She awkwardly bowed toward me, “Is this how I do it,Your Highness?”
“How should I know?”
She kissed me on the cheek. “Call me tomorrow, I want to hear everything, wait, you’re not going anywhere are you? Don’t go anywhere!”
I said, “I’ll call you tomorrow. I just have an important conversation waiting, I need you to…” I rolled my hand.
“Of course, consider me gone.” She left the house.
39
LEXI
2004 - KITCHEN AT LAUREL RIDGE
Torin said, “I am sorry ye had tae see that, Princess.”
“I don’t really understand what happened there…”
“Tis an argument between Max and me — twas not meant for yer ears. But I need tae speak with ye.”
I said, “You can just talk to me, Torin, we’ve been through a lot together, and I’m my own boss. I don’t answer to Max, you don’t need his permission to talk to me.”
“Tis an ancient rule of honor, Princess. I had tae ask, I had tae be certain.”
Dude walked in, trilling his little beastly head off, and wound around my ankles.
Torin reached down to pet him with a smile. “Dude, I am glad tae see ye.” The cat rubbed against his calves then moved to his bowl to eat.
Torin’s eyes found mine, he returned to looking forlorn. “I wanted tae tell ye, I hae missed ye, Princess.” His words were humble, spoken almost like a whisper. “I counted the days until I could see ye again.”
I said, “I missed you too, a great deal, I wondered if you would ever come back. You stayed away way too long.”
He said, “I dinna want tae cause ye trouble. I wouldna hae come, but Max forced me tae accompany him. He picked the date. He believed twould be safer tae allow some time between visits. It wasna me. I dinna realize how much time had passed.”
“Yeah, well it was a long time, I was really worried.” Then softer, “But you didn’t cause me trouble. It’s fine, I’m just really glad you came back.”
He gave me a sad smile. “Tis true that ye and Master Cooper are nae more?”
I said, “It’s true, but also, I want it on the record.Hehired the security guards, he built my stable, he’s been…”
He smiled a sad smile. “I am relieved. I am grateful he took yer safety seriously. Tis a difficult thing tae be centuries away, there is a finality tae it.”
“I felt the same way. A while back I looked up your name in the historical records to see if you were still...”
I couldn’t finish it.
“Was I?”
“I couldn’t tell, it was hard to find you, and…. everyone said you weren’t coming back, that you left for good. As the weeks passed, I began to believe it was true.”
He said, “Och, I thought ye had died.”
My chin trembled. “I thought you had too.”
He used the table to steady himself as he got down to his knees and leaned his head on my lap. He took my hands and kissed them.
I sobbed. Tears streamed down my face until I couldn’t cry anymore.
