She knocked on the front door, hunching her shoulder against the wind that had picked up since nightfall.
“Go away! And do not dare make me repeat myself.”
Dawn smiled. Wintra definitely was much like her brother. She eased the door open, using it as a shield since she expected something to come flying at her. She poked her hand passed the door and wiggled her fingers in greeting.
“Dawn?”
Dawn rushed around the door, shutting it closed and securing the latch, not that it would keep Torr or Cree out, but it would discourage others from entering. She turned and looked at Wintra and wasn’t surprised to see tears ready to spill free. Dawn spread her arms wide.
Wintra did not hesitate, she ran into them, hugging Dawn tight, grateful she had come and offered comfort.
When Wintra’s tears subsided, Dawn eased her down on a chair to sit. She then pulled another chair around next to Wintra’s and sat, resting her hand on Wintra’s knee.
“It is not possible is it?” Wintra asked, knowing the answer, but wanting someone to deny it. “He can’t be my father. He seems a heartless man without true care to how his decisions would affect his daughter.” Wintra ran both hands down her face. “It is a nightmare. I am in a nightmare and I cannot wake up. Wake me up, Dawn. I beg you, wake me up.”
Dawn did the only thing she could. She squeezed her hand tightly to let her know that this was no dream.
“Do you think Torr will be kept from me tonight? I do not want to sleep without him by my side.”
A tepid knock sounded at the door and both women turned inquisitive eyes that way.
“Dawn? Wintra? Are you in there?”
Dawn jumped up, unlatched the door, and opened it, letting Old Mary in.
The old woman rubbed her gnarled hands and shivered. “The wind has a biting chill to it tonight.”
Dawn ushered Old Mary over to a chair by the fire, then the two women brought their chairs around by her as well.
“I had a feeling I was needed here,” Old Mary explained, holding her hands out to the fire’s heat. “What has happened?”
Wintra explained everything, wiping away a teardrop that fell now and again. “I won’t be kept from Torr,” she insisted stubbornly when she finished.
“You also do not want to place Torr in a potentially dangerous situation,” Old Mary warned. “One that would see harm come to him.”
“Never!” Wintra cried, alarmed at the old woman’s words. The situation was growing worse by the minute, and the weight of it had her shoulders sagging and her head drooping.
Dawn tapped her arm and when Wintra looked up, Dawn shrugged her shoulders and scrunched her brow.
“What’s wrong?” Wintra verbalized Dawn’s question before answering it. “The Earl of Kellmara is a powerful man. And if the King feels it would benefit having him as an ally, he will grant Kellmara his request.”
“There is that possibility,” Old Mary said, “though Torr not obeying the King’s command could prove worse.”
“I know. I thought the same myself when Torr announced that he did not care what the King had commanded. I may have bravely or foolishly announced that I would not be kept from my husband, but the King’s word is final. And if Torr and I do not obey, as the Earl of Kellmara knows we must, we could put not only ourselves in danger, but my brother and all here as well.” With the weight of the situation becoming clearer by the moment, Wintra sighed heavily.
Dawn gestured and Old Mary quickly interpreted. “You should speak with the Earl of Kellmara.”
“I most certainly will not,” Wintra said. “He is a selfish man and cares little about others.”
Old Mary continued interpreting for Dawn. “He cannot care for you if he does not know you. If he loved your mother, then he would love the only child he and she had made together. He never got to know you, so he does the only thing he can for you now—he protects you— since he failed to protect your mother. Let him come to know you, love you, and then he will see that you—his daughter—loves Torr, and then he will do anything to see you happy.” Old Mary nodded. “Dawn gives you good advice. I would listen to it if I were you.”
“What if he does not truly care about me?” Wintra asked, still shy of trusting people after not having seen Owen for whom he truly was. “What if he intends to use me? What if he has intentions of arranging a union to a man that would be more beneficial to him?”
“You will not know that unless you speak with him,” Old Mary said.
“It sounds as if it does not matter one way or another, since it is obvious the King wishes to please Kellmara and win his favor. So what difference does it make either way?” Wintra said, fearing that no matter what was done, the outcome would be in Kellmara’s favor.