Chapter Two
Sage kicked a pebble as she emergedinto the cool night air. Why did Father have to be so unreasonable? He saw them as children, even though they were far from that. And they looked after each other. He told them what to do and expected them to follow his orders with no explanation. Sage wished he would ask for her opinion. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the inn wall with a disgusted groan.
“You know, you have this way of being...arrogant.”
Sage rolled her eyes as Willow approached. “Not arrogant as much as right,” Sage corrected.
Willow chuckled, resting beside her. “There are ways to go about getting what you want without being so insistent.”
Sage shook her head. “I’m not like you, Will. I can’t just smile and have men fall at my feet.”
Willow shrugged. “They don’tallfall.” She gazed out over the dirt road. “I have to work at ensuring some fall to my feet.”
“Only Christian,” Sage murmured.
Willow cast her a glance, a slight scowl on her forehead.
Sage sighed. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” She knew Willow had been deeply hurt when Christian left, even though she wouldn’t admit it.
Willow stared into the shadowed forest across the road. “If you had asked Father if he needed help...”
“Heneverneeds help.”
“It’s the way you ask. You demand.”
Sage pushed herself from the wall and faced Willow. “Are you saying you disagree with me? We should work as a team, that’s what he says. But he always wants to work alone.”
“He’s our father. It’s his way of protecting us.” Willow looked at the stars. “Maybe he is meeting up with a woman and doesn’t want us to know.”
Sage scoffed. “Father?”
“He’s with us all the time. He takes care of us, watches over us. He does everything for us. Don’t you think he needs more? Don’t you think for once it would be nice if he fell in love with a woman?”
Sage smiled. Willow was the dreamer. Love was for people with ordinary lives. Love was for people with time. “He works too hard to fall in love.”
“He fell in love with Mother.”
Sage dropped her stare to the ground. “He never talks about Mother.” Sage barely remembered their mother any longer, only feelings and brief images. She would have liked Father to tell them about Mother. But she knew he never would. “I don’t remember much about her.”
“Neither do I,” Willow confessed softly. “Raven told me once that yellow was her favorite color.”
Sage laughed gently. “How did they end up together? How could she be with a man like Father, who was never around? Do you think she even loved him?”
Willow pondered her question for a moment before answering, “Yes. I think she loved him enough to wait for him. After all, he came back at least three times.”
“Three times?”
Willow lifted her eyebrows. “Once for each of us.”
Sage grinned. “I suppose you’re right.”
Willow put a hand on Sage’s arm. “He’s doing what he thinks is right to protect us whether you agree with him or not.”
“Maybe. But he should let us protecthimfor once.”
“He doesn’t need protecting.” Willow’s lips turned up in a grin. “He’s John Hawke.”
“You meantheJohn Hawke who found the Holy Grail?” Sage laughed. It was their old game. When their father was away, they would make up wondrous tales of his brave deeds and end with, “He’s John Hawke.”
