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Dolca rested a gentle hand on Mercy’s shoulder. “It is time for all of this to be known.”
Mercy nodded. “Yes, secrets have been kept long enough. I wish I had known this sooner.”
“Things are revealed in their own time,” Dolca said.
“Very soon, all will be revealed,” Bliss said. “At least now you know just how much your mum loved you.”
“And why my father hates me,” Mercy said.
“Your mum made a fool of the king,” Dolca said. “Can you imagine what he felt when he discovered who she was?”
Mercy wiped at her tears. “And what that made me. No wonder he wanted me dead.”
“Your mum would have been proud of you,” Dolca said with tears in her eyes. “And she would have been happy that we have finally been reunited.”
Mercy smiled though it was with a touch of sadness. “It is wonderful to learn you are my grandmum. Another time you will tell me more about my mum?”
“I will tell you everything so that you come to know your mum and what a brave and amazing woman she was. And I am eager to meet my great-grandchildren.”
The sadness faded as Mercy’s smile grew. “It will be so wonderful for my children, Conall and Kate, to know their great-grandmum.”
Dolca pressed a hand to her chest. “Did you say your daughter’s name was Kate?”
Mercy nodded. “I have always loved the name ever since my mum told me stories of a brave little lassie called Kate.”
Dolca couldn’t stop tears from falling. “Kate was your mum’s true name.”
Tears fell again, though this time Mercy smiled. “I am happy that my daughter bears the name of such a courageous woman.”
Dolca nodded. “Yes, your mum would have been exceptionally proud of you.”
Bliss sensed relief wash over the two women and happiness prevail. She only wished her stomach would settle. It had grown steadily worse since being there; she wasn’t feeling well at all. She had laid her hand on her stomach while the women talked, hoping she could settle the unease, but it hadn’t worked. Trey’s son growing inside her was already a stubborn one, and she couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
“You must come to the keep now and meet your great-grandchildren,” Mercy said.
“I would like that,” Dolca said.
Mercy looked to Bliss. “I can share with the others what grandmum has told me?”
Bliss nodded. “Aye, you can, and more secrets will be revealed because of it.”
The three women slipped on their cloaks and left the cottage. The closer they got to the keep, the worse Bliss felt, and she had no desire to enter the hall and take a chance of someone’s realizing that she was ill. No doubt questions would be asked, and she worried that she would not be able to hide the obvious ... she carried Trey’s babe.
“I must see to something,” Bliss said to the two women, who walked a few steps ahead.
They stopped and turned, and Mercy asked, “Are you all right? You look pale.”
“I am fine,” Bliss said, pleased that it truly wasn’t a lie. She was well. It was only the babe making himself known. “I will join you soon though please wait until I do before you tell anyone the news.”
Dolca slipped her arm around Mercy and gently urged her forward. “Bliss is a fine healer. If she were ill, she would heal herself.”
It seemed to satisfy Mercy, and the two women continued walking though Dolca glanced back at Bliss once, and Bliss nodded and smiled her appreciation. She recalled Dolca and her grandmum often communicating without words, and Dolca did it with her as well.
Dolca had graciously offered her cottage to her while she was gone, and, with her hand to her protesting stomach, she turned, hoping her stomach wouldn’t empty itself before she got there.
Bliss was only a few steps from the cottage when her stomach protested most vehemently. She hurried a short distance to the edge of the woods, not wanting to be sick in front of the cottage. She was about to lean over, ready to heave, when an arm wrapped around her waist.
Chapter 32
