Katerina slept later than she ever had the following day. She was used to waking before the sun rose, but the sun was high in the sky before she woke. She noticed there was a dress lying over a chair that should fit her, and she scrambled from her bed, reaching for the clothes.

A short while later, she was descending the stairs, hoping she would find someone who would give her a morsel or two of food to help her wait until the noon meal.

She found Lady Matilda in the sitting room and smiled at her. “Good morning.”

The older woman glanced up at her with a smile. “How did you sleep?”

“Quite well, apparently. I had no idea I would sleep so long.” Katerina shook her head. “I worry you will think I am lazy, when I assure you, I am not.”

Lady Matilda shook her head. “I would never think that of you. Does the dress fit you?”

“It does. I hate that I am wearing all of your dresses.”

“They are old dresses that I wore in my early marriage to my husband. As soon as I started having babies they were put aside, and I am thrilled to see someone else is able to use them.” Matilda patted the spot beside her on the window seat. “We are going to have to make some plans. You need to be clothed properly in your own clothes. I can have my maid see to it, or the two of us can talk to her together, and I can help with the sewing.”

“Oh, there is no need for you to help with the sewing.” Katerina hated the idea of making this woman who had been so generous do such menial labor.

“But may I? I always enjoy sewing projects with Mary, and I think I would enjoy getting to know you better as well.”

Katerina smiled and nodded. Her mother had never had any desire to be involved with projects like that, so she was surprised. “Your help will be welcomed, milady.”

“Have you given more thought to the idea of joining my family as Braden’s wife?”

Katerina bit her lip. “I have prayed about the matter. I was on my knees for thrice as long as usual praying last night, and I prayed again this morning. If I do not feel badly about the decision, I will think that my prayers are pointing me toward him.”

“Good. Are you hungry? I am afraid you missed breaking the fast with me this morning.”

“I am hungry. Will it be long before lunch?” Katerina had felt as if she was starving since her arrival there, but it was not due to what she was eating. Nay, it was due to her long walk that she had had to fast during. Now that she was settled, it would be nice if she could stop thinking about her stomach all the time.

“Let us go to the kitchens and find you something to eat.”

“The kitchens?” Katerina looked at Lady Matilda in surprise. “You go into the kitchens?”

Matilda laughed. “Aye, I do. I have since my first day here, and my servants are still scandalized every time they see me there. I do not feel at all above them though, and I do not think any part of my home should be off limits to me.”

Katerina did not argue as she followed Lady Matilda across the castle. Her legs ached from the unfamiliar exercise of the day before, but she did not complain. She was simply happy to have a place to stay and people who seemed to already be starting to care for her. It was odd for her because she had always believed that only her family would ever treat her as kindly as they had, but in truth, this family was already kinder to her.

When they reached the kitchen, the woman standing at the stove shook her head at Lady Matilda. “You just cannot keep out of this kitchen. Mayhap we should lock the door against you!” The smile on her face said that she really did not mind the intrusion at all.

Matilda just laughed. “I brought our guest here to see if you would give her some food. I am sure she would be thrilled with water and a crust of bread, but if you could do better…”

“Off to the table with you! Both of you!” the cook said, waving them away with her hands. “I will have food out to you as fast as I can.”

Katerina followed Lady Matilda to the table, feeling a bit off about what had just happened. “I am convinced my own mother did not even know where our kitchen was!”

Matilda laughed. “That may be true. But I go there as often as I can. I do not want the servants becoming complacent, now do I?”

“Probably not.” Katerina knew that the skills that were normally taught to young ladies of her status had never been taught to her because of her plans to join a nunnery. “I know nothing of running a home.”

“We will discuss it while we sew, and I will teach you everything you need to know.” Matilda put her hand on Katerina’s. “If you decide you still want to join a convent, we will help you. I just want you to make a decision based on what your desires are and not those of your parents.”

Katerina had never been asked what she wanted before. She had truly never even had a choice between beef and mutton. Instead, she had always done as she had been told. “I feel like you are giving me power over my own life. I do not know that I have the ability to make good decisions.”

“You do. You are taking the time to think about whether or not you want to marry Braden. It would solve your problems for you and give you a place to belong—which is something I am certain you desperately need at the moment—but you have not agreed. You are taking the time to think about it.”

“Thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for?”

“Your constant confidence in me. Your opinion that I am worth something.” Katerina had felt like she was nothing more than a bargaining chip before. Now she felt like her opinions had merit.

Cook was there with bread and cheese as well as water to drink a moment later. “You eat up, child. We need you to be ready to carry those seven babies!”

Katerina’s eyes widened. “I have made no decisions about marriage at this time.”

“You will.” The cook winked at her. “Who could resist our sweet Braden?”

Katerina hid a giggle behind her hand. She was relatively certain that Braden would not want her to think of him as sweet. “I really could not say.”

After the cook had left them, Katerina looked at Matilda, who shook her head. “I have said nothing to any of the servants about my wish for you to marry Braden. I have no idea where that came from.”

