“Aye. Ye were just a babe when ye left, ye wouldna remember being here in this time. Feelings, perhaps, but nay real memories.”
Faith felt her back slump as she gave in to the emotions slowly filling her, and she buried her face in her hands. Maybe that was why she felt so at home here, so content when she should have been so desperately frightened.
Dirc reached out to gently touch her hair. “Ah lass, I ken it’s hard. But ye belong here. Ye always have. Ye’re home now, dinna ye see?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me”, she mumbled into her hands. “My whole life… my whole damned life has been one big lie! I can’t believe it… I just can’t believe it.” When at last she looked up, she had to blink away a few large tears, though she refused to break down completely.
“But then why was I sent away? And why was a brought back now?”
“There was simply nay one strong enough to protect ye, after ye were born. It was a dark time, the future uncertain. As the only child of Loghan McAlpin, you were- are- heiress to the castle, the lands, everything. The castle sits atop one of the greatest centers of power. Mored would stop at nothing to have it. As long as ye live, it is protected.”
Faith looked at him, understanding dawning in her eyes. “But Mored is still alive.”
“Aye, he is.”
“And presumably he still wants to kill me?”
Dirc looked away. “Aye.”
“So you brought me back hereknowingthat someone is trying to murder me?” Her voice felt squeezed tight in her throat. She gasped in a breath.
“Aye lass, all that is true, and more, but there was nay other way. When Bren came into his power, Mored had finally met his match. Since then, things have been… better. But there is still the matter of…er…the next generation. Which there must be, or this battle will start over from the beginning again.”
Her eyes flew open wide, and she held up her hand. “Enough, for now. I don’t even want to think about what you are implying by that. My… father, when will he be here?”
Dirc looked up at the position of the sun, past the zenith and making its way across the western sky. “Why any time now, I should think”. He looked her over. “Ye should probably go and prepare yerself. Pack yer things. He’ll want to leave straight away, I’m sure.”
She stood and took a step, her thoughts consumed by the overwhelming fact that she had afatherand that she would be meeting him soon. But then she paused.
“Does Bren know? About my father?” She had been so shocked when Dirc told her that her father was coming for her, she hadn’t considered until now that it would mean leaving Creagmor, and Bren. She didn’t want to leave Bren… not anymore. All right, not from the first moment she had laid eyes on him.
A mischievous smile lit Dirc’s face as he turned to look at her. “Nay, he doesna ken. He is on his way home even now, andI will tell him when he arrives. Dinna worry lass, he willna let ye go for long. He canna.”
***
Faith went to her chamber. Luckily none of the other women were there at the moment, because she didn’t feel like company. How many life-altering revelations could one take in, exactly, before losing their mind? She was afraid she might just find out. The oddest thing was, she wasn’t as upset as she should have been. It was more like… well, as if she had known all along, and was only now remembering… or realizing the truth. She went to the window and took in a deep breath of fresh air.
“I have a father.” She said it out loud, but that didn’t make it any more real to her. It would take time, she supposed.
Her eyes flew to a movement in the distance. Riders. They came closer until she could see who they were. Bren had returned. She breathed a sigh of relief that he was safe, not even knowing how much she had worried for him until a hard knot in her chest was suddenly gone. She watched as he rode into the bailey, swinging off his horse in one smooth and graceful motion. Dirc was there, waiting for him. She pursed her lips, well aware of the confrontation that was about to take place. Bren strode up to him, hands fisted at his sides, obviously prepared to reprimand him for his little disappearing act. Dirc was speaking to him, holding up his hands as if to calm him, or hold him at bay. Bren had stopped, was listening. His posture stiffened, and though she could not see from here, she imagined his nostrils were flaring, as they did when he was very angry. He turned suddenly and violently drove his fist into the stable wall.
Faith winced. That had to have hurt. Bren disappeared into the keep, and her gaze returned to the bucolic scene outside the window, with the hills and meadows bright green with spring grass. In truth she wasn’t very happy to be leaving Creagmor,and Bren, even for a short time. She did love it here, with the shining blue water and the mountains in the distance rising up as if to enfold and protect them all. It was peaceful, and Bren… he made it exciting. No, there was no question in her mind, she would come back here, back to Bren, after she spent some time getting to know her father. She was tied to the Laird of Creagmor, Chief of the Mac Coinnach clan in a way that went beyond all rational thought. And now that she had given in to what her heart had been trying to tell her, she couldn’t wait to give him everything. Her father would just have to understand.
***
Perhaps only a half an hour went by before she was standing on the steps of the keep, waiting to meet the father she never knew she had, and could certainly never in her life have imagined. Bren came and stood beside her. He didn’t look at her, didn’t speak to her, and he held himself rigidly, his muscles taught, and his face dark and brooding. She could feel the dark energy of his anger rolling off of him in waves. She longed to reach for him, kiss him, tell him she would come back, but the Laird of Dunreven had arrived.
Her father rode into the yard, a warrior laird, still strong and tall, but with hair graying at the temples, making it look lighter than the chestnut brown it must once have been. She immediately looked for herself in this stranger’s face, but any resemblance was subtle. Behind him rode perhaps a dozen of his men, the massive war horses making the earth shake with their heavy hooves. She saw Bren move past her, going forward as was his duty to formally greet the other laird as a friend and ally. Her father dismounted and clasped forearms with Bren, a terse acknowledgement between warriors. One of which was none too happy to see the other. Then the Laird McAlpin turned his full attention to Faith.
“This is my daughter?”
Bren stiffened even further, but kept his composure. “Aye, so says the sorcerer, Dirc, though I kenned nothing of it until this day. Dirc asked that she have the protection of Creagmor, and this I granted her.”
Her father glanced over at the slightly challenging tone in Bren’s voice, but chose to ignore it. He nodded once. “Aye, this is my daughter, I ken it. She has the verra look of her mother.” He held out his hand. “Come, lass, I’ll take ye home now. Ye’ve been away far too long.”
Faith felt another moment of panic. This stranger was her father, and he was going to take her away from this place, and Bren. She had only just begun to feel comfortable at Creagmor, and now she had to leave again. She looked at her father, Loghan McAlpin, and he looked back at her with a carefully stoic expression. She had already warned herself not to expect any sort of a joyful reunion. This was a very different time from the one she grew up in, and most men here did not concern themselves with the raising of daughters, and they were certainly not prone to be demonstrative of their feelings in front of a crowd of strangers. And now, she suddenly realized, even though she was a woman grown, she would have no real rights. Her chest squeezed tighter. This man, her father, had complete control over her life until she was married. Then her husband did.She has the very look of her mother, he had said. She had always thought so, too.
She would go with him, for now. She was willing to bet she wouldn’t be given a choice in the matter, anyway. But she would memorize the route along the way, in case she needed to come back on her own.In case he doesn’t come for me.He will come for me, won’t he? Dirc had said he would. She turned to look at Bren. He met her gaze, but his face was carefully expressionless. And still, he was so very beautiful that her heart melted a littlemore.I think I love you, Bren Mac Coinnach. Is that even possible, in such a short time?
