Chapter 2 Interruptions

"I think that's the first time you've ever thrown a game," he said, turning to regard me with eyes that seemed to blend with the night.

I shrugged, knowing how the light spilling out onto the path behind me would be framing my figure, one full of all the curves I'd lacked the last time he'd seen me. I was taller than I'd liked to have been and no amount of time in the sun had been able to take the pale edge off my milky skin, but I knew without being pretentious that I was pretty, even striking in my own way.

Dark, almond shaped eyes set above a petite nose and almost too full lips were framed by long hair that softly curled its way down my back. My waist was small and my once stringy limbs now had a graceful appearance about them. I hadn't been a woman when he'd left, but even I could not deny the truth of it now.

"You were the one who said we were no longer children."

He nodded, keeping his distance from me as one would an abandoned kitten before trying to tempt it forward with a small pitcher of milk.

My fingers, in long habit of shaking with my nerves, grew in their tremors. I locked them together, entwining them in the hope that their reaction to him would escape his notice. "We weren't expecting you back so early. It's barely spring."

Father had thought it a good idea to send the two boys away to our Uncle's holding, twelve days hard ride from here, not long after their sixteenth birthdays. He'd said a growing man needed the education of many, not just the same select few his entire life. He'd also said that the wisdom gained by learning to keep your eyes and ears open amidst different households and their varying guests could prove an invaluable tool for the future.

Fynn, my true brother in blood, had not wanted to go alone, not that he'd ever voice such a thing. But we'd all known it, and for one reason or another, father had seen the wisdom in sending Raff along with him. Raff, the wet nurses son. Raff, the boy who'd grown up with us, lived with us, laughed and cried with us... Raff our brother in everything but blood.

"Your Father sent Fynn a message, needing him home immediately."

I nodded.

Things around here had been strained of late, full of worried glances and tight-lipped silences. I wasn't one for keeping a nose in the affairs of men, as was my place, but I knew it had something to do with the lands that lay north of Lord Patrick Schoone's, one of Father's long time Allies. From all accounts, a new lord had taken residence there, one the whispers said, had inherited it through evil deeds.

Lord Patrick had known the previous Lord of the land, but had been neither friend nor foe, the both of them happy to keep their distance and tend their own affairs, as long as each other's borders were respected. Apparently, the new Lord didn't feel the same way, not if Lord Patrick's stories of murdered livestock, burnt crops and stolen horses were to be believed.

"Did you learn as much as father said you would?" I asked, disentangling my mind from the horrible images flashing before it.

"More than I ever expected," he said, his voice growing quiet. Something was bothering him, and now, it was bothering me too. After everything he'd said about fulfilling promises, he still hadn't made a single move towards me. Had he changed his mind and found another? Had his earlier words, reminding me of my promise been nothing but a cruel taunt?

"You're frowning, Caitlyn."

"Sorry," I said, schooling my features into the perfect image of serenity despite the disquiet feeling growing within me, taking on an unexpected strength of its own.

All this time I'd been so worried about hurting him, that I'd not once considered how much he could, and indeed might, hurt me in return.

"Was there something you wanted?" I asked, deciding to hurry this up and be done with it. I didn't like the way my stomach was rising to my throat, or the pressure that seemed to be building unbidden behind my eyes.

He looked down at my laced fingers then back to my face. "You're not wearing my ring."

"I..." I felt for the comfort of it, hidden beneath the soft cloth of my dress. "I did not wish to raise questions over who had given it to me." It seemed like a safe enough answer, definitely not a lie but still far from the truth I longed to tell him.

If I'd had the slightest bit of courage I would have slipped his ring from under my gown and shown him that his gift of love had never broke contact with my skin, not since the moment he'd curled my fingers around it. But what would that achieve, even if I was brave enough? I wasn't even sure he wanted me anymore.

He opened his mouth to speak.

"It's okay," I said, cutting him off before he could butcher my heart with his words. "If you've found another girl, I mean. You were gone a long time and -"

"You think I would forget you that easily?"

I closed my eyes for the barest of moments, my heart racing. "I don't know what to think." I looked up and met his eyes, and I knew in that instant that I'd been wrong. Wrong to doubt and wrong to think I could ever keep the secret truths of my heart from him.

"There is none in this world that could replace you, Caitlyn. I could not do it, even if I wanted to."

"Nor I you," I whispered, wishing he would hurry up and claim his promise. My entire body was trembling with the effort not to run over to him.

His eyes lit up at my words, matching his sudden smile as he made a move towards me. My chest heaved with my quickening, expectant breaths, making my head swim. I'd dreamt of this, pictured it too many times to count before pushing it aside and telling myself it could never be.

"Caitlyn?"

My heart stopped dead as I spun towards the doorway. "Fynn!" I said, forcing a shaky smile to my lips. "I was just asking Raff where I might find you."

My brother looked from my flushed face to Raff's, then back again. "I was in a meeting with Father. Come, it's time for supper."

I went to him, hoping he was oblivious of my efforts to calm myself as I took his offered arm and let him guide me inside.