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Trey looked at the slim, petite woman with hair the color of golden honey and shook his head. “You’re just a bit of a thing. How could you possibly—”
“Charlotte also rescued Leora from a well-hidden prison,” Bryce said with pride.
“I am indebted to you,” Trey said.
“No need,” Charlotte said. “I was there to rescue my da”—she pointed to the thin man with gray unruly hair sitting opposite her—“and, in the process, freed others. Leora was among them.”
“It is so good to be home, to be with you,” Leora said, keeping a tight hold on Trey.
“Dolca told us how busy you have been helping others,” Mercy said. “It is good that Bliss was there with you to help.”
Trey simply nodded. As much as he wanted to announce that Bliss was his wife, he knew it would not be fair to Leora after all she had been through, and so he held his tongue, even though it was difficult.
“I want to hear more about what I have missed, but we need to talk,” Trey said, looking from one brother to the other and settling last on his da.
“I’ll have hot food waiting for you,” Mara said.
Leora clung tighter to Trey’s arm. “It has been so long. I do not wish to separate from you.”
Separate.
The word hit him like an arrow to the heart. Could this be what Bliss had seen, this minor separation? He also realized just how accurate her visions of Leora had been. And he couldn’t help but wonder again about her latest vision. What had it shown her?
“Besides,” Leora said, “there are things I learned about the king while held captive that might be of help.”
“We would be most interested in hearing them,” Carmag said, “but another time.”
Mara slipped her arm around Leora and, with a firm yet gentle urging, eased her away from Trey to the table. “Join us women in a chat.”
“Yes, you’ve hardly said a word since your arrival,” Mercy said. “Do share with us.”
“I’d love to hear what happened to you,” Tara said.
“And how you came to be in such a horrid prison,” Charlotte said.
Leora looked from one to the other, put a hand to her head, and returned to Trey’s side. “I’m sorry, but my head pounds,” she said, her fingers rubbing her forehead. “I will wait for you in our bedchamber. Please do not be long.” She kissed his cheek and walked away, without a word to anyone else.
Trey wondered if it was difficult for her with the other women here. She had been the only other woman besides his mother in the keep. Now his brothers all had women, two of them already wed. And Bryce had a woman, something he had never expected.
The men retired to the solar to talk. The door was no sooner closed than Trey spoke.
“The king is heavily building his army to the north.”
“I hadn’t expected that,” Carmag said. “He takes a risk, gathering his men there with winter upon us.”
Trey continued to detail what he had seen, including how the farmers were being ripped from their lands and the women left to care for themselves.
“It sounds like the king is desperate for more soldiers,” Duncan said.
Bryce shook his head. “No, he attempts to rob the true king of men who would fight for him.”
“A foolish plan,” Trey said, “for it makes the people hate him even more.”
“King Kenneth doesn’t care about the people,” Reeve said. “He thinks only of himself.”
“We need to send some men north to keep watch on the king’s soldiers’ encampment,” Carmag said, and the brothers agreed.
Trey gave Bryce a hearty slap on the back. “I can’t believe I return home to find that you have a woman.”
