Purity’s eyes went wide, then she let out a laugh. Princess looked up at her from where she had stopped beside her and King did as well from where he sat perched on Princess’s back. Hope even cast her a look with the tilt of her head from where she followed behind Arran. She laughed so hard that it shook the tears that had been building in her eyes loose and they ran down her cheeks.
She wiped at her wet cheeks and between the chuckles that lingered, she said, “You can’t dictate how I feel.” She shook her head, thinking it crazy but feeling freer than ever to speak her mind. “I love you, Arran. I think I’ve loved you from that first day I saw you and you smiled at me. No one smiled at me but you did and it touched my heart. Maybe I’m a fool for feeling that way, but I’d be a bigger fool to deny it.” She chuckled again. “Raven knew. She saw it when no one else did and what I love about your sister is that she never made fun of me for loving you. She didn’t laugh at me. She took my feelings seriously and spoke kindly to me, though she had stronger words for you. So you can command all you want, but it will do little good. You can’t command the heart, not yours and certainly not mine. I understand your heart doesn’t feel for me what my heart feels for you, but that doesn’t mean my heart can stop loving you.”
Arran stared at her speechless, not knowing what to say.
Purity chuckled again. “I’ve left you speechless, a feat I once thought impossible, but over the last few years I learned nothing is impossible. I never thought it possible I would be your wife and yet here you are—my husband. But don’t worry, I hold no hope you will love me. My love will have to be enough for the both of us.” She turned away. “Come, Princess and King, and remember what I told you, as long as the three of us—now the five of us with Arran and Hope—are together, that is home.”
There was little that truly shocked Arran anymore, but Purity’s words had shocked him frozen. She was right, she had left him speechless and his limbs frozen. It took him a few moments to gather his wits about him and follow after her.
How could she love him? Why would she love him? Because he smiled at her? He tried to remember the moment and couldn’t recall when they first met or smiling at her. He had smiled at every woman that glanced his way and even at the ones that didn’t offer him a smile, which was not likely. Women had smiled at him all the time. But the willing women he had often shared a good poke with knew better than to think he loved them. He hadn’t been suited for love then and he certainly wasn’t suited for love now.
My wife loves me.
He didn’t know what to do with her words or why they had stirred something in him. His heart had felt as if it had stilled for a moment, skipped a beat out of shock or had it been something else? But what? What did it matter? He couldn’t love her. He had no love to give. He had nothing. He was empty. Why then did the thought disturb him so much?
They continued on in silence, though it was with a lighter heart and step for Purity. It had felt good, freeing, to tell Arran how she felt. And she probably shouldn’t feel happy about leaving him speechless, but she enjoyed a silent chuckle that she did. He was her husband so what did it matter that he knew and maybe, in some small way, it would help.
She felt his hand grab her arm at the same time she saw Princess stop and her head shoot up, alerting that something was amiss.
Arran pushed her behind him, a habit he had gotten into since his return, and he drew his sword, his eyes following where Princess stared, growling low.
A man suddenly burst from the woods, running toward them.
Chapter 9
“Thank the Lord. Thank the Lord, I finally found—”
Purity watched Quiver turn pale as he stopped abruptly upon seeing Arran, his sword held high ready to deliver a fatal blow. She also saw that he appeared quite disheveled and she wondered if he’d been wandering, lost in the woods since that first attack.
Quiver rushed his skinny arms above his head, yelling, “I mean you no harm. I mean you no harm. Please, I beg you don’t hurt me.”
“Touch that bow and you’re dead,” Arran warned.
Keeping his hands above his head, Quiver waved his hands frantically. “I won’t touch it. I won’t touch it. Please, I need help,” he pleaded. “I’ve been lost and can’t find my way out of these woods. I should have never listened to my sister when she told me to go with Reid, her good-for-nothing husband. But then she’s no better, stealing and such. And there’s no doubt she’ll blame me for him being dead. I’d be more than pleased never to lay eyes on her again.”