Page 39 of It Began With A Kiss
He did not reply, for his words would only cause her sorrow, and if she were to shed any more tears, she would do so behind a closed door. They entered the keep and Aiden had to stop for a moment to take in the overwhelming feeling that this may be the last time he ever entered this hall again.
Memories rushed across his mind in a flurry, reminding him of what this place had meant to him. ’Twas to be his birthright, but that all changed one day during the siege of 1174 when Dristan, the Devil’s Dragon of Blackmore, invaded their home. He remembered little of the fighting, except being struck down next to their sire and being whisked away until he could recover enough to return. His sister had thought him dead all those months. Instead, Aiden had come home to find her happily married to the very enemy who had taken everything from him.
“Aiden?”
Hearing his name whispered from his sister brought him out of his sudden melancholy mood. There was no sense dredging up the past. His future was not here within these walls but with a lady he longed to return to along the Scottish shore.
“Where is Dristan?” he asked, instead of continuing to relive memories that would do him no good.
“Summoned to Bamburgh to attend the king,” she answered, after giving over the care of the children to one of her ladies in waiting. After walking through the great hall, they entered one of the turrets leading to the upper floors where the family had their chambers. “I expect his return any day now. Is this why you are also here? Passing through on your way south?”
“Nay ’tis of another nature, but let us get behind closed doors before we have speech together,” he replied, as they continued down the passageway on the fourth floor.
Amiria stopped at his chamber door… or what used to be his bedchamber that is. She opened the portal and stepped inside whilst he followed directly behind her. He halted mid-step whilst his eyes wandered from one corner of the bedchamber to the other. ’Twas as though he had been here but yestereve, as everything was still in place as he had left it.
Amiria smiled at his reaction and went to stand near a set of chairs near the hearth that had yet to be lit. “As you can see, we left your things here for when you returned.”
“How did you know I would?” he asked, coming to stand opposite her.
She reached for his hands. “I had hope and never gave up that one day you would walk through Berwyck’s gates again.”
“’Tis a short trip, sister,” he replied with a heavy sigh.
“’Tis clear you have much on your mind. Come… tell me all so I can ease your troubles, for I can see that the matter weighs heavily on your mind.”
He squeezed her hands, before letting go as she took a seat in one of the chairs. He undid the buckle of his belt holding his scabbard and sword, setting the weapon up against the wall before sitting to face his sister.
“I have wed,” he began until she interrupted him.
“What?”
“Aye. You will love her and her son,” Aiden said, whilst holding up his hand to halt the reprimand he knew was to come. “I know I should have waited until you and Dristan were present, but I was pressed for time. As I said, there is much to tell you.”
“Father Donovan will be distressed he did not perform the ceremony himself,” she declared with a frown.
“He yet lives?” he asked, thinking the priest must be ancient by now.
She gave a light laugh. “He is getting on in years but aye, he yet lives.”
His sister continued gazing upon him with a quizzical brow. “Do you love her?”
Aiden gave a small chuckle. “I would not have wed her if I did not. Surely you know that much about me.”
Amiria shrugged. “To be honest, you have been gone so long ’tis hard to say what I know about you these days, brother. We may be twins, but we have also been known to disagree on many an occasion in our past.”
He nodded at her comment. “Fair enough. Let me begin from when I last saw you…”
His telling of the past several years caused Amiria to laugh in all the right places, gasp out when he told her of several situations where he could have died, and finally he confessed all that had occurred at Dunborough and his possible position of turning to serve a Scottish king.
“So, you can see my dilemma,” he finally stated, after he had laid his heart out at the feet of his sibling. He knew that Amiria would understand more than any other, considering she was his twin. But mayhap the years apart had also taken away the connection that they had always shared.
“King Henry will consider this an act of treason no matter what happens with his war in France against his own kin,” she stated, whilst her fingers drummed on the wooden arms of the chair.
“Aye… hence harboring me within these very walls could be considered an act of treason when the king would as soon see me in his dungeon’s pit.”
Amiria shuddered. “Let us not think on something so drastic yet. You must rest from your trip, and we shall speak with Dristan upon his return.”
“’Tis not wise for me to be here too long, Amiria. I had hoped to quietly come to see you and the children and then leave as silently as I had arrived,” he answered, with a worried frown set upon his face.
