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to take the easy way. She would go. And if being left by the roadside was to be her lot, she’d drag herself up and manage from there.
    Armand opened his mouth to protest Rodney’s request for payment and Alicia held up her hand to stop him. "No debt, Armand," she said. "Put what I’ve earned toward what you lost from the nobleman who didn’t pay you."
    Rodney looked at her with a slight frown. He detected the sadness her features had taken on. He shrugged and climbed onto his horse. "Then let’s be away. Enough on the matter."
    Rodney took the reins from Alicia’s mount in his free hand and, clicking his teeth and spurring his horse, they started away.
    "Ye’ll not find the promises answered, miss," Armand shouted at her back.
    Alicia blinked back tears. There had seldom been promises made to her. Only once, and Armand was right. She’d been a fool. She’d been used and cast away. The first illusion that this would be a dream come true was struck from her mind, and she willed herself to strength. She would take her chance in any case, and hope there was something more down the road for her than a straw-filled attic and regular beatings. Something more than being abused and unwanted.
    "Ease your mind, maid Alicia," Rodney said. "You’re deserving of a great deal more than the innkeeper would have you believe."
    She smiled her thanks for his soothing words, but inwardly she feared that this journey would be only the beginning of her challenges. With a sigh, she took her own reins from him and edged her mount along beside him.

Three
     
    Alicia stood by the window of the inn and looked down into the dark street. The only lights came from the windows of the tavern below her and what little brightness broke through from behind covered windows along the street.
    A loud crash and subsequent shouting from below caused her to jump in surprise. She rubbed her upper arms with her hands and shivered, both cold and a little frightened.
    The journey to London had been uneventful, Rodney carefully looking after her food and lodging along the way, and she traveling easily and silently beside him. They had rested the night before in a lodging house (it could not be called an inn by any measure, though rooms were rented to travelers) and left early in the morning before having anything to eat. They arrived in London early in the day. Rodney had explained that they were near enough to the city to have traveled the entire distance without stopping for the night, but he preferred to have her come into the city with him in the light of day.
    She could plainly see his wisdom in this now. The inn near the wharf where he had placed her was grim enough in the morning. Had she been brought through the wild common room below her in the evening, she would have been too frightened to stay in this room alone. The Ivy Vine had its share of drinking and trouble, but from the sounds in the common room tonight, it was nothing compared to a London ordinary.
    In this meager setting, there was the nearest thing to a raised bed, one leg missing and replaced with a rough chunk of wood. It wobbled piteously as she tested it, but it still outshone any sleeping arrangements she had ever had. There was one stool, and a table used for eating as well as holding a washbasin and pitcher and one stubby candle. A dirty and ragged towel had been tossed into the empty basin. Not even water and linens had been delivered to her since Rodney left her hours earlier.
    Alicia moved to the table and plucked at the filthy rag that was meant to dry her whenever she was lucky enough to wash. "Your great wealth comforts me, milord," she whispered to the empty room.
    A cracked mirror without a frame hung from a nail on the wall. She looked into it but found the image lacking. It was a poor reflection and she couldn’t plainly see the dirt on her face, the snarls in her hair, or the disappointment in her eyes. Squinting, she looked closer, touching the long and tangled hair