Colyne struggled against the fact that he would never again hear the wee one’s laughter. Or watch her eyes widen with childish delight as he told her tales of the fairies who would whisk away even the stoutest man if he held their fancy.
“Whenever I would visit their home,” he continued, “I would hear of her latest antics. Once when I rode up ’twas to find the lass lodgedwithin a rowan tree and refusing to come down. When I asked why, she claimed to have stolen a tart. In her most serious tone, Katherine made me swear her location to secrecy.”
Alesia sniffed. “What happened?”
“ ’Twould seem the lass had stolen nae one but the entire lot. Before long, her stomach began to ache and she ended up calling for me to help her down.” A sad warmth embraced his heart as the poignant memory replayed in his mind. “I remember her vowing to her da to never be stealing so many tarts again. But, when he was nae looking, she winked at me, and I could tell her mind already had strayed in that direction.”
Alesia looked up at him, her tear-filled eyes hazed with sorrow. “A very special girl.”
His hand stilled. “She was.” He lifted a lock of Alesia’s honey-colored hair and secured it behind her ear. “I always wished one day, when I was blessed with a child, that she would have the same spirit.” Emotion swelled in his throat as he shook his head. “I canna believe she is gone.”
“At times there is no reasoning for the why of it,” she said with a rough whisper. “Sadly, life’s cruelty touches us all.”
The chirp of crickets spilled through the night as she lifted her head and surveyed the land, slowly consumed by darkness. She turned.
The solemn appeal of her expression he expected but nae the glimmer of hope.
“You will always have her.” Alesia pressed her palm over his heart. “Here.”
Colyne laced his fingers through her own, humbled by her strength, amazed at her belief in goodness when her own journey had delivered her into her own personal nightmare.
“After a while the pain will give way to the warmth of memories, to times when laughter will fill your life.” She paused, her gaze intense. “Life is too short to dwell upon what we cannot change.”
“What challenges have you endured to gift you with such wisdom, my lady?” he asked, unsure how to deal with the feelings she stirred within him.
“Naught more than you yourself have faced.”
Her reply perplexed him. As a noble as well as a knight, he’d witnessed more than his share of death and the tragedies wrought of war.With each brutality, his mind had dulled in frustrated acceptance that however much he tried, he could save but so many.
Alesia was obviously a woman of rank. Imagining her protected within castle walls, he doubted her ability to understand the tragedies of war. Or the wisdom garnered. Yet her sage words, and the lingering sadness in her eyes, were traits he’d witnessed only in people who’d suffered greatly.
Another contradiction.
He wanted to press her to reveal her secret. Except he refused to risk her withdrawal. “You are weary,” Colyne said, reluctant to release her but aware he must.
“As if you are rested?” she said in quiet challenge.
What a lass. She’d argue with a saint. He couldna help but admire her spirit. “Go.” He released her hand. “Try to sleep. I will be standing guard.”
“You have not answered my question.”
A fleeting smile grazed his mouth. “Have I mentioned you are stubborn?”
Her lower lip trembled, reminding him all too clearly of her fragile state.
“Could you sleep this night?”
At her solemn words, the lightness of the moment faded. “Nay.”
“Neither can I.” She gestured toward the bed of leaves. “If I lay there, I will only stare at the sky and think of everything. Could I stay beside you this night? I . . .”
Need you, his mind finished. She didna say the words, but in the moonlight, her eyes whispered the request.
“Please?” she whispered.
Tenderness curled through him. If for only a few hours, being with her would help him as well as he battled the painful memories of this day. He gestured toward an area of smooth rock. “Bring your blanket over there. You can sit with me.”
Thankful he’d granted her request, Marie retrieved the tattered wool throw. When she returned, Colyne had settled into a sitting position that allowed him a clear view of their surroundings.
