She smiled. “You brought Pride and Prejudice to me.”
“Thought it might help to pass the time.”
“Very helpful. Thank you.”
He divested himself of the jacket and then suggested, “Why don’t we sit?” He motioned toward the sofa and followed her there, sinking into the cushion next to her, which was on the thin side from old age. “It’s very quiet here,” he commented.
“Yes, sometimes too quiet. Although in the late spring and summer, I open the windows and backdoors so I can hear the river running.”
A number of times, she’d considered placing pots of wildflowers on the patios to brighten the cottage, though she’d have to move them in during the winter months and hope they survived without much direct sunlight. But she hated the idea of them dying on her, so she’d never gotten around to doing it.
“You weren’t afraid of being here alone when you were a little girl?”
She hedged, but had to admit the truth.
“At first, it didn’t fully register because I was so upset about my parents. I cried myself to sleep every night. Then I started to worry if the shifters would come for me. Ironically, that’s one of the reasons I stayed. I didn’t want them hunting me down at someone else’s home, for fear I’d be putting other people in danger. I couldn’t stand the thought of having what happened to my family happen to others.”
He stretched an arm along the back of the sofa, rotating his body a few degrees so he faced her. His presence made her furniture and her cottage seem much smaller, yet in an enjoyable, intimate way.
“That must have been an extremely difficult time,” he said.
“Yes. Every little noise frayed my nerves. But eventually, I got used to it. Or at least, I’d resigned myself to it. I didn’t want to leave, so I had to keep myself busy and my mind occupied so I wouldn’t be upset all day and night or worry over every sound I heard coming from outside.”
“Is that how you learned to suppress your feelings?”
She nodded. “That’s one of the things I did to occupy myself. I worked on pushing all the feelings down to the pit of my stomach. I’d visualize a black hole deep inside me, and I forced all the sensations into it.”
“But there’s no lid to cover the hole?”
“Does anyone have that kind of control over their emotions?”
He seemed to give this its due consideration. “I suppose a few do. You’re good at it, after all.”
“Years of practice.”
“And obviously an inherent survival tactic you’ve mastered.”
“Not quite.”
They fell silent for a few moments, which were not the least bit uncomfortable. Although it was certainly a bizarre occurrence to have the most powerful man on the continent in her modest home, it also felt soothing. Yet she sensed there was more to his unexpected visit than to lend her a book.
“You’re pensive,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t have news about the fire wraith?”
“Morgan hasn’t located him. Wraiths can be very difficult to track when they vanish completely. One of his men did locate the horse, however. The beast didn’t survive its injury. The patrols are now reaching further in an attempt to find the demons that had banded with the ghost.”
She studied his tense expression, then asked, “You don’t believe they’ve simply given up?”
“No. I suspect the wraith will return. I don’t intend to give him a reason to enter the village though. If he wants to come after me, he’ll have to do it on my territory.”
Her heart sank. Not a sensible feeling to have, but she couldn’t help it. “Meaning this is the last I’ll see of you.”
“My presence is what got you hurt in the first place.”
“I’m not afraid to die,” she said, a bit too quickly. His eyes narrowed on her. “It’s a natural progression for humans, Darien. An inescapable truth. And one that offers the hope of reuniting with the loved ones we’ve lost along the way.”
Her response seemed to agitate him, because he stood and began to pace in front of the fireplace.
“I wasn’t being accusatory,” she said.