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They hurried up the keep’s steps and entered the great hall. Trey smiled, seeing his family gathered around the trestle table in front of the fireplace, their usual gathering spot. He was relieved to see that they were all there, along with a few faces he didn’t recognize. His da and mum, Duncan and Mercy, Reeve and Tara, Bryce, and there was a petite woman sitting next to him, and a thin old man and Dolca sat across from them.
He was about to call out to them when Mara spotted him and yelled out, “My son is home.” She hurried over to him, throwing her plump arms around him. “Thank the Lord you’ve returned safe and sound.”
His mum’s green eyes had betrayed her worry when she had bid him good-bye several weeks ago. She hadn’t said it, but Trey knew she hadn’t wanted him to go. She had thought he required more rest and healing, but the simple fact was that she feared for him. And he could understand why. He had been near to death when the Picts had found him, and if it hadn’t been for Tara’s fine stitches and Bliss’s healing hands, death would have claimed him.
Mara turned to Bliss. “You were with him, this is good. You were there in case he needed healing.”
“He is well healed, Mara, there is no need for worry,” Bliss assured her.
“Bless your heart,” Mara said with a grin, and hugged her.
Trey noticed that the others remained at the table—quiet. His brothers were never quiet, especially when one of them returned home. There was always good-natured ribbing and endless questions.
“Come sit,” Mara instructed, urging them with gentle shoves to the table.
“I have something to tell you all,” Trey said gently, squeezing Bliss’s hand.
His da stood, “We have something—”
A piercing scream ripped through the hall, and Trey could have sworn the scream held his name. When he turned to see the source of the crazed shriek, his eyes rounded, and his heart began to pound in his chest.
“Leora?” he said, barely above a whisper.
The woman he loved and believed dead was running toward him, and he didn’t think twice, he let go of Bliss’s hand and ran to her. She threw her arms around him and clung so tightly that he thought she’d squeeze the life from him. But then he also held her tight, perhaps wanting to make certain she was real, alive, and not a ghost.
“I thought you dead,” he finally said, releasing her and holding her at arm’s length to look at her. She was much as he remembered her, though thinner, but nonetheless beautiful. Her long blond hair fell in waves down over her shoulders, and her skin was flawless. Her full lips were as ripe for kissing as they had always been.
“A ruse by the king’s soldiers,” she said, wiggling out of his grip to snuggle up against him. “The king held me prisoner all this time until he finally realized that I held no knowledge of the true king, then he sent me to”—she shivered—“I cannot speak of the hell he sent me to.”
He eased her away from him. “How did you get here?”
“A tale left for another time, though it was through the good graces of Bryce and his woman Charlotte that I was able to return here.”
He shook his head. Had he returned home to the same family he left? Could he possibly be still recovering from his wounds and trapped in a dream? Nothing seemed to make sense except...
He turned and saw Bliss. She stood where he had left her, her face pale as freshly fallen snow. He immediately left Leora and went to his wife’s side.
His arm went around her and tucked her close, and asked, “Are you all right?”
She stared at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “The visions all make sense now. She was calling you home to her.”
He went to speak, but her words stopped him. “You should speak with her first before you tell everyone about us.”
Trey was ready to protest, but the wisdom of her words sunk in. It would not be right to blurt out in front of everyone that he had wed. He owed Leora the truth first, and privately, before he made the announcement.
“Is something wrong with Bliss?” Mara asked, walking over to them.
“A long journey, I but need to rest,” Bliss said.
“She can rest in my bedchamber,” Trey said.
“Leora resides in your bedchamber,” Mara whispered. “She can use Reeve’s, since he and Tara make their home in her cottage.”
“It isn’t necessary that I remain in the keep,” Bliss said.
“Yes it is,” Trey and his mum said in unison.
“Trey?”
