Chapter Thirteen
Morning came, he was certain of it. He could not move or go outside to check, but he knew enough hours had passed. His wife should have awakened by now, but she had not stirred, not that he could see her at all with her curtains drawn. The blade she drove into his bed post twinkled at him mockingly as it reflected off the dying embers of the fire.
He cursed himself an arse. A bastard. A fool. When Elwynna had told him that she loved him, he had told her loved her, too. And he did, just not in the way he loved his wife. He told her he was in love with his wife. Looking back, perhaps he should have chosen different words, but he had not seen the lass in years and she was potentially dying in his arms. He thought he made it clear when he responded that his love for her was that of a close companion, someone who had been through all the worst things in life and stood by his side. Had Aislin not heard all his words, his declaration of love for his wife?
Still, what if it had been him? How would he have reacted to her saying those words to another man? Someone she had once had a deep relationship with? He would have killed the man and bellowed at her until his voice went out, but would he have left her? Nay, nothing would make him leave his wife. The difference was that he trusted her. She had been an innocent before him and he needed not worry about any men from her past appearing. Yet, he had been with scores of women. It was bound to happen that one would show up eventually, and he had blown it.
He cursed himself again. He needed to get Aislin to calm down long enough to listen. He knew she was much too angry the night before to hear anything he had to say, so he had allowed her to shout and call him names. What she had seen was not even close to what had truly happened, but how could she know that? And how had she learned about that foolish wager? He had to speak with her.
He knew she would avoid him at all cost and yet, she had sworn to care for him and in truth, his wound ached fiercely. “Lin?” he called and groaned just from the strain of using his abdominal muscles. He need not fake the pain; it was real and potent. “Lin, I need you…” He needed her in the worst of ways. He missed her smile, her touch, and the sparkle in her eye when she laughed at one of his poor jests. He wanted his wife back.
The curtains on her bed opened swiftly and she stumbled out with a groan, her eyes blood shot as she cradling her… swollen belly? Why was his wife’s belly larger than it had been before? It was not huge or obvious by any means and, had she not held her night dress so closely against herself with her hand, he may not have noticed the suddenly obvious expanse of her usually very flat and toned stomach.
His eyes squinted as hers suddenly went wide with knowing. She moved her hand quickly, but it was too late. It suddenly all made sense… why she had been wearing longer, looser gowns even with the summer weather, why she had not eaten well for so long, and why she seemed tired or dizzy so often. Then, there were the piles of blankets and wee garments. Those were not for her cousins… those were for her babe… their babe.
“You are carrying my child…” he said with wonder as his heart constricted and his throat closed with a rush of emotion. “My dear, sweet wife. You are going to have our babe and you never told me?”
A bolt of intense anger, disappointment, and agony ripped through him. How long had she hidden this from him? It had been intentional. She had been angry with him for a sennight, but this babe was now showing, and she had never told him. Then he looked at the piles of garments and wool blankets, and more anger boiled in him. Did everyone else know he was to be a father except for him?
“How far along are you, Lin?”
She frowned and rubbed her belly again. “I am in my fourth month, Alastar.”
“And you never told me?” He could hear the hurt in his own voice as it quivered. “Why did you not tell me? I am so very happy, and yet so terribly hurt. ‘Tis like you just ripped my heart out, Lin.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she pursed her lips. “So now you understand the pain I have lived with this past sennight, for hearing you say you love another woman destroyed me!”
“Do not pass this back on to me, Lin! Tell me why you did not tell me about our babe?” He was shouting now and the tension in his body was causing his wound to throb.
“I was going to tell you! The very night of the battle! I did not get the opportunity to do so.”
“You could have told me before. You must have known.”
She sighed and rubbed her tired eyes before walking closer to him. “I wanted to wait, to make sure all was well with the babe before I told you. You had suffered too much loss in your life and I knew you would not bear the loss of a child. I wanted to wait until the babe quickened, then I planned to give you that wee gown over there at our evening meal. It all seems like a lifetime ago,” she murmured.
“The babe moves?” he asked. She nodded, and he could not help the wide smile spreading across his face. “May I feel him?” She hesitated, but must have decided he had every right to feel his babe, so she stepped closer to the bed and allowed him to place his hand on her abdomen.
He waited a quick moment and frowned when the child did not move. “Is he all right? He is not moving.”
