Chapter Twenty-Two
Highland Brawn
One of my favorite books. I loved Connor Grant.
This book also has the most evil villain I ever created—Hord.
In a conversation with Alex—on the parapets, of course—Connor learns that Sela has much in common with his mother…
She headed off for her husband and Connor felt a sudden, powerful urge to be alone. He moved up the stairs, walked straight past his chamber, and opened the door to the parapets, the cool breeze hitting him in the face.
He didn’t care about the temperature. He just wished to be alone.
But it was not to be. He opened the door, surprised to see he wasn’t the only one who’d sought solace up there. “Papa? I didn’t expect to find you here.”
Although mayhap he should have. His sire had always enjoyed spending time in the parapets.
His father gave him a sideways glance. “The view is quite spectacular up here, almost as good as it is at home. But I often come here…you don’t.
” His sire paused, leaning over the cold stone to look at the land splayed out before them.
“What brings you all the way up here when your cousins are below stairs celebrating?”
“I felt the need to be alone.” He leaned over the parapets in the same position as his sire. “I see why you like it up here. ’Tis peaceful.”
His father just quirked his brow.
Connor said, “I had a chat with an old friend of yours before I left Lochluin Abbey. Father MacGregor. He told me something I never knew.”
His father, always a man of few words, simply gazed at him with an expectant expression, waiting for a full explanation.
He took a deep breath and dove in, hoping he wasn’t jumping into a fire pit by bringing up old memories.
“He told me that Mama was verra troubled when you first met, and she took her time agreeing to be your wife. I thought you married right away.”
A small smile crossed his father’s face. “Nay, your mother took her sweet time deciding to marry me. I yelled at everyone but her because I was so upset.”
Connor couldn’t help but grin at that thought. His father rarely yelled anymore. “Truly?”
“Aye, I went after both of my brothers with my sword, and Aunt Brenna wished to choke me. Even Aunt Jennie, who was only eight summers at the time, called me mean. The only one who could talk any sense into me was the old stablemaster, Hugh.”
“Hugh? I thought you’d say Mac. He was our stablemaster, was he not?”
“Mac came with Maddie. He was married to her maid, and they are probably the only reason your mother survived. There aren’t many people crueler than her stepbrother, and what she endured…
I still know not how she survived it. Women have a stronger core than men do.
It took me decades to learn that, but your mother is a good example.
I suspect Sela is the same. Many would have succumbed to the torture she endured, but she had a daughter.
That alone gave her the push she needed. ”
“I asked her to marry me, Papa. She rejected me.”
“Just as your mother rejected me the first time I asked.”
“Mama rejected you?”
He nodded with a grin. “Not in so many words, but I chased her for weeks before she even allowed me near her. She wanted naught to do with me. In fact, I remember the time she sat at our trestle table and told me to take her to an abbey. She wished to become a nun.”
“Truly?” He’d never heard any of this before. Why had he not heard this?
“’Tis true.” His sire paused, looking him in the eye, then asked, “Do you truly love Sela?”
“Aye, Papa. I don’t think I can love another woman. But I don’t know what to do. I knew I had to leave her there today, but I wanted to beg her to marry me.”
His father sighed and looked up at the moon peeking out from behind the rolling clouds every now and then.
“When a woman has been abused, it takes patience, son. Jake will tell you the same. But if you really wish to know how to help her, I would talk to Mama. She went through something similar. If she loves you, too, do not give up on her. Five years of imprisonment and cruelty is not easily forgotten.”
“My thanks, Papa.” He clasped his father’s shoulder, then turned to go back.
He opened the door, but his sire’s voice stopped him.
“Connor?”
“Aye?”
“Women who endure such cruelties are fierce women, and they gift you with strong sons.”
How he wished it to be true.