Kathryn must be kept safe at any cost.
Striding through the kitchen, he grabbed an apple, a hunk of bread and some cheese, eating most of it as he continued on to the stables. His horse, Destiny, was waiting impatiently in his stall, stamping his hooves on the straw-covered ground. “I know you didn’t get a run yesterday.” He offered the apple to the enormous warhorse as he ran his hand down the animal’s side. “I’m going to miss you, boy.” Destiny stamped once again and shook his head but he sidled closer and took the apple from Marc’s palm.
“Going for a ride?”
Marc gave the horse a final pat before turning to face his brother. “I need to clear my head.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Jarek stood, hands on his hips, looking as strong and formidable as ever. But Marc could see the concern in his brother’s eyes.
“No. There is nothing. Kathryn will make her decision when the tapestry arrives.”
“You think she is going back to her own time.”
“Yes.” Marc grabbed a blanket and threw it over the horse’s back. “Especially after what transpired yesterday.”
“Those damn idiots,” Jarek began but he broke off and began pacing. “I sent the rest of them packing at daybreak.”
“I figured that most of them would go but I expected to be facing the Dannon brothers at least and perhaps the Hunters.”
“Abrah came to me and told me that he’d thought about what Kathryn had said and she was right. The tapestry brought the bride to wherever she was supposed to be.
Plus, the way she looked at you, it was obvious to all except maybe a few blind fools that she would have no other.”
Marc was surprised but pleased. “That is good. I didn’t want any more blood shed over this. Kathryn would never stay if that came to pass.”
“He also hinted that he wouldn’t be averse to the idea of Kathryn getting the tapestry to work its magic again.”
Marc laughed, shaking his head. That sounded like Abrah.
Jarek stopped pacing and turned on his heel to face Marc. “That is the conclusion that most of us drew. She is important and not just to us. She has skills. We all saw what she did for Tienan. The woman is a healer, plus she has untapped magical powers as well.”
“She’ll deny the magical powers.” From everything Tienan had told him, Kathryn was a woman who believed in what she could see and prove. He grabbed his saddle and tossed it onto Destiny’s back, tightening the strap around the horse’s belly.
“Denied or not, they exist. Many of the men, besides Abrah, are hoping that she can somehow make the tapestry appear again, bringing another potential bride, perhaps two.”
“She will not stay,” Marc blurted. He finished saddling the horse and faced his brother. “And I am going with her if the tapestry will take me.” All the color drained from Jarek’s face and he swayed. “No.” Reaching out, he grabbed Marc by the shoulders and shook him. “No. I forbid it.” Marc laughed but there was no humor in it. “You cannot forbid me.” He felt no anger at his brother, knew his reaction came from a place of love. “She is my life.
Without her I am dead.”
Jarek jerked him into a rough embrace. “How will I survive without you by my side?”
“You have Christina and the children.” Marc swallowed the thick lump in his throat. “I will have nothing if I let her go.”
Jarek released him and turned away. He tipped back his head, shutting his eyes tight. Marc watched as