He stopped a step about Robert and turned, blocking his way into the house.

Robert glared up at his father, willing him to move, but the man was stubborn as a mule. For a second he closed his eyes and sighed. His father caught him by the shoulders with a quiet “woah, steady there, son.”

Instead Robert just kept leaning forward until his forehead rested on his father’s shoulder and he felt the tears start to fall. He felt pathetic. One night without sleep and he felt like a child again, ready to curl up and cry and have a nap. He hoped that with his face hidden his father wouldn’t notice and he could slip past him and upstairs to his room before he noticed.

He was wrong. “It’s going to be okay. Come inside. Have you eaten?” he asked as he pushed Robert away just enough to look him in the eye.

Robert shook his head, afraid that if he spoke the sound of his wrecked voice would destroy what was left of the dam and he’d never stop crying. He was just so damn tired.

With a gentle hand on his arm he was pulled inside and sat at the table while his father made him a plate of boiled eggs, bread with a bit of butter, and a mug of ale. “Eat and then you can sleep. We can talk about it after you wake up.”

Robert’s hands shook as he peeled the egg and the first bite made him gag. He forced it down, since it was already open, and then ate the bit of bread so his father would stop frowning at him. “I’m fine,” he said after he had finished it.

His father frowned again and took the egg still in its shell and replaced it with the rest of the boiled eggs. “You know, you’re an excellent liar. But you never could quite pull it off with me. So stop saying you’re fine. Go upstairs and sleep and when you come down you can have some more to eat and we can talk about whatever happened.”

“Father,” Robert started.

He held up his hand. “Are you in danger?”

Robert thought for a moment about Rivington and their deal and the look on his face, the one filled with disappointment and hurt and other things Robert couldn’t place, not with how quickly they were moving through his eyes. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Then sleep. You won’t think clearly like this.”

Robert went with a huff, feeling every bit the child. When his head finally hit his pillow though, he only had a split second to feel the overwhelming gratitude run through him before he was asleep.