She smirked slightly. “This is why I waited, Alastar. You would have driven me mad with your constant worry. Aye, he is fine. He must be sleeping. I know how to make him awaken.” She moved over to the large jug of water on the table and poured some into a mug, then walked back over to him.
“The cold water always makes him move.” Alastar put his hand back on her abdomen and waited rather impatiently as she guzzled the cool liquid. She laughed and pushed his hand harder down onto her belly. “There. I feel him. Do you?”
He shook his head and pouted. “I feel nothing.”
“Mayhap ‘tis too soon for you to feel it outside,” she shrugged.
Then he felt it. It was quick and almost undetectable, but he swore he felt something. “Was that him? Just right here?” She nodded and smiled, and he let out a loud laugh. “Gods, I love you, Aislin.”
Her smile turned down quickly and she stepped away. “Do not say that to me right now, Alastar. It hurts too much.”
“Tis the truth. I love you, and nay other.”
“I knew you would do this. I knew as soon as you discovered I was carrying your child, you would choose me over… her. But you should have loved only me all along and I cannot be with a man who will only stay with me because of his child. That is not a life I am willing to live.”
She began to walk away, but he stopped her. “Please. Aislin. I need you to allow me to explain what you heard that day.”
Crossing her arms, she turned to look at him and glowered. “All right. I will listen.” She plopped down on the stool by his bed, keeping her arms crossed. “But I cannot see how you can explain why you told Elwynna you love her.”
“Did you hear what I said after I spoke those words?”
Her brow dropped, and she shook her head. “You were whispering and with all the sounds around me, that was all I heard. That, and that it was good to see her face. Also, not something my husband should be saying to another lass.”
He breathed deeply and squeezed his eyes shut. Honestly, he was fortunate his stubborn wife was even allowing him a chance to speak at all. Mayhap that was a good sign. “I will explain all. I just need you to please listen.” When she nodded, he nodded in return. “I was in the middle of fighting one of Mal’s men when I heard her scream my name. I cut the man down and turned to see her running toward me, just before one of her own warriors accidentally caught her in the waist with his sword. I was in shock. All I could think to do was carry her far away from the battle.
“She said she had heard I was here and that she wanted to see me, to warn us of her father’s plans, but she could not get inside the gates before the battle started.”
“Aye, I did hear her say she wished to see you and heard you were here. I did not hear the rest,” Aislin added.
“She was bleeding a lot and I was very worried for her. You need to understand that she meant a lot to me at one point.”
“From what I saw, the way you held her, she still means a lot to you, Alastar,” her voice was rising in anger again and he could not blame her. He had to get to the point quickly.
“She told me she loved me, as you heard. I thought she was dying, Lin! I did not know, in that exact moment, what to say! I did not want the last words she heard to be a rejection, so I said what I could to make her know I was happily married without hurting her further.”
“So, you told her you love her, as well? What you are not understanding is that, in that moment, you chose her feelings over mine. Even if you did not know I would hear, you had an opportunity to do right by me, by us. Instead, you chose her.” Aislin breathed deeply and turned her body slightly away from him. He was losing her fast.
“These were my exact words to her, Lin. I said, ‘I love you as well, Elwynna, but not in that way. I am in love with my wife.’ She whispered that she was glad I was happy and that it was good to at least see my face. So, I said it was good to see her face, as well.”
His nerves were getting the best of him. He may well lose his wife over this, the one woman he had ever truly loved and the mother of his unborn child. He needed to make her understand. “I was scared. She was dying right in front of me and words could not come. I had gone from battling the enemy to carrying a wounded woman who confessed she still loveds me… and I just could not think! It was the wrong thing to say to her, Lin, and I am so truly sorry those words came out of my mouth but the truth is that I was not lying. I do love her, just not in the way she loves me. I will always care for her, Lin. You cannot make me not care for someone who was once so important to me. Can you not understand that there is a difference between loving someone for who they are and who they were, and truly being in love with someone? The way I am in love with you?”
He was practically pleading now, but the shuttered look in her eyes and the slow nod of her head did not bode well for his circumstances. “I can see what you are saying, Alastar. I am not completely unreasonable and being envious is not an emotion I am used to feeling, or wish to ever feel again. Still, this is more than envy. Seeing you with her, like that? You say you do not love her the way you love me, but sometimes one’s actions prove their words false. You held her and allowed her to put her hands on your face the way I do. You touched her hair the way you touch mine. She was about to kiss you. Would you have gone along with that as well, simply to spare her feelings?” Her voice quivered and a small tear tracked down her face. He knew then that he had lost her.
