Highlander's Captive (24 page)

Wintra entered as Torr was leaving, and he stopped to introduce her to the emissary.

“I look forward to speaking with you, Wintra,” Henry said, cordially.

“I would reserve your opinion on that since your decision means little to me. I intend to remain wed to my husband no matter what conclusion you reach,” she said sweetly. “Do enjoy your walk.” Wintra gave her husband a kiss on the cheek and walked off.

“She definitely is Cree’s sister,” Henry said.

Torr nodded with a smile. “And I believe she has much of the Earl of Kellmara in her as well.”

“God bless you, my son,” Henry said with a laugh and a shake of his head.

Wintra stopped in front of the man who claimed to be her father and said, “It is time for us to talk.”

Cree sat enjoying the quiet of the Great Hall and a tankard of ale, his legs once again stretched out in front of the hearth and his back resting against the edge of the table. It had been a busy morning and soon warriors and those in need of food would come here to eat. That he could provide for so many made him feel good. His warriors and their families had suffered enough. And he would do his best to see that they suffered no more hardships. He had had more than his share of battles and he wanted no more. Not that he was foolish enough to believe it would not be necessary to never to go to battle again. Monarchs had a way of making enemies and starting wars. But he intended to do his best to keep him and his warriors from joining the fray.

He heard Dawn before he saw her. He knew her footfalls, though they had changed some since she belonged to him. They had always been a flurry of quick bursts, as if she was in a hurry or fearful of someone following after her. Lately, however, her steps had slowed, as if she finally felt safe.

He stretched his arm out, offering his hand. She rounded the table and laced her fingers with his. He tugged her down on his lap and kissed her, savoring the taste. He got greedy for more and explored her warm, soft neck, nipping in between kisses.

He felt her sigh deep in her chest like the contented purr of a cat. He wanted to make her purr some more, but not here. “Come upstairs with me,” he whispered in her ear.

Her shoulders slumped and she frowned, showing her disappointment.

“What is wrong?”

She gestured slowly, her frown deepening.

“Do not worry over Torr and Wintra? All will work well for them.”

Dawn raised her brow, shrugged and tapped his chest.

“How do I know? Simple. Fate brought them together, since they are perfect for each other. And fate will let nothing stand in their way, besides fate has me to help her.”

She gave him a questionable look.

“Are you questioning my ability to make sure fate gets her way?”

She nodded and gestured.

“You think I keep secrets from you?” he asked as if stricken by her query.

She nodded again and jabbed him in the chest.

He laughed and grabbed his chest. “You wound me, woman.”

She tapped his chest several times, tapped his mouth repeatedly, and shook her finger at him.

He laughed again. “I better tell you or else?”

She gave a curt bob of her head and folded her arms across her chest.

“Determined are you?”

Her chin went up to show just how much.

Her smile vanished as his eyes took on a predatory glare before he lowered his lips to her exposed neck and began to nibble at her soft skin.

She reluctantly pushed him away and scurried off his lap, then stamped her foot as her hands went to rest at her hips.

Even though he scowled, he could not keep the humor out of his voice. “Are you challenging me?”

She bobbed her head.

He stretched as he stood and watching his muscles strain against his shirt and seeing passion smolder in his dark eyes turned her legs weak.

Cree snatched her up in his arms before she could stop him, not that he thought she would. He saw at the exact moment desire hit her and he had every intention of satisfying her need, and his own.

