Free The Ciphers of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler

cleaning and helped Maia stack the folded clothes back inside the basket. “I am sorry for Dodd,” she said. “He and Suzenne were going to marry.”
    Maia stared at her in surprise. “Truly?”
    “Yes, or so everyone said. They arrived the same year as learners. There was much bantering between them for the first two years. He would give some offense to win her attention, but she would rebuff and deliberately ignore him. When they were old enough to dance around the maypole, he shocked everyone by asking her, though she had widely declared she would refuse him. She did not, and the two danced and became close after that. There was even talk about her Family visiting his Family in Forshee Hundred.”
    Celia lifted the basket and rested it against her hip. “When his Family met their disgrace, things changed between them. She stopped walking with him after studies. He passed the maston test, you see, so though he still takes classes, he is not really a learner anymore. He did not know she was a Cipher. It has been painful to watch. He roams the grounds, restless.”
    “Of course he is restless,” Maia said, her heart aching for the young man. He had banished himself to Muirwood. His father and brothers were in Pent Tower, and their lives would be in mortal danger if they did not sign the Act of Submission. What a torture his life had probably become, and if what Celia said was true and Suzenne truly had abandoned him, his pain had to be all the more poignant. That rankled Maia to hear. She had betrayed Collier because the Medium had not provided a way to bring him with her. Every day she spent free reminded her of his confinement.
    They left the shelter of the laundry and started back toward the manor house where the washing would be hung to dry. The mist kissed Maia’s face as they walked. Sometimes the fog lasted the entire day, but she could make out some brave wisps of blue sky trying to peek through before the sun set.
    “He is following us,” Celia said, casting a glance over her shoulder.
    “He is,” Maia said, observing Dodd’s stride increase. He wore a dark leather jerkin that covered a cream-colored padded shirt, belted at the waist with a thick, silver-studded leather belt. His hair was dark and unruly, his chin and nose a little pointed. It was a handsome face, but his mournful countenance sullied it.
    He caught them without much difficulty and seemed as if he were about to pass them when he seized the basket from Celia’s arms instead, hoisting it onto one shoulder with a flexing arm.
    “Allow me,” he said gallantly, his brooding expression softened by a kind smile. “You walk to the Aldermaston’s manor?”
    Celia was completely flustered. “Well . . . for certain . . . I see . . .”
    “Yes, that is our destination,” Maia said, returning his smile. “Thank you.”
    He walked for several steps without saying anything further, but he did interrupt the silence eventually. “You are Lady Maia.”
    “I am,” Maia replied. “You are Dodleah Price.”
    “Call me Dodd,” he said in an offhand manner. “I have often seen you wander the grounds, but I had then failed to summon the courage to speak with you.”
    Maia felt a little startled. She glanced at Celia, who had flushed a shade of pink.
    “Is that so? Why should you fear to speak to me? We are cousins to degree, after all.”
    “Notwithstanding, I was afraid you would think it an impertinence,” he answered. “Since we have not been introduced. You knew my father, but we have never met.”
    “There is no need to be so formal, Dodd.” She looked him in the eyes so he could read her earnestness. “Do you wish to ask me something? I will not take offense.”
    He smiled, looking relieved. “Thank you. That does lessen my anxiety. I am normally quite forthright and I like to say what I feel.” He frowned, as if swallowing something quite bitter. “A habit of my Family, I fear. Do you think your father will execute my