“I cannot un-see what I saw. I cannot unhear what I heard. I would never tell another man I loved him, especially not one who was in love with me. I realize you were in a panic, but I also believe you spoke the words that your heart truly felt in that moment. I cannot believe you said those words for any other reason, not when I saw how tenderly you spoke them and how tenderly you held her. It was an intimate moment, one I have torturously replayed in my mind a thousand times since it happened. I wish I could believe you, Alastar, but I cannot.”
“Nay. Lin. Listen to me!” Now he truly was pleading and a panic took hold of him. “I love you!”
She swallowed hard and wiped away a tear as she stood from the bench. He reached out to grab her wrist. He was not going to allow her to walk away from him. She moved away just in time and took a few more steps back. “Mayhap you do love me. That does not mean you do not love her, as well. I appreciate you told her about me, Alastar, but telling her you have a wife at the same moment you tell her you love her? That does not send a strong message of loyalty.”
He felt hopeless. Truly hopeless. What could he say or do to convince her? He wished to show her his love, wrap her in his arms and make tender love to her all night long, but his cursed chest wound made certain all he could do was lie on his back like a cripple and pine for a way to make his wife stay by his side. Anger, mostly with himself and a little with his stubborn wife, boiled to the surface. “So, this is it then?” he roared suddenly, making her jump back a step. “You will refuse to believe me? After all we have been through, you would turn and walk away… with my babe?”
His words must have touched some part of her heart that she had not yet hardened to him, for a sadness fell over her face. Her shoulders rose and fell. “I cannot blame this all on you, Alastar. I never meant to get married and I certainly never meant to fall in love. I put myself in a position to be vulnerable, naively believing we could actually make this work.” She shook her head and her voice trailed off. “When I saw you with her, it made me realize that I had been fooling myself. I’m not used to feeling this way, so raw and dependent on one person’s love. And when I felt like that love was being given to another woman, it shook up my world and made me realize that I should never have allowed you to have so much power over me. I should never have allowed myself to believe that this life was meant for me.”
“Aislin,” he croaked as he tried to sit up, but the wound in his chest roared painfully, forcing him to groan and plop back down onto the furs of his mattress. He did not know what ached more, the hole in his chest or the hole in his heart. “You cannot mean that. Do not walk away from us. I love you,” he whispered.
Curse his stupidity. Curse his wound that held him hostage in his own bed. And curse his wife, for being so quick to leave him and all they had built together.
She shook her head with resignation. “I do not believe either of us is made for marriage. You have too much love for lassies to ever be content with just one for the rest of your life. You only entered this marriage based on a wager with Àdhamh. You have made a mockery of this union and a fool out of me. And you would have willingly lain with another woman, not even of your own choosing, had you failed to marry me within the allotted time. You are as I said from the beginning: a fickle man.”
That angered him more than anything else she had said. She had a right to her own emotions, but how dare she tell him what he was or was not capable of, or that he was fickle, when his love for her cut deeper into his heart, than any wound. “Do not dare to tell me I could not love you and be loyal for a lifetime, Lin. I may have erred with my words to Elwynna, and I was a pompous arse when I made that foolish wager, but I am a faithful husband to you and will always be. You are the one walking away! You are the fickle one!” His voice was much louder than he meant it to be, but rage and frustration were causing him to lose his control.
How could she remain so calm? “’Tis for the best, Alastar. I saw you with her. You can tell me you are faithful but in my eyes, you are not. I would never have been caught holding a man the way you held her or looking at him the way you looked at her. Nay, there is still something between the two of you and ‘tis time for you to explore that… but I will not wait while you do so. As I said, I never wanted marriage and you only wanted it if you received a dagger in exchange. I was better off without this pain in my chest.” He heard her choke back another sob and she shifted on her feet, clearly uncomfortable showing this level of vulnerability to anyone.
“And our child, Lin? You did not want children and now you will have one. Will you walk away from him, as well?” He knew he had gone too far with his words, but he was so beyond enraged at the hurt she was causing him that he felt the instant desire to retaliate. Mayhap she could stay calm while leaving him, but he wanted to make her feel the same distress he was feeling. It was childish, aye, but in that moment, he needed to see some emotion other than resignation from her.
