She nodded, glad that the infamous Cree was by her side. They once again hurried along. They could hear Lady Ann’s wrenching cries as they approached the stables where the incident had taken place. At the same time Lucerne rushed past them, Sloan right behind her.
Cree shook his head at Sloan as he passed them and Sloan hurried his pace catching up with Lucerne and stopping her before she could enter the stable.
“Let me go,” she screeched at Sloan, holding her firmly in his arms.
“It is better you wait here,” Sloan said.
Cree and Dawn reached them. “Your mother will join you shortly.”
“I want to see my father,” Lucerne demanded through tears.
“No,” Cree said, as if issuing a final decree and turned away to enter the stable.
“How dare you let your whore see my father and not me,” Lucerne screamed.
Cree swung his head around. “Your grief affords you some latitude and you have just used it all. Another disparaging remark about the woman I love and you will regret it.”
Cree turned, though Dawn caught Sloan’s hand rushing to clamp tightly over Lucerne’s mouth.
As soon as Lady Ann saw Cree, she rushed away from the warrior, who she had been clinging to for support, and dropped before him. “Forgive me, my lord, I could not stop him. Kirk insisted that no one was safe and the truth had to be made known. It was the only way to end all the madness. I begged him not to confront Roland, to let you handle it as you saw fit, but he refused.”
Cree nodded to the warrior who had followed behind Lady Ann. “Your daughter waits outside. We will talk later.” He then motioned for two more warriors to join the other and issued orders. “Escort Lady Ann and her daughter to the Great Hall and remain with them. And tell Sloan to join me.”
“Dawn should not see her father like this. She should join Lucerne and me, so that I may finally tell Lucerne the truth,” Lady Ann said.
“Now is not the time,” Cree said and nodded to his warriors. One took Lady Ann’s arm and hurried her out of the stable. The other two followed.
Cree silently berated himself. He hadn’t given thought as to how Dawn felt about her father being injured. Cree looked to Dawn. “Are you certain you are up to this? Kirk is your father and it could cause you quite an upset.”
Kirk had only entered her life and while he seemed a good man, Dawn still had difficulty thinking of him as her father. It had been her and her mother for so long that a father wasn’t easy to accept. Dawn patted her chest and nodded, and though her stomach was a bit queasy she had no intention of letting Cree know that. And she had every intention of seeing the scene for herself. Her silence allowed her to look and see while others talked and missed things.
“If you are sure and should you feel the slightest discomfit—”
Dawn finished for him, tapping her lips and pointing to him, letting him know that she would tell him.
He didn’t seem convinced but there was little he could do, for he knew she would have her way. He turned and they went to stand opposite from Torr, kneeling next to his father, as Elsa worked on the unconscious man.
“How is he?” Cree asked.
Elsa answered without looking up. “A substantial head wound. It needs to be cleaned and possibly stitched and as with any head wound, I do not know when or if he will wake.” She looked at Torr. “Though I will do all I can to see that he does.”
“Did you know your father’s intention?” Cree asked.
Torr shook his head, though remained kneeling next to his father. “No, though I could see that he had grown impatient with the whole ordeal. And when he found out about Bree’s death today he was even more adamant about everything being brought to light. He felt Dawn would be safer that way.”
“You didn’t agree?” Cree asked.
“No, having heard Bree had been beaten to death made me think that whoever is responsible for it all has reached the point of desperation and that is a dangerous place to be.”
“Do you believe Gerwan responsible and that your father somehow found out?”
Torr stood as two warriors approached with a pallet to place his father on and carry him to Elsa’s cottage. He moved out of their way, though kept an eye on them. “I’ll be along shortly,” he said to Elsa and she nodded. He turned to Cree and finally answered him. “I can’t say for sure. I know my father not only wanted to keep Dawn safe and see her happy, he also didn’t want to fail Ann again. He never stopped loving her and I’m sure he hoped that somehow they could make things work for them. Perhaps he decided to confront Gerwan about his love for Ann. I know how angry I would get if another man dared to tell me he loved my wife; I’d want to kill him. Gerwan could have struck my father and perhaps he had enough time to deliver a lethal blow to Gerwan before he collapsed unconscious. This incident may have nothing to do at all with Dawn or again it may. I do not know. I only hope that my father wakes and is able to settle the mystery for us. Now I must go see to my father.”