“I will hear no more protests. We will finish this discussion upstairs,” he said and took the stairs two at a time.

~~~

Wintra watched Kellmara pace in front of the hearth in Cree’s solar. He had directed her to sit after they had entered, saying they had much to discuss, but he had yet to start the discussion. He just kept pacing while his brow creased in thought. As she continued to watch him, she wondered if that was how she looked when she drifted off into her musings.

Had she inherited the trait from her father?
Her father
. Was Kellmara truly her father? She had believed that she and Cree had shared the same father for so long that it was difficult to think otherwise. To her, her father was dead. Would she be able to accept this man as her da?

Kellmara finally stopped pacing and looked at Wintra. “I want what is best for you.”

“How do you know what is best for me when you do not know me?”

“I would like to rectify that.”

“How? By taking my husband, the man I love, away from me?” Wintra asked as if she could not believe her own words.

“I was told you loved someone else.”

She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Owen. I rue the day I met him.”

“I am learning that he is not who he claims to be.”

“He is a selfish, heartless man.”

“He had convinced me otherwise,” Kellmara said annoyed. “I should have known better, but I was so overjoyed with the news that I had a daughter that I was not as cautious as I should have been. And when Owen had sent news that he had gotten you out of the abbey and was on the way home with you, I thought he was a man of his word, for he had done what he had promised.”

“And what promise was that?”

“He promised to bring you home to me, and he would have if Torr had not interfered.”

“You mean my husband.”

“A husband chosen for you by the King,” Kellmara reminded.

“How did you come to know that?”

“I had petitioned the King to claim you as my daughter. He informed me that he had wed you to Torr by proxy. I then petitioned him to annul the marriage since you were my daughter and for whatever reason he had married you to someone, to now claim it invalid.” He shook his head. “But he placated me and sent me on this useless mission, knowing Cree would have his way.”

“But the King sent an emissary to do his bidding.”

Kellmara laughed. “I have just learned that at one time Cree saved Henry’s life. Who do you think the emissary will favor in his decision?”

“Then why do you stay here? Why not return home?”

Kellmara stood in front of her, concern etched in his blue eyes. “I cannot walk away from you when I have just found you. It would be like leaving your mum all over again, and I cannot suffer such pain again. I would like time to get to know you, time for you to accept me as your da.”

Wintra did not know how to feel toward this man. One moment she was furious at him for the way he tried to dictate to her and the next her heart went out to him for losing the only woman he had ever loved and discovering he had a grown daughter.

“You could have said that when you first arrived here. I may have been more accepting of you, more willing to talk.” He appeared contrite, an expression she doubted he wore often. And it softened her opinion of him—a little.

“My only thought was to see you safe. I had thought that Cree may have placed you in an abbey to be rid of you. And then when I heard that the King had wed you to a stranger, when supposedly Own insisted you loved him—” He shook his head. “My first and only thought was to get to you and protect you.”

Wintra’s brow creased in thought and it was a few moments before she spoke. “Owen was shocked that the King had wed me to Torr when Cree announced it. You never told him this news?”

“I did not want to upset Owen or you, especially if you loved each other. I thought if I could rectify it, then all would be fine. I never got to share a life with your mother, the woman I loved beyond all reason, and I do not want you to suffer the same horrible fate. I want to make certain that you have the choice your mum and I never did. I want you to marry the man of your choosing. The man you love and want to spend the rest of your life with. I want you to have what your mother and I only had a brief taste of—happiness.”

Tears were hard to hold back, but Wintra did her best. She could not stop from thinking how she would feel if Torr left her never to return and never knowing what happened to him. That was what had happened to her mother. The man she loved had promised to return for her and never did. Had she worried something happened to him? Had she believed he never truly loved her? How had she managed to survive all those years without knowing the truth?

“You get lost in thoughts like I do,” Kellmara said, as if it was another sign that confirmed she was his daughter.

She could not stop from saying, “I cannot help but wonder if my mum died thinking that you never truly love her since you never returned for her.” She was surprised to see tears sting his eyes, though he turned his head as he fought to control them.

When he turned back to her, his blue eyes glistened with unshed tears. “It is something I think about every day. I pray that she knew I was forcibly kept from her. I pray that she kept hope in her heart, as I did, that we would one day be together. And I pray that she never stopped loving me, for I never stopped loving her.”

Wintra hurriedly wiped away the single tear that had fallen on her cheek. Now her heart not only broke for her mother, but for her father as well.

“I know I acted poorly when we first met, but I was concerned that things were being forced upon you that you did not want. I never took the time to ask you what you wanted. I would like another chance. Will you let me be your father? Will you let me love you as much as I love your mother?”

Another tear slipped out and she was quick to wipe it away. “I love Torr and I want him as my husband and, to me, Cree is my brother, not half-brother, but
my brother
. I will let nothing change that and let nothing come between us.”

“I am glad to hear that you love Torr and that you are not stuck in a loveless marriage and as for Cree? I am proud of the man he has become and how he has protected and loved you as a good brother should.”

“I was a handful at times,” she admitted, thinking how she had tempted his patience more often than not.

“I would like to hear about when you were a child,” Kellmara said and sat in the seat beside her.

She laughed. “You may not want me as your daughter after hearing the tales I have to tell.”

“You are my daughter and nothing you say or do will change my love for you. And I hope someday that you will be able to see me as your da and love me.”

Words failed Wintra. Though this man bared his heart to her, he was still a stranger and she needed time to get to know him before she could accept him as her father and begin to love him.

She offered him what she could. “Given time—”

“That’s all I ask for right now—time for us to get to know each other. Now tell me about when you were young.”