The sudden fire in her eyes and balling of her fists told him he had been successful. She surged forward, leaning her beautiful face close to his before she spoke through gritted teeth. “How. Dare. You. I would strike you right now if you were not already injured. I thought you were a better man than you truly are, Alastar Mac Murray.”
Her words were like a punch to the gut. He had crossed the line and he knew it, but he was already losing her. He reached up and grabbed her face in his hands, looking at her imploringly. “Stay, Lin.” Her green eyes sparkled with unshed tears and a deep frown marred her perfect pink lips.
“As I said before, I will stay until you are healed. Then, I must start my life over again. I have enjoyed my time with you, but ‘tis over now. We are too different. I want nothing to do with lads and you want every lass you see.”
He released her face and put his hands down as if burned. She was a spiteful lass when scorned and knew precisely what to say to hurt him. He could only take so much bruising of his honor. He had not lived a perfect life, but he had endeavored to be a good husband and she was determined to believe otherwise. Nothing he could say was going to help and he knew in that moment that it was time to let her go, even if it would kill him to do so.
“You should go now. You do not need to stay to care for me. I am certain I can find another lass to willingly do so.” There he went again, saying things to intentionally injure her spirit. He was an arse. He should continue to plead his case and beg her to stay. Yet, he knew it would do no good. Aislin had set her mind to leaving and he knew his wife well enough to know that only she could change her own mind. The best he could do now was to set her free and mayhap if he was a great enough bastard, he could at least be worthy of her scorn. Because at the moment, her unjust assessment of his character had his emotions in a frayed knot, one he would need lots of space and time to untangle.
Silently, she stepped back and swiped a tear off her cheek, then cupped her slightly swollen belly. That one move made him wish to vomit. She was leaving and taking all that he loved with her, and all he had done was say things to drive her even further away. He had reparations to make in his future, but for now, silence was best.
She must have agreed because without speaking a word, she turned on her heel, walked over to her bed, where she wrapped her cloak tightly around her neck and walked out the door… and out of his life. He was a worthless fool. He had had all he ever wanted in this world and with one small innocent misstep, he had lost it all.
Yet, she was not wrong. He did still care for Elwynna very much. Aislin had seen true affection in his touch and gaze, and he hated himself for hurting her. What she was so unable to recognize was that a man could care for a woman deeply and not be in love with her. He would liken his relationship to Elwynna to that of a sibling. He had grown up with her and shared a past that nobody else could understand. Aye, they had shared their bodies as well, but that had been but a short, desperate time in his life when he hungered for human contact. His feelings never went beyond that and though anyone could see Elwynna was a bonny lass, her beauty was nothing compared to that of his wife: his wee, stubborn, infuriating wife.
He sighed loudly and tousled his dirty, sloppy hair. His love was gone. His babe was gone, his heart was gone, and all he could do was stare up at the cursed thatched roof of his cursed circular home and watch the smoke from the hearth escape through the pointy top as his entire body ached from the inside out. Gods, he was a pathetic arse.
***
“You did what?” her papa roared at her in a way she had not heard him do since she was a wee lass who liked to sneak off into the forest and explore caves without his permission. “You left your husband? Your injured husband? The father of your child? Are you mad, lass?”
She had heard him shout enough times in her life to find his lectures rather tedious. “Aye. I never meant to stay with him. He knew that. I only married him to get you off my back, Papa! But I cannot stay with him. It was becoming too real.” She rubbed her belly and shook her head. “I will always have him in my life. Of course, I shall never keep his child from him, but I am not meant to be any man’s wife... and he is not meant to be any woman’s husband. ‘Twas all a wager that went too far.”
“I do not believe that for a moment!” her father shouted as his nostrils flared. “Ceara! Our daughter is damaged in the head. Call Maggie! Mayhap Aislin needs to be examined!”
Ceara stood by the cauldron where she was preparing a porridge to break their fast. The smells of honey and cinnamon filled the room and made Aislin’s stomach growl loudly. Her mother remained silent but looked sadly over her shoulder at Aislin. Her mama had always been her champion, never allowing her father’s tirades to go unchecked. Now though, there was a deep disappointment in her green gaze and furrowed brow.
“To Alastar, I do not believe your marriage was just a wager,” her brother added. “He wanted you long before that wager, Lin. He made it disgustingly clear. Although, after what you confided in last night, you know I support your decision.”
She loved her elder brother. Eoin had always been rough with her, as elder brothers would be, but he also supported her whenever she truly needed it. She knew he felt guilty for forcing her into the marriage in the first place, even while knowing about the wager, though Aislin had assured him repeatedly that she had willingly complied for her own selfish reasons. But now those reasons seemed so small when her heart ached deeply for the love she and Alastar had so briefly shared. As many love affairs went, it had been wild like the sea, pulling them until they were in so deep, they could not breathe. They had danced in the waves and allowed themselves to believe the ride would last a lifetime. But once the waves had crashed back to shore and reality set back in, it was clear that what they had was unsustainable.
As much as it hurt to imagine Alastar with Elwynna, she believed she was doing right by stepping back and allowing him the chance to reunite with someone he clearly had deep feelings for. Mayhap he did not believe himself to be in love because he was still rolling around in the waves with the memory of what he had shared with Aislin, but she could see it much more clearly. Elwynna knew Alastar in a way Aislin never would. They had a bond much stronger than anything Aislin had with him and though the last several moons had been intense, and she knew her love for him was real and unchanging, she also knew their time together was nothing compared to his time with Elwynna.
Mayhap Alastar was not ready for marriage several years ago, but he was a man now and deserved to explore those feelings with the first woman he ever truly cared for. And it was obvious Elwynna had genuine love for Alastar. Stepping away and allowing the situation to unfold was the wisest choice, and it was best to move on now, rather than constantly waiting for the day he chose Elwynna over her, or worse, began sneaking around to save Aislin from humiliation and pain.
In truth, the pain of leaving him hurt more than anything she ever expected. She loved him, truly loved him, with all that she was. Just when she realized he was her entire world, he had proven that she was not his. And until he could prove that there was no room for another in his heart, she would pretend she had no room for him in hers… even if it gutted her every second, because she deserved better.
Her father’s angry voice snapped her out of her wandering dark thoughts. “What do you speak of, Eoin? What did Aislin confide in you about? What of this wager?” His hazel gaze darted between her and her brother.
“’Tis not my news to tell. You know that,” Eoin said with finality, and she loved him even more for that. Pure loyalty. Was that so much to ask from someone? She did not believe so.
As much as she loathed to speak the truth to her parents, she could not very well move back into their home without an explanation. With a sigh of resignation, she slowly told the story of all that had transpired since the battle. Her father’s face turned an unhealthy shade of red as she spoke of finding Elwynna in Alastar’s arms. Fearing her papa would finish Alastar off, she tried to appease him by explaining Alastar’s side of the story, which, when she retold it, did make more sense. Still, she stood by her decision. He should never have said those words to another lass.
“I will kill him.”
“You will not. I told you. Much of this is my fault. Perhaps if I had always been the marrying sort, I could accept his explanation of events and move forward. But I never meant to marry, and now I see that I was right all along. It made me vulnerable in a way I never expected, and never plan to be again. He and Elwynna have a past. She knew his family, and grew up with him. He claims he is not in love with her, but I cannot believe that after what I saw. I stepped aside so they have an opportunity to be together. I will not be the unwanted wife, the one in the way of who he truly wants.”
Her mother gasped at her words and turned toward Aislin for the first time. Stepping forward with a deep breath, she could see the flush in her mother’s cheeks and felt a terrible twinge of guilt for upsetting her sweet mama. “I know how it feels, to feel unwanted by the man you love.”
“Och, Ceara,” her papa murmured as he wrapped an arm protectively around her mother. “I was a fool then.”
Her mama chuckled and slapped his chest. “Aye, you were Garreth and I see so much of what happened to us, happening to our sweet lass. Aislin, mo chroí, I understand why you did what you did. You have pride, just like I had when I wished to marry your papa and he did not wish to marry me. It hurt to tell him I wanted out of our arrangement to wed, but I refused to be in the way of what he wanted in life.”
“But you were wrong, love. I did want you. I was just a stubborn fool. I wonder if, in this situation, ‘tis our wee lass who is the fool.” He looked at Aislin wearily. “I know that man loves you, ‘tis clear to all, but I also believe you saw something that hurt you. Love is a tricky thing. A man can love more than one woman. I hope this is not the case, but if it is, you did what was best by leaving now.”
