Page 56 of May Queen: May Day

“What is it?” he asked, feeling his stomach clench. This wasn’t going to be good.

“I am not who you think I am.”

“What does that mean?”

“That necklace was actually stolen from the Druids by my mother,” she told him, nodding toward the jewelry in his hand.

“Your mother? Flora, this makes no sense. When would your mother have been near the Druids to take it in the first place?”

“She stole it six months ago when she came here with my uncle when he made the betrothal between you and my cousin, Gretta.”

“Go on.” He already didn’t like what he heard but had to know more.

“You see, my mother was supposed to marry Sir Oren Debenham, but she never did.”

“You mean they never married before he died in battle?”

“Nay, I mean my father never died. He’s still alive, and I was supposed to give this necklace to him.”

“Why would your mother ask you to do that and where is he?” Suddenly, Ricard knew the answer, before she even said a word. He hadn’t wanted to believe that his squire was right, but now he had a feeling it was true. “By the rood, please don’t tell me your father is a Druid, Flora.”

“I’m afraid, so, Ricard. I only just found out about it myself. My mother kept it a secret from me my entire life, but ended up telling me on her deathbed. It seems I have Druid blood flowing through my veins after all.”

“Nay!” he spat, feeling the Druid necklace burning his palm. He threw it across the room in anger. “Druids killed my parents. If your father is a Druid, then that means he was the one who murdered them.”

“Nay! He didn’t do it. He told me what happened and it wasn’t like that at all.”

“You saw him? So he is hiding in the forest with the rest of the Druids, isn’t he?”

“Nay,” she said, her eyes focusing on the floor instead of at him.

“You’re lying, Flora. He’s there and I swear I’ll find him and every last one of the Druids and kill them all for what they did to my parents.”

“Nay!” she cried. “My father tried to stop Mug but, I swear, he was the only one who killed your parents.”

“Mug murdered my parents and yet you told me to let him go?” Now he was madder than hell.

“Well, I didn’t mean . . . I guess I . . .”

“How could you, Flora?” he ground out in disappointment. “You knew all this and yet you still let me marry you anyway?”

“It was your idea to get married so soon. It all happened so quickly, that I was confused and didn’t know what to do.”

“You tricked me into marrying you, didn’t you?”

“Nay! I didn’t stop you from doing it, because I love you!”

Ricard was taken aback by this, because he didn’t even think Flora liked him. “It’s a lie,” he said softly. “You never cared for me. It was all part of your plot, just to find your father.”

“I admit, it was at first, but I swear I never thought it would go this far. I was going to find my father and leave and then Gretta would marry you after all.”

“I suppose she’s not pregnant and was never marrying anyone else either, was she?”

“Well . . . nay. I made up that part and my uncle went along with it.”

“Why?” he spat. “Why would your uncle agree to something as absurd as this when he knew it might lead to a battle between us?”

“I was blackmailing him,” she admitted, looking at the ground again. “Ricard, I was conceived at the Beltane festival, and my uncle was there that night as well.”