Chapter Ten
Raven’s skin tingled as shockscorched through her. Had her father wanted to be a Templar Knight? “But he never… He never spoke of the Templars. He never said anything.”
“He wouldn’t have,” Landyn claimed. “He kept it separate from you.”
Raven shook her head in confusion.
“You know this area well, yes?” Landyn asked.
Raven glanced around at the surrounding river and trees. “Well, not this specific spot. But the roads and villages around…” What had the land to do with her father? “My father worked jobs around here. We know the area well, yes.”
“And you never wondered why? Or what jobs he was working? Or for whom?”
“Of course, I did. But he wouldn’t tell me who he was employed by. Finally, I stopped asking.”
“He did many tasks for the Templars. He always helped them whenever they needed him. They would repay him with food for you girls.”
Then Raven remembered the wagon of food he would return to Sybil’s farm with. It would be stocked with meats and vegetables and cheeses. They would feast for days after he returned. The memory only brought realization and sadness. Her gaze slowly dropped to the ground. “Why wouldn’t he have told us about wanting to become a Templar?”
“Because nothing was more important than you. He never regretted giving it up. He told me so. He told me you girls were the biggest treasures in his life.”
Her chest tightened. She turned away to shield it from him. Why had her father never told her? She had to hear of her father’s desires from another person. Her heart squeezed in her chest.
“He wouldn’t want you to risk your life to avenge him,” Landyn murmured.
She scowled fiercely, hearing the words but not agreeing with them. “He would do the same for us.”
“He would never endanger any of you.”
“I’m not endangering anyone.”
“You are endangering yourself,” Landyn insisted. “This is a dark path, Raven. One I would not wish on anyone.”
“It’s not your path,” she asserted. “It is somethingIhave to do.” A thought struck her. “Don’t Templars have a vow of chastity?”
“Aye.”
“But my father and my mother… He had been with my mother at least three times. He said he loved her.”
“Aye. That was why he had not joined the order sooner. He did love your mother. And he labored hard to support his family. That’s why he was rarely home when you were young. He took job after job. You never wanted for anything. And then your mother passed, and he had the three of you to care for.”
She and her sisters had taken away his dream. He had to watch them, so he couldn’t pursue it. She wrapped her arms around her stomach.
“He gave you everything he could, Raven,” Landyn said softly. “He would not have changed a thing.”
“Except he would have become a Templar Knight,” she whispered.
Landyn shook his head. “More than that, he wanted you to live a long life. That was what all the training was for. To prepare you for this moment. When he was gone.”
Raven bowed her head. Her lips shivered. “I didn’t know him,” she whispered.
Landyn grabbed her wrist and tugged her against him, holding her.
She resisted at first, stiffening her body. But he squeezed her tightly. The warmth of his hard body soothed her, and she finally melted against him, letting his touch comfort her. He stroked her back with calming hands. She leaned her head against his shoulder. Her vision of the forest blurred as tears entered her eyes.
“You knew him,” Landyn reassured her. “Just because you didn’t know one thing about him doesn’t mean you didn’t know him. He was your father. You are more like him than you know.”
Raven missed her father terribly. She missed his guidance, his leadership, his confidence.
