“Truly, Thomas?” he finally said. “In the past eight years, you have lived a wild life from England to The Levant and back again and, all the while, Desmond de Ryes was holding the key to your happiness?”
Thomas smiled weakly. “I am as surprised as you are,” he said. “I knew Des had a sister but nothing more than that. Many men have sisters, including me, so there was no reason to think Desmond’s sister was any different from the rest. But she is, Papa… sheis.”
“And you…likeher?”
“A great deal.”
William pondered that irony for a moment, looking up and seeing the glittering stars spread across the heavens.
“I was lamenting to your mother tonight about the absence of Kieran to counsel me in this time of great decision,” he said. “Someone told me once that the stars in the heavens are reallythe souls of every great warrior who has ever lived. Achilles, Alexander the Great, Charlemagne… all of them are up there, looking down upon us, and I know for a fact that your Uncle Kieran is up there, looking down upon us as well. Someday, I will join him, and you will look up at the stars with your own son and tell him of your father. I wonder what you will tell him, Tommy. That he was the greatest knight you ever knew? Or that he forced you to marry a woman you did not love for strategic gain?”
Thomas was looking at his father seriously. “I will tell him that my father was the greatestmanI have ever known,” he said. “I know I was born well after your prime as a knight, and I never knew you with two good eyes, but you are the greatest man I have ever known, Papa, and I am very proud to be your son. I know… I know there are times when I have disappointed you. From the time when I wasDhiib aleasifa, and then I returned and served the Duke of Dorset until I grew bored of that. It took me some time to find my way home, but Ididfind my way because I knew you would be here, waiting for me. Do you knowwhyI eventually came home?”
William cocked his head slightly. “Because you missed your family?”
Thomas took a deep breath and shook his head. “I did, but that was not the real reason,” he said, feeling a lump in his throat. “It was because I was with Kevin Hage when he was told that his father had passed away. The look on Kevin’s face, Papa… I could see such raw pain. Kevin knew he had disappointed his father and he never had the chance to tell him how sorry he was. Even now, I know he is happy with his new wife and children, but that pain of not telling his father how sorry he was is something that will never leave him. I never, ever want that to happen to us, Papa, so for everything I have done that hurt you, please know how sorry I am. I can be stubborn and foolish, but when I was trying to run from this betrothal and you toldme how disappointed you were in me… you were right. I was a horrible disappointment and I am sorry.”
William had tears streaming down his face as he listened to his youngest son lay himself wide open. It was so unlike him and such a difficult thing to do. Reaching out, he put his big hand on his son’s stubbled face.
“Fathers say things that they do not mean sometimes,” he said hoarsely. “I told you that you had disappointed me because I was frustrated with you, but I should not have been so cruel. You are so much like me, Tommy– proud, stubborn, determined to do things your own way. That is why I understand you so well. But you have never truly disappointed me. Every decision you made in your life, every path you took, has made you the man you are today and I could not be prouder of you. Never forget that.”
Thomas was teary eyed at this point, wiping at his eyes so he wouldn’t openly weep. “I needed to hear that,” he said. “I needed to hear that I have made you proud in some way.”
“Inallways.”
“I hope to continue that,” Thomas said. “And if you want me to marry Adelaide, then I shall do it. But I will be honest… I wish that it was Mae I was betrothed to. I never thought I would be happy again, but with her… I know I could have been.”
William put his hand on Thomas’ shoulder, a show of support and sympathy. “I am sorry, Tommy, I truly am,” he said. “I do want you to be happy, but sometimes we must make decisions that do not include personal happiness, only the greater good.”
Thomas sighed heavily. “And you believe this is for the greater good?”
“Unfortunately, I do.”
Thomas didn’t question him any further. He knew his father was making the best, and perhaps the only, real decision hecould make no matter what it personally cost Thomas. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, because he did… but sometimes a sacrifice was needed for the greater good of all.
And that sacrifice would be Thomas.
“Very well,” Thomas said. “If you think it is best, then I shall comply. Where is Adelaide now?”
William wiped the tears from his face. “In the keep,” he said. “She cut her arms again when she heard of her father’s death. Your mother is with her.”
Thomas resisted the urge to roll his eyes at more of Adelaide’s dramatics which, in this case, were understandable. She had seemed inordinately attached to her father. Now, the subject turned from deeply emotional things to the immediate future facing them.
“I see,” he said. “And what of Edmund? Where is he?”
“In the vault. We must transport him back to Kyloe Castle for burial.”
“I was told that the reivers ambushed him and killed him.”
William nodded. “That is true, at least from what the witnesses have told us,” he said. “I think you and I have some strategic planning to do. We know the reivers have a hiding place somewhere near Etal and I think it is time we cleaned them out for good, especially after the death of Northumbria.”
Thomas couldn’t agree more. “Indeed,” he said. “Let me go see to Mother and Adelaide, and I shall meet you in the hall later to discuss this very thing.”
With that, he stood up, pulling his father to his feet. For a moment, they simply looked at each other, smiling, until William grasped him behind the neck and kissed him on his dimpled cheek. So much had been said this night, so many words of worth, that it had been an important moment for them both. The youngest, foolish son of The Wolfe had grown up and was becoming a wise and thoughtful man of his own.
But William couldn’t help thinking, as they walked to the keep, that all of that wisdom and growth would be wasted on a woman like Adelaide de Vauden.
It was a terribly disappointing thought.
