow or long-term guests.

“Hmm,” Einwulf said. “I don’t want any of you thinking I’m playing favourites.”

“How is that playing favourites? Teoda and I get the Orchard Cottage still, for the moment. It’s a substantial field but it doesn’t have much use. If you tried to sell it, you wouldn’t get much for it. It’s not doing any harm at all if Aelf keeps using the stables and corrals and all for horses, just like always. We’re a family still, aren’t we? Even if it’s expanding? I mean, we’ve established that, assuming Giefroi sees reason, Aelf and Jos are building a new house by the mill, but that doesn’t cover where they’re living until then.”

“Our house,” Melisend said. “Of course. Wasn’t that obvious? No, I suppose it wasn’t. And you’re right, Rich, we are still a family, but it’s best to get everything clear.”

“We’ll sort it out,” Einwulf said firmly. “I’m not having any of my children camping outside. Or unable to support themselves. That plot of land... if you get the mill, that’d be more use to you than most. Less so if you don’t have the mill. We’d have to find you a plot that we could actually build a house on. I suppose the details depend on Giefroi.”

“Ferrand and I will try,” Josceran said.

All of that made dinner much less of a trial than Aelfeva had, deep down, expected.

After which, Einwulf left, muttering something about a tavern.

“I don’t understand,” Aelfeva said to Melisend. “Why is he being so positive all of a sudden?”

“Vituccia,” Melisend said. “When he and Ximeno returned, she... had some things to say to both of us. Not always gently. The heart of it was that if we love our children and want you happy, then we need to remember that. And we do, all of you, always. She pointed out that we are not going to be able to change what’s coming, and this has been more difficult for you than anyone else, and you did not make that decision about Leofeva lightly.”

“And of course Father’s way of being supportive is to make practical plans. It wouldn’t be like him at all to say anything about how he feels.” That was actually rather touching.

“I don’t agree with everything she said, but it’s difficult to completely dismiss Vituccia when she feels strongly about something, and she made some points that are... difficult to stop thinking about. Possibly your father is also relieved. I think he was very upset about Leofeva being under Giefroi’s roof. I’m not sure why, he wouldn’t discuss it.”

“I wouldn’t have taken her there either,” Josceran said. “I could have eased his mind on that one. Ferrand and I have been trying very hard to find a way to keep from taking any woman into that house.”

“We’ll... we’ll make sure you have space under our roof until we can arrange for you to have your own. We did have settlements worked out for all three of you that were comfortably over the bare minimum, although we weren’t certain we’d need yours. We just... hoped. We just need to make some adjustments.”

“Thank you.” Impulsively, Aelfeva hugged her. “For everything. For what it’s worth, I probably would have done what you said and married someone if you told me to, but I doubt it would have worked well, and it wouldn’t have happened any other way. I think Rich is the only normal one of the three of us.”

“Then you have to define normal,” Richold said. “And I’m not going to try. Someone thoughtfully left a nine men’s morris board and pieces in a drawer.” He gestured to the sideboard cabinet not far from the stairs. “Anyone?”

Aelfeva and Josceran lingered, unwilling to abandon Melisend; it was a game for two, but that just meant there was always someone to play the winner.

Melisend excused herself after defeating each of the three once, claiming fatigue from the day.

“She’s as bored as we are,” Richold said quietly. “I think she needed that. Thanks, Jos.”

“It’s a little self-serving,” Josceran said. “I’m in no hurry to see my father. But like you said, family, and I don’t like her being unhappy either.”

“I wonder if Guillen’s busy,” Aelfeva mused.

“He is,” Richold said firmly. “Stop looking for distractions. You’re running out of time and you can’t tell Herlinde again that you don’t know.”

“But I... yeah.” Aelfeva heaved a sigh. “Sitting. Thinking.”

“Alone, or with company?” Josceran asked.

“With company. I need to ask you a couple of things. And I have a question or two Sadrilde might be able to answer, if she’s around.”

“She’s likely in one of the gardens. She doesn’t like my father and it’s mutual. As long as I leave her food in our garden, she’s happier out there. If we call her from yours, I imagine she’ll show up.”