“Will you dine with me this evening? Here. Just the two of us?”
He arched a brow at that. “Us alone?”
“And Aelfa, of course. But no one else.”
It was a strange request she made. Yet he could see no harm in humoring her. “What time?”
“Vespers?”
He nodded. “I shall see you then.”
Callie watched him leave her. For the first time, she noticed the way he walked. Like a stalking lion waiting for a predator to jump out at him.
He was a fierce man, this knight. Fierce and lonely.
And soon to be her husband.
Swallowing at the thought, she went to make preparations for the night.
Sin was alone in his room, sitting at his desk when he heard a knock at the door. “Enter.”
He half expected it to be Caledonia, so when Simon entered, it surprised him.
“What brings you here?” Sin asked as Simon closed the door and leaned against it.
“I was wondering when we’d be leaving for Scotland. I wanted to send word to Draven. I thought we could stop in for a short visit since Ravenswood is on the way.”
Sin let out a slow breath. “I truly appreciate your offer Simon, but I have no intention of taking you with me.”
“You need someone to go with you.”
“I need no one. I assure you, I will be fine.”
Simon crossed his arms over his chest as he eyed Sin speculatively. “Do you remember what you said to me the first night you came to Ravenswood?”
“Nay. I barely recall that night.”
“I asked you if you were afraid of being so far from your family. You said that you had no family. That you belonged nowhere and to no one. Do you remember it now?”
Sin shrugged. “Vaguely.”
“Well, it seems to me the man before me is still that nine-year-old boy who stood defiantly before Harold. You still have one shoulder braced to take a blow while your hand is curled into a fist to strike back.”
Pain assailed Sin as unwanted memories rushed through him. He’d spent the better part of his life trying to forget the very things Simon wanted him to remember and the last thing he wanted was the dredge up such horrors.
“Simon, is there a point to this?”
“Aye, there is. When Draven and I tried to befriend you, you would say nothing to us. You drew into yourself even worse than Draven did. He at least kept himself open to me. But you... you refused all comfort.”
Sin held his silence. He had never refused it. It was simply forbidden to him. Every time Harold had caught him speaking to one of his sons, he had been punished for it. Harold had despised him with a passionate zeal. Older than both Draven and Simon, Sin had never had a protector.
Sin had always been alone. There had never been a choice in the matter.
“I want to go with you, Sin. Haven’t you spent enough of your life with nothing but enemies at your back?”
Sin sighed. “You know you don’t owe me for what I did.”
“I know that. It’s not why I want to go.”