“It is all right. I will make a decision soon and then there will be no more gossip.” Katerina tore off a piece of bread and ate it quickly. “I do worry that I have put your family in danger by coming here. What if the men who killed my family were to follow me?”

“Do you have reason to think they will?”

“No, but I do not have reason to think they will not.”

Matilda nodded. “There is much political unrest in England right now. There are several nobles who are backing the king’s sons who think there should be no division of his land. There are many nobles who still back the king completely. The unrest may cause more bloodshed before we know it.”

“I pray that is not the case.”

“I do too, child.”

* * *

Braden and his father walked quickly toward the house where his grandparents had moved when his parents had married. He had always felt close to all four of his grandparents, but his mother’s parents had died when he was not more than ten summers old.

Lord Alexander, Braden’s grandfather, was outside looking up at the sky when they arrived. “Greetings! I was not expecting a visit from the two of you today.” He seemed perplexed about something he was seeing as he looked up.

Robert stopped in front of his father. “I am afraid we are not here for a friendly visit.”

Alexander nodded. “Let us go inside to discuss whatever has the two of you looking so serious.”

As soon as they were seated, Robert explained about Katerina arriving on foot, bedraggled and frightened because her family had been murdered. “We are taking her in of course. We hope that she will marry Braden.”

“Do you have worries that the men who killed her family will follow her here?” Alexander asked.

Braden responded, explaining what he had felt when he had asked the plants to grow faster. “I have never felt anything like it, Grandfather. I worry for our safety.”

“Would it not be nice if one of us had the gift of seeing?” Alexander shook his head. “I will think on this. See if I can feel which way we should go with my luck. I do not want to stay here if we are in danger, but I do not want to leave our family’s legacy if we have a choice in the matter.”

“Do you think your luck will work on something this important?”

“My luck has never let me down, Braden. I will do some riding around the area and thinking about what we want to do. Your grandmother and I are old, but we could make the journey if we needed to leave.”

Braden sighed with relief. “That was one of my biggest worries, Grandfather.”

“I know it was.” Alexander shook his head. “We will do whatever is best for our family. If you decide to marry this week, I will be pleased for this marriage.”

“You do not want to meet her first?” Braden asked with a smile. He was happy to have the topic off his worries and onto the beautiful woman he was hoping to marry.

“I would love to meet her. Tell your mother that your grandmother and I will be there for supper tonight. I would like to see how my luck feels about her.”

Braden smiled. “I was hoping you would say that.”

As he and his father left his grandparents’ house, Braden looked at his father. “Did you get the sense Grandfather was hiding something?”

Robert nodded. “I think he is feeling much of what you are, and he thinks we should leave the area as well. We may be finding a new home very soon, my son.”

Braden looked at the castle where he had been born and raised, and where he had always thought he would raise his own children. “I cannot imagine living anywhere else, but I will not stay in a place where my family will be in danger. I think the unrest in England is reaching a point where the nobles are no longer safe from each other.”

“I hope you are wrong, but if you are not, I know that your mother and I will go with you wherever is necessary. I would be a peasant and have my family be safe before I would allow anything to happen to any of you.”

Braden hoped it would not come to that, but his father was right. Survival was a great deal more important than social status. They were strong, and they would make things work no matter what happened.

* * *

By the time supper was ready, Katerina’s hands were tired from sewing. When Lady Matilda had offered to join, she had expected an afternoon of discussing who was courting whom and which meal was best for healing. Instead, there was a long discussion on the political climate of England, most of which Katerina knew nothing about.

“My parents never discussed politics with me.”

“Do you know if they supported the king or his sons?” Matilda asked. “I am wondering if your parents were killed because someone did not like the side of the political spectrum they fell on.”

Katerina shook her head. “I really know nothing. Which side does your family fall on?”

“We are loyal to the king, but we are also very private about our politics for fear something like what happened to your family will happen to us. Trouble has been brewing for years, and the nobles have felt it, so we mostly kept to ourselves. Your parents were friends of ours, but I do not know that politics were ever discussed. I will have to ask Robert.” Matilda folded the dress she had been working on fitting to Katerina and set it on a small table where Mary had worked. “Thank you for helping us today, Mary.”

“You know as well as I do I do as I am told, Mattie.” Mary’s eyes grew wide. “I mean Lady Matilda.”

Matilda laughed. “I told Katerina you were my friend before I married. She will not be offended.”

“Well, our arrangement is that I call you Lady Matilda in front of others. I need to remember that, even when I feel comfortable around someone.” Mary got to her feet. “I will go and dine with the other servants. Do you need anything else from me before I go, Lady Matilda?”

“Nothing at all.” Matilda smiled at her friend as she left the room. “Now we need to go down to supper. I know that Braden would love a decision if you could give it to him tonight.”

Katerina just nodded. She still was not sure what to say. Should she marry the man and have her future taken care of? Or should she join a nunnery as she had always planned.

She said a silent prayer as they walked toward the stairs for supper, and as she looked down, Braden was standing there, a smile on his face as he looked up at her. And that is when she knew. God wanted her to marry this man. She had been put into his life for a reason, and she was going to tell him right after supper. She smiled at him as she finished her descent, taking the arm he offered. “Did you have a good day, milord?”

