“Who sent you?” Ashmore asked him as he hurried up the stairs behind Ben.
“An old woman called Lizzie Black. She claims to be your aunt many generations removed–and…your daughter.”
At the mention of the old woman, Ashmore had no reaction, but when Ben spoke of the man’s daughter, Ashmore stopped and stared at him. “Which one?”
“Fable,” Ben told him, trying to ignore the feeling of loss surging over him like the waves of an angry sea.
“Fable,” the earl said in a quavering breath. “You found her?”
“She found me,” Ben told him, and as he told him about Fable and her lonely life hidden from the world outside the city streets of the homeless, tears streamed down her father’s face and hooked Ben in his heart. Thoren Ashmore had never had the chance to get to know his daughter–either of them, or make their lives better. If he was hanged by order of King George, any chance he had would end.
Because of what his own heart felt for her, Ben understood the pain of what it would be like not having her in his life.
When they reached the main floor and stepped into the hall where Ben’s parents were waiting, Ben stopped and waited for Fable’s father to stop as well. He didn’t know if Ashmore would disappear the moment the pocket watch was back in his possession, or if Lizzie would pull him back before Ben had a chance to speak with him–and there were things he wanted to say.
“I would have you know–” he began.
“I haven’t had a chance to thank you, and it should have been the first thing I said to you.”
Ben stared at him, his gaze warming on him. There was something familiar and light about the earl of Dorset. He resembled Fable, grateful with a charming air about him.
“Truly,” Ben let him know. “I did nothing but agree to come.”
“Your sacrifice, no matter how insignificant you think it was, saved my life. You saved Fable’s life, as well. I will forever be in your debt.”
“You owe me nothing,” Ben told him, “for your daughter saved not only my life, but my soul. I would have you know that she is the reason I breathe.”
“You love my Fable.”
His Fable? No, Ben thought, she wasn’t Ashmore’s anymore. She had become an adult with no help from her father or anyone else, and she’d joined her life to Ben’s. “If she wishes to come back to me, please do not stop her.”
“Benjamin,” his father called out, interrupting whatever else Ben wanted to say. “That was quicker than we expected. The king must truly hold you in the highest regard.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Ben reminded him then introduced his parents to the earl.
“Dorset,” his father said with his wife at his side, “we were told about you. I admit that I do not like the fact that you are a sorcerer–”
“A sorcerer?” the earl echoed with a slight smirk. “If I was a sorcerer do you think I would have needed your son to save me?”
The Lt. Colonel was quiet for a moment. “What are you then?”
“A father,” the earl answered earnestly.
Ben looked away. What if her father wouldn’t allow her to return to Ben?I was a fool.He thought. He should not have left the future without her.
“Captain,” Ben uttered in a low voice blended with warning and plea. “Let her return to me.”
“And if she doesn’t wish to return to you?” her father asked, matching his tone.
“She will. Let her. I beg you.” He didn’t sound like he was begging. But the proof was in his eyes. He would beg on his knees if he had to. There was no place for pride in love.
“I’ve waitedtwenty-four years to see her again.”
Ben swallowed his argument and nodded with a pit lodging in his belly and tethered to his heart. He said nothing and bit back the wave of emotion overtaking him. She would come to him. He knew she would find a way.
But what if she chose to remain with her father? Ben would do his best to understand her wanting what had been taken from her her whole life. He wanted her to be happy more than he wanted her to make him happy and come to him. So, with a heavy heart, he said nothing when the Lt. Colonel handed over the pocket watch and Fable’s long lost father returned to her.
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