“She wanted me then?” Wintra asked, for she had wondered, though only briefly, if perhaps her mum had no choice but to accept her as her daughter just as Torr had had no choice but to accept her as his wife.
Cree reached out and took her hand in his. “Wanted you? She loved you more than anything. She was so thrilled the day you were born as was I. She hugged you all the time and sang to you.”
“I remember her doing the same to you—hugging you often.”
“Mum was a loving mother and a good woman. She worked hard so that we could survive. She made me promise with her dying breath that I would take you and leave the farm behind, to let someone else toil uselessly on tenant land.”
“Do you think this Kellmara could be my father?”
“There was a time that Mum seemed truly happy. She would work the fields, and I would not always be there to help her. She wanted me to learn about weapons and how to defend myself, so she had struck a bargain with an old warrior who had stopped at the farm for water one day. He was crippled with pain from years of fighting and endless injuries, though he bore his suffering well. He would teach me what I needed to know to defend myself in exchange for food and shelter in the small shack on our property. He accepted, and he is the reason I am skilled in weapons and fighting.”
“And the reason she would have time to meet a lover,” Wintra said, the pieces falling into place.
Cree nodded. “I had thought the same myself when the Earl of Kellmara claimed that he was your father. And it cannot be denied that there is a strong resemblance between the two of you, especially your blue eyes. They are the exact same color.”
“Do you think he tells the truth? Do you think he truly loved Mum and planned on returning for her?”
“I want to believe it. I want to believe that Mum had been loved and cherished as she loved and cherished us. Mum kept the truth from you to protect you, and me. There is no telling what someone would have done if it was known you were Kellmara’s daughter.”
Wintra slipped into the crook of Cree’s arm. “I will not go with him, father or not. I will not leave you. I have only gotten you back again, and I most definitely will not leave my husband.”
Cree hugged her. “You are not going anywhere. Kellmara is a fool if he thinks he can walk into my home, claim my sister as his daughter and walk off with her.”
“But the King—”
“Is indebted to me far more than Kellmara realizes.”
“But the King sent his emissary,” Wintra said.
“He also told Kellmara that he was on his own when it came to dealing with me, which was a direct message to me.”
“Telling you what?”
“That Kellmara was my problem and for me to handle him at my discretion.”
Wintra drifted out of his arms and went to the table and poured each of them hot cider. She handed a tankard to Cree before taking a seat by the hearth. Cree sat in the chair beside her.
“I cannot help but feel sad for Mum. She died believing the man she loved and whose child she bore never truly loved her. That he simply used her and then discarded her. I am surprised she could look upon me with such love when I probably reminded her of Kellmara.”
“We do not know if she believed that, perhaps she thought he was kept from her. That he had no choice just as she hadn’t. Perhaps that was why she was adamant about you not knowing who your true father was. What we do know without a doubt is how much she loved you and that is a good memory to hold on to.”
Wintra refused to cry. She would save her tears for later. There were more things to discuss with her brother.
“Now about you leaving me at the abbey.”
By the time their talk was done, Wintra felt as if she and Cree had never been separated. And Cree felt that his sister had finally returned home, and he was pleased that Torr had suggested they stay until the babe was born, giving him more time with his sister.
“Will you talk with Kellmara now?” Cree asked, standing and offering his hand to his sister.
She took it and stood. “Not yet. I want to find Dawn and talk with her first.”
Cree raised a brow. “Should I be worried?”
Wintra laughed. “When did I ever worry you?”
“Every single day since you have been born.”
She laughed again. “And does Dawn worry you?”
“Always, so the two of you together is an endless stream of worry for me.”