7
ALEXANDRIA
JULY 8TH, 2004 - LAUREL RIDGE
Icame conscious after a time, still on the stairs, with Torin kneeling in front of me, leaning on my knees, holding my hands. “Ye hae swooned.”
“Oh, man, I’m sorry, Torin. How long was I out?”
“Nae long.”
I looked around cautiously, “Swooning sounds pretty dainty, that was kinda passing out. Did I scare you?”
“I wasna scared, but I am verra concerned.”
“I’m really sorry about that. This was a lot.”
My eyes settled on the letter. “Is that from my mother?”
“Aye, I believe so, Alexandria, ye ought tae read it.”
I shook my head. “I can’t, not yet, it’s too… I need to be ready, I’m not ready. As evidenced by me passing out on the steps from the sight of it.”
He nodded.
I said, “Are you okay with that?”
“Nae,” he shook his head, “sometimes ye must do what ye daena want tae do.”
I exhaled. “Damn, is this our first argument?”
He scoffed. “Ye mean this wee disagreement? Nae, this is not our first argument. Ye hae beenverraunreasonable before, I hae had many reasons tae argue with ye, all up and down the roads of Alba.”
“Very funny. I meant since we’ve been married.”
He chuckled. “If tis a distinction that is important tae ye, then aye, this is our first argument since we were married a few hours ago.” Then he softened.
“But I am not goin’ tae argue with ye, not over this.”
“Good, I will read it, I just… I need to gather my strength.”
His brow drew down. “Dost ye want me tae pack it back intae the chest?”
“No, let’s keep it out, it’s fine, don’t repack anything. I’m just going to go downstairs while you’re out feeding the horses.”
He stood up and then I stood up. I brushed off my pants.
I looked behind me up at the attic. “I’m just going to turn off the lights, I’ll deal with it later. But I would like the prayer book…”
He said, “I will grab it.”
While I stared at the letter, upside down, wax seal up, on the step, he climbed up the stairs and ducked into the attic, returning a moment later with the prayer book, the family Bible and a small stack of other papers I hadn’t seen yet. He held them out.
I took the prayer book. “Can you bring the rest downstairs for me? I just don’t even want to be tempted, not yet.”
He nodded, picking up the letter off the steps.
“Have these always been in the chest? Wait, don’t talk about it, I don’t want to think about it.”
