He nodded faintly. “But… what should I say to him?” he asked. “Do I acknowledge him as my son? He stands to inherit nothing from me; that belongs to Scott and Troy. War has no right to anything, so what do I say to him? What does he expect from me?”
Jordan stroked his hair. “Ask him,” she said softly. “Ask him what he wants. Mayhap he only wants tae know that ye know about him and nothing more. Mayhap he only wants tae be yer acquaintance.”
“That is all it can ever be, Jordan,” he said. “I may acknowledge him, but I will not accept him as my son. I will not do that to the sons I already have.”
“And I would hope he would not expect ye tae,” Jordan said. “But I’m still concerned that he had that letter in his bags and dinna tell ye about it. Clearly, he knows who ye are. And ye know who he is. Ye must address that so there is no confusion and ye must make sure there are no hard feelings. The man is in command of Bamburgh and is tae be yer ally. Ye dunna want it tae be a relationship fraught with tension.”
No, William didn’t want that. He went from kneeling in front of Jordan to sitting against her, his back against her legs, his hand still holding hers.
“What about Scott and Troy and the rest of my sons?” he asked, sounding bewildered. “Do I tell them? Do I not? I do not know what to say to them.”
Jordan could hear his confusion, his sadness. He didn’t want to hurt their sons by telling them that there was a half-brother out there. She gave his hand a squeeze.
“Talk tae War before ye do anything else,” she said. “Find out what he wants. Find out how he feels. That will give ye the direction ye need.”
She was right. William kissed her hand again, glad they’d worked out the problem between them but feeling apprehensive at the situation he was facing with War.
There was nothing he could do but get on with it.
“He’s in Coldstream until the morning,” he said. “I’ll address him when he returns.”
With that, he stood up wearily, feeling as if he’d aged a hundred years in just a few short minutes. He felt old and weary and sad.
Sad for the son he never knew.
“Where are ye going?” Jordan murmured.
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Down to the hall to see to the wounded,” he said. “Will you come with me?”
Jordan stood up from the bench. “Aye,” she said. “We’ll go together. But once ye’ve seen tae yer men, I want ye tae come back tae bed with me. Jemma and Annaleigh can tend tae the wounded tonight.”
He lifted an eyebrow at her. “Come back to bed with you?” he repeated. “I go to bed with you every night.”
She gave him a coy look. “That’s not what I meant.”
He was trying not to chuckle. “The last time you said that to me, we had Penny.”
She fought off a grin. “I’ve said that tae ye many a time and we’ve not had a child every time,” she said. But her smile faded as she looked up at him. “Tonight, I just want ye tae hold me.”
It was a sweet request, one that William was more than willing to honor. With a smile on his lips, he took her hand again, kissed it, and led her from the chamber.
For William and Jordan, tonight belonged to them.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Talus was demandingfar too much of her attention.
It was true that the man had a nasty, and large, gash on his left leg, one that the physic had to pick mail out of, but Talus was convinced it was the end of his world as he knew it. At least, for Annaleigh he did. The moment the returning army entered the confines of Castle Questing and Talus had been helped into the great hall where Jordan and Jemma had set up a corner to treat the wounded, he asked for Annaleigh and she’d been forced to attend him.
That’s where she found herself now.
Truthfully, it was a terrible gash and it had been painful to have it cleaned out and finally stitched, but Talus was determined to milk Annaleigh’s sympathy for all it was worth. He groaned and made faces, asking her to hold his hand as the physic dug into his leg, and she’d begrudgingly complied. She wouldn’t have done it at all except for the fact that she’d been told that War and his men were still in Coldstream, so there was no immediate chance of War seeing her hold Talus’ hand. But the moment the physic was finished stitching, she pulled herhand from his sweaty grip. He’d tried to reclaim it, but she’d moved far enough away that he couldn’t.
Talus groaned and grunted as Annaleigh calmly told him that there were other wounded men that needed her attention. He didn’t argue with her but it was clear he hoped that all of his moaning might convince her that he needed her most of all. But she was immune to it, helping the physic collect his things as they moved on to the next badly wounded man, who had been gored in the leg.
Eventually, Talus fell into a fitful sleep, bringing relief to Annaleigh. Until he passed out from sheer exhaustion, she could hear his grunts and sighs all across the hall. Anthony even came in at one point to see to the wounded and showed genuine concern for Talus. He and Talus may have been love rivals, but there was still a bond between them, as most knights who served together had. Annaleigh assured Anthony that Talus would recover and he seemed relieved.
But then he began to follow her around the hall.