~~~

Clouds moved in over the village and by mid-afternoon it started raining and it wasn’t long before it turned heavy. The snow began to wash away and the ground turned to slush. The people took to their cottages, leaving the village to look deserted. At least that was Torr’s thought as he hurried toward the keep and out of the rain.

He was eager to see Wintra and hear how her talk went with her father. And tell her of his talk with Henry, the emissary. He hurried into the keep and was disappointed when he did not find her in the Great Hall or anyone else for that matter, except a few warriors who lingered over tankards of ale and conversation.

He hurried to the solar, thinking that perhaps Wintra and Kellmara were still talking, but he found it empty. Where could she have gone? He left her here and surely the rainstorm would have kept her from venturing outside. He shook his head. He should have made the cottage his first stop, for she would go there if seeking solitude. He hurried out of the keep, worried that her talk with Kellmara had upset her.

He entered quietly to find his wife standing in front of the hearth, staring at the flames, deep in thought as usual. He went to her, standing behind her to slip his arms around her waist.

Wintra sighed and rested back against him, placing her hands over his.

“Did your talk with Kellmara go badly?” he asked, feeling the weight of her burden in the slump of her body against his.

“No, though it left me thinking that nothing is what I thought it was and my return home is far from what I imagined it to be.”

“What had you imagined it to be?”

“I am not sure,” she said shaking her head. “I suppose I thought everything would be as it once was, but what I had not considered was that I am no longer a child, but a woman full grown.”

“I will attest to that,” Torr said with a light chuckle.

Wintra gently elbowed him in the ribs.

Torr laughed and tucked his arms more tightly around her. “I am glad you are full grown, I am glad Cree kept you tucked safely away in the abbey, and I am glad the King wed you to me. While none of it is what I had imagined my life to be, I am very pleased with what fate has given me.”

“I am certainly not ungrateful to fate…”

Torr turned her around to face him. “Yet something troubles you, tell me.”

Wintra did not hesitate to share her worries with him. “Fate has been kind to us thus far, but what if fate decided to separate us as it did my parents? The thought of you never returning to me fills me with dread. I cannot imagine life without you beside me.”

“I am not going anywhere.”

“My father thought the same. He had all intentions of returning to my mother. How did my mother do it? How did she survive all those years without the man she loved?”

“She had you.” Torr did not give her a chance to argue, he continued. “A daughter who was part of the man she loved and, therefore, she always had a part of him with her. Do not mourn for what your mother did not have, but rather find solace in what she had surely found joy in—a beautiful and loving daughter and a good and loving son. She lives on in you and Cree, and I am sure Kellmara sees it that way as well. Every time he sees you, no doubt, he sees your mum as well.”

Wintra took hold of his hand and turned, tugging at him to follow.

Torr didn’t budge. “Where are you going?”

“We are going to bed to make love and to conceive a child. One, may I add, among a whole gaggle.”

Torr laughed and yanked her up against him. “So, Princess, it is a rutting stallion you want in your bed.”

She smiled ever so sweetly and brought her lips a breath away from his to whisper, “The image your remark evokes turns me wet.”