Aislin watched as her father, so large, strong, and handsome, enveloped her wee mama in his arms and kissed her on her forehead. She had grown up hearing the love story of her parents. Arranged to marry at a very young age, her mother had been much more willing to comply than her papa had been. He loved her mama, but he also was not ready to marry or give up his freedom. That thought made her pause. Mayhap she was playing the role of her father in this situation, for she felt petrified at how much she had already given to Alastar and how much more she would have given if she had not walked away. Her freedom had been all she craved.
But the moment she allowed Alastar into her heart, she began to crave his touch, his love, more than aught else. It had been unrealistic, she now knew. A man like Alastar could not give all to one woman. It was not in his nature. He had run away from Elwynna, even though he so very clearly had strong feelings for her. Seeing that connection, how strong it was even years later and with years of absence in between, made her realize now how insignificant her time with him had been. She was but a passing wave on the shore of his life.
“Look at what your papa and I have accomplished together once we set aside our ridiculous pride.” Her mother waved around the room, her gaze first landing on Treasa and Eoin in the corner holding Neassa, and then on Aislin and her small protruding belly. “We have created a beautiful life. I only ever wished that for you. I am sorry that my desire to see you as happy as I am has brought this on you. Mayhap your happiness is not dependent upon love or family the way mine was. I should have never made you feel pressured into marriage. Once your babe is born, you will have a love unlike any other to fill your heart in the most tremendous way.” Her mother’s lower lip quivered with emotion and her papa hugged her close again.
“Och, Ceara. You are such a lovely woman. How glad I am that the gods gave you to me.”
Aislin’s throat tightened. She had come here to escape the pain of a love lost and yet, all she had done was walk into a home filled with happy couples. Between her parents and her brother and Treasa, she would be surrounded by affection. It used to sicken her and make her want to gag, but now it simply filled her with pain and envy. Still, she had nowhere else to go. Not now.
Mayhap it had been wrong for her to leave Alastar wounded. He had said hurtful words to her about finding a willing lass to care for him and he questioned her loyalty to their child, but she knew he was hurt and vulnerable. Though she truly had wished to stay to care for him, it was impossible to pretend all was well in his presence. She had to make her intentions to leave known. It would have been deceitful of her to pretend all was well and then simply leave once he healed.
Alastar’s reaction was not one of a man who did not care, but he also may have wanted to stay with her because of the babe. Never would she accept a marriage simply because of a child. He would be involved every day with their child, then she would go home at night to her family. It was as simple as that.
It was midday now and she longed to finally be back outside for the first time in a sennight. She would grab her bow from Alastar’s home, check in on him while she was there and offer to stay while he healed.
“I believe I will take a walk and check in on Alastar. We were both angry when I left, and he does not deserve to be alone in the condition he is in. I should still stay there until he recovers, nay matter how hard ‘twill be.”
Her papa nodded and stepped closer to her, wrapping his large arms around her in a strong embrace. “My wee lass is a woman full grown. Tis so hard to believe it sometimes. I still see you as a young lassie running around the village, challenging every lad to races and feats of strength. I have always admired your spirit, Lin, even if it drove me half mad many times.” He chuckled and released his grip just enough to look down into her eyes.
For a large man, he was always so gentle. “I am proud of you. You will be a mother soon and it will change you forever when you see that babe’s face for the first time. I know not what will come of your relationship with Alastar, but I am proud of you for being strong enough to do what is right and continue your care for him. A man has his pride and I know firsthand how being gravely injured can hurt a man in more ways than one. Having his wife walk out on him with his child now, of all times, is probably destroying him.”
She grimaced and felt guilt wash over her, tilting her head down. “I understand why you left, Lin. I am not scolding you but simply giving you perspective. You cannot stay with him forever if you cannot trust him, but if you can help him recover, keep him company and maintain a comradery for the child’s sake, it will serve you both well.”
She nodded at her father’s words of wisdom. He made fair points. Aye, she could do that. She could not forgive or forget how his interaction with Elwynna made her feel or the fact that he had made a wager about marrying her, but she could be mature and find level ground so the could get along once their child was born. “Thank you, Papa. And Mama,” she looked to her mother and gave her a shaky smile. ‘Twas a fine thing to have such wonderful parents. Alastar did not have parents, or any family for that matter. She was it… and she had left. That did not sit well with her soul.
With a wave and forced smile to her family, she left and decided to make her way back to Alastar’s home. It was time to do what was right, even if being in his presence made her heart ache with longing for what could never be.