“You jest, Papa,” she said. “Food will not lure a husband to my doorstep.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “You think not?” he said, incredulous. “Your mother lured me with a meat pie. I would wager to say that half of the men in this hall, if they are married, were ensnared into marriage with something delicious to eat.”
“It is as good a talent to display as any,” Diara agreed. “It is something a man enjoys. All men eat, so why not show him how fat and content he will be once he marries you?”
Roi continued to nod, squeezing Adalia’s hand when she looked at him. “I think it is an excellent idea,” he said. “Now, you must take Dorian to bed, and I will see you both on the morrow. We will discuss this plan more in depth. Would you like that?”
Adalia nodded. “I would, Papa,” she said. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t my idea.”
He tilted her head in Diara’s direction, and Adalia took the hint. She focused on Diara, smiling timidly at her for the very first time.
“Thank you,” she said. “You have been most kind.”
Diara grinned at her very shy, very timid stepdaughter. “It was my pleasure,” she said. “I hope to help you with many such things in the future, if I can.”
Adalia continued to smile, somewhat bashfully, as she took Dorian away from Diara and led her off the dais by the hand. Roi and Diara watched the girls disappear into a servants’ alcove, which opened up on a direct path to the keep. When they were gone, Roi turned to his new wife.
“Thank you for that,” he said quietly. “She’s such a timid creature, but she’s a good girl. Relationships aren’t easy for her. This is the first time she didn’t outright weep when discussing a man or a betrothal. And she did not mention joining the cloister again, so this is an improvement for Adalia.”
Diara reached for her cup of wine, which was nearly drained. “Then if she is truly agreeable to finding a husband, that just made your life a little more hectic,” she said. “You’ll be sorting through marital offers for her from now until she marries.”
“Her?” Roi said. Then he shrugged. “She’s a beautiful girl, but she’s not a spirited creature. You saw her. She will be difficult for a man to woo.”
“Mayhap not,” Diara said. “With instruction from your mother and sisters, I am certain she will know how to behave.”
He looked at her. “Why them?” he said. “You are now her mother, and you are the most charming and witty woman I have ever met. Why can you not teach her?”
“Because I do not know her well,” Diara said. “She might learn better from someone she knows, not a woman she hardly knows who has happened to marry her father.”
He took her hand, kissing it. “You are the perfect teacher,” he said. “Thank you for being so kind to my daughters. As I said, I’ve not been around them much… I should like to change that. With Dorian, I think I distanced myself because her mother died giving birth to her. Mayhap I blamed her a little, though I know it was not her fault. It was safer to distance myself and not feel grief every time I looked at her.”
Diara reached up and gently stroked his hair. “That is completely understandable,” she said. “Odette passed away and suddenly, you have two girl children to parent by yourself. Moreover, you said yourself that they went away to foster young. It seems that you’ve hardly been around them during their lifetime.”
“I know,” he said, subdued. “I have been fighting wars all my life. I’ve been in London with Henry or on the battlefields in the name of the king. I am a dedicated man with an excellent reputation, and it was simply easier to let someone else tend to my children. Even Beckett—I did not see him as much as Iwould have liked to, but he was my son and I naturally related better to him. I understood him. I never wanted to admit that my daughters have suffered my absence, but the truth is that they have. Even though they’ve been home for a couple of years, it is not as if I spend a good deal of time with them. Mostly, my mother does when she can.”
“Do you want to spend time with them?”
“I would like to know them better.”
“Then I will help you,” Diara said. “I would like to come to know them too. We can do it together.”
He smiled at her, thinking that sounded quite wonderful. He hadn’t had a wife in so many years that he’d forgotten what it was like to have one. Someone who was part of him as he was part of her, someone to bring his troubles to or have a simple conversation with. Someone to be a family with.
Aye, he loved that idea with Diara.
He never thought he’d experience that again.
“I think I would like that,” he said. Then he made a big show of yawning. “But I think that I am weary, too. Shall we retire for the night?”
Diara knew what that meant, and her heart began to race. She was excited, she was apprehensive, and everything in between. She nodded, smiling, which masked the quivering that had suddenly taken over her entire body. Roi leaned over and muttered something to his brother, Curtis, who was sitting on his other side. Curtis simply nodded, and Roi stood up, extending a hand to Diara.
“Come with me,” he said. “And hurry. No farewells.”
Diara put her hand in his but looked at him with puzzlement. “Why not?” she asked. “My parents are just down the table. And Iris is sitting across from us, looking at me.”
Roi leaned down and lowered his voice. “Because the moment my brothers and nephews realize we are retreating toour marital chamber, they will try to follow us. It will turn into a battle, so come with me and come quickly.”