“I had an interesting day. How was yours?”

They walked toward the great hall, and she found two people she had never met. As a girl who had almost never met strangers, it was odd for her to meet and speak to so many people in such a short time. She looked back and forth between them, and she smiled.

Lord Robert stood. “Katerina, may I introduce you to my parents? Lord Alexander and Lady Madelina. They live in a house here on the castle grounds.”

“It is nice to meet you,” Katerina said, bowing her head.

“And you, Katerina,” Lord Alexander responded. “I am very sorry about what has happened to your family.”

Katerina nodded, acknowledging what he said. “Thank you. I wish I knew why it had happened.”

“That is something you may never know,” Lord Robert said.

The meal was pleasant, and Katerina enjoyed getting to know Braden’s grandparents, whom she supposed would soon be her own grandparents as well. “Braden has told me that you have the ability to make weather change,” she said to Lady Madelina, wondering if she could see it happen. She would not ask, feeling it would be rude, but she desperately wanted to see it. Now that she felt like she was supposed to be a member of this family, she would have no problem embracing their powers and strange ways.

“I always like to use snow for occasions like this,” Lady Madelina said as a light snow began to fall from the ceiling. “It reminds me of the day I met the man I love.”

“Oh?” Katerina asked. She wanted to hear the story.

Lord Alexander smiled at Lady Lina before he answered Katerina’s question. “The day I met my wife, her uncle suggested that a marriage between us would be advantageous for both families. She grew embarrassed, and it began to snow indoors. At the time I did not know about the powers that ran in her family, and I was astounded.”

“That is a wonderful memory of meeting each other.” Katerina immediately regretted that she had met Braden after a long walk when she had looked disheveled, tired, and sad. How would they talk about how they met to their grandchildren?

Braden’s eyes met hers and he smiled, and all of her worries vanished. She felt a connection to this man that was new to her, but she liked it a great deal. Wondering what her parents would say about it was not something she could do. They were dead, and she had to continue. They would not want their line to end with them, would they?

The rest of the meal passed in happy talk. As the others discussed the crops and many other things, Katerina wondered again why her parents had been killed. If it was for their political affiliation, then she needed to know exactly what that affiliation was. Were they on the wrong side of a war that was coming to England?

She shook her head. It was not hers to worry about. It was meant for the people around her. No, she would not give it another thought.

As soon as the meal was over, Braden offered her his arm. “I am going to show Lady Katerina the flower garden that I grew at your house, Grandmother. Do you mind?”

Lady Lina shook her head. “I think it is a wonderful idea. She will surely be impressed with your powers then.”

Braden smiled, and the two of them headed for the front of the castle. “I do want you to see how beautiful it is. We should have enough sunlight to make it there and back.”

“Is there no danger?”

“Not here on the castle grounds. Not usually anyway. I do know how to use the sword I carry, and I could order plants to attack someone set on hurting us as well.”

Katerina giggled, imagining grass attacking someone. “I am sure I should not laugh, but I cannot help but picture grass growing and wrapping around someone’s throat.”

“I could also have grass or weeds wrap around their ankles to trip them.”

“Have you ever tested this to see if it was really possible?”

He laughed. “I am the youngest of seven brothers. They would chase me and tease me, and I would trip them constantly with the grass. I would do whatever it took to keep away from them.”

“My brother and I barely knew one another.” Katerina shook her head. “I am beginning to see that I really had an odd upbringing. I knew my brother and my parents on sight, but they did not really talk to me unless they were telling me about my duty to the family or what I would be required to do. If they had conversations about their likes or dislikes or their politics, then I never heard the conversations.”

“Politics? You do not know who your parents gave their loyalties to? The sons of the king are trying to overthrow the king.” Braden looked at her in disbelief. Did not all parents talk of such things with their children?

“Most of my time was spent in my room. My parents thought that I should get used to not talking to others and being sequestered, given the future they had chosen for me. I knew less than nothing about them. I knew some of the servants better than I knew my parents.” She shook her head. “Is it bad that I have barely wept for them?”

“It sounds like they were mostly strangers. I am sorry you did not have a closer relationship with them, and I promise you that if you do me the honor of becoming my wife, my parents will consider you their own daughter, welcoming you with open arms and helping you to see how a close family lives.”

She smiled at that, looking off into the distance. They had reached his grandparents’ home, and the flowers that grew there were a riot of color and beauty. “This is incredible. You did all this yourself?”

“If I could never pick up a sword again, I would make that choice, but I am doing what I must for my family. I would gladly spend every day in a garden such as this, creating beauty and not death.” He sat down on a bench among the flowers. “Do you think I am weak for admitting such a thing?”

Katerina shook her head. “Never. I am pleased that you would do what you needed to do for your family, but I am confident enough that I would prefer to have a gentle man for a husband anyway.”

“Are you trying to tell me something, Katerina?” Braden gripped both of her hands in his, his eyes on her face. His heart beat quickly, and he prayed that her answer was the one he wanted to hear.

“I will marry you, Braden Lain. I believe we can be quite happy raising our seven sons together.”