“Aye.”
“I do pity him though,” she said softly. “The poor man.”
Aye, Nicky had been through much. Sold at two and raised as a Scottish servant in an English governor’s household. Oh, had Torin known two years ago when he’d taken Berwick that his youngest brother was living in the servants’ quarters, being beaten for stealing a kiss from the governor’s daughter, Torin would have rescued him. But Cain had saved him. Hell, his heart swelled with pride that they were his brothers.
“I do not like Cainnech MacPherson, though. He is a brute.”
Torin shrugged and smiled, thinking about his oldest brother. “He is not so bad.”
“Perhaps not.” Her voice fell softly over his chest. “I am told Highlanders are the most savage among them all.”
Torin stared at the ceiling. It broke his healing heart that she hated Scots so. Would she even give him a chance? He was a Highlander, here to bring war. Even his manner of speech was a lie.
And knowing all of that, he’d still made love to her. He closed his eyes. He didn’t blame her if she tried to kill him, or vowed never to speak to him again. He should not have come here drunk.
“Braya,” he whispered into the air. “I am sorry that I stayed.”
She rose up off him, and her hair falling over one side of her horrified face made him want to run for the door.
“Why would you say that, Torin? Was I terrible? Was—”
“No,” he told her, leaning up on his elbows. He knew he was supposed to be feeling remorse right now, but he wanted to smile at her. It was tremendously difficult not to. “You were…hell, you were…perfect, like a burning lute playing a song only I could hear, and we danced together to it.”
She smiled. He relaxed. He didn’t know why he would do whatever he could to make her happy.
“But you wish we had not done it?” she asked, looking just as troubled.
“I wish we had not done it while I was so deep in my cups. You deserve more than that. So much more than what you got from me.”
“No, Torin.” She held her fingers to his lips. “What you gave me was everything I’ve ever wanted. Please.” She shook her head to quiet him when he would have spoken. “Let us enjoy this moment. How many more will we have? I do not want to speak of Scots or young widowers or sadness. Tell me again about Avalon. The isle of apples.”
He smiled that she remembered. Aye, she was right. He didn’t want to think about all the reasons he shouldn’t be here. All the reasons he should leave. He was happy for the first time in his life. The little boy was quiet.
He told her again about the nine sisters who ruled Avalon, including Morgen, who, according to the poet Geoffrey of Monmouth, exceeded her sisters in beauty and the healing art. “She was first of the nine,” he told her, knowing the tale in its entirety, “and could change her shape and cleave to the air on new wings. When she wished it, she slipped down from the air onto our shores.”
“I am surprised you did not call the horse Morgen,” Braya remarked, looking up at him. “She often reminds me of a magical being.”
“I wanted her to remember where she came from,” he told her in a quiet voice. “If a word is going to be spoken to her often, I want it to remind her of her home in case she is here too long and forgets.”
Braya smiled dreamily. “Do you think she will take us home with her when she goes?”
“I wish she would take us tonight,” he murmured, then kissed her head and closed his eyes to sleep.
He would tell her the truth in the morning. He couldn’t do it now. He wanted to sleep with her in his arms and wake up next to her in the morning.
She’d done something to him, changed him. His whole life he’d dreamed of his brothers. He’d prayed that they’d lived and not died in the flames that night. He would never have found them if he hadn’t been trying to keep Braya away from Bennett. She’d brought good things into his life, including laughter. Most importantly, he didn’t feel weighed down with shame and guilt for the first time since he was a child. He felt free to love, and he loved her.
“Torin?”
“Aye?”
“I won the race. We made a bargain.”
“Aye, love. I will put you out of my thoughts tomorrow.”
She laughed softly and poked him in the side, then she kissed him and told him about her brother Raggie until he fell asleep.
