Page 309 of Historical Hotties
Silently, Jane entered the bedchamber as the man and her mother were arguing. Over to her left, she could see a dagger on the floor where her mother had dropped it. It was long and sharp. After a moment of indecision, she collected the dagger and came up behind the man, who still hadn’t see her. He was pleading with her mother to come out of the window, but Jane knew that the man had said some bad things. She knew there had been a fight and her mother had a bloody cut on her lip. The man was bad.
Honor thy mother and thy father.
God wouldn’t forgive her if she let something happen to her mother.
She lifted the dagger.
Oblivious to Jane’s presence, Caledonia was pondering the future of her daughters without her when Rotri suddenly jerked and let out a gasp of anguish. He jerked two or three more times, bellowing in agony, before collapsing on the floor, facedown. As he fell, he revealed that Jane had been standing behind him, and Caledonia looked to see that the very dagger Rotri had forced from her hand was now protruding out of the small of his back. There were at least three other stab wounds, all quickly bleeding out. Something vital had been cut because the blood began to flow in rivers down to the floor.
When Caledonia looked at Jane, it was clear what had happened.
The child had blood on her hands.
Shocked, Caledonia came out of the window and ran to Jane, who suddenly threw her arms around her mother and began tocry. Overcome and distraught, Caledonia fell back onto her bum, taking Jane with her. She pulled the lass onto her lap, holding her so tightly that she was squeezing the life from her.
But Jane was squeezing just as tightly back.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I’m sorry, but he was wicked. He was going to hurt you and I… I heard what he said. I heard everything!”
Caledonia had her face in the side of the girl’s head, smelling her firstborn’s hair for the very first time. Her heart was beating so swiftly that she felt faint.
“You did not do wrong, my little angel,” she said. “I swear, you did not do wrong. You saved me and I am so very grateful.”
Jane loosened her grip enough to look her mother in the eye. “You… you are not angry?”
Caledonia smiled, kissing the child on the cheek. “Nay, sweetheart,” she said. “You were very brave. You saved me.”
“I had to.”
“You did well, my angel.”
Jane, perhaps a little overwhelmed by all of the affection and by the circumstances in general, simply nodded her head and held her mother tightly again. As tight as her little arms would hold her. It seemed that had finally come to terms with the woman who had given birth to her.
Her mother.
As Caledonia and Jane sat on the floor in a tight embrace, Nicola burst into the chamber followed by Janet and Joan. Nicola had had been awakened by the screaming, but with the stair door locked, she’d had to locate the key in order to get through. She found a chamber in shambles, a bloodied dead man on the floor, and Caledonia huddled with Jane. Nicola was so horrified that she stood there with her hand over her mouth as Janet and Joan crept over to their mother and sister. WhenCaledonia saw her younger daughters, she opened one arm to them, too, pulling them into her embrace.
And that was when Caledonia realized Janet was still holding her chicken.
That damn chicken.
Sitting on the floor, with her daughters crowding into her arms, Caledonia laughed until she cried, and when Thor barreled into the keep less than a half-hour later, that was how he found them.
Holding one another.
A family at last.
EPILOGUE
1279 A.D.
Edingale Castle
The flagship propertyof the Earl of Tamworth and Stafford was abuzz with excitement tonight.
A baby was being born.
Gage eyed his son as the man stood in the solar near the elaborate Edingale-crested hearth, speaking to two of his daughters and his two eldest sons, Thorne and Kirk. The youngest, Reed, was still a toddler and his grandmother, Wynter, had charge of him. Reed had a runny nose and a cough, so Wynter was trying to get him to sleep. The eldest daughter, Jane, was in the chamber where her mother was currently giving birth to her seventh child, and from what Gage could hear, the other daughters wanted to know why they could not be included in the miracle of childbirth. He had to suppress a smile at the answers Thor was giving because it seemed to be a losing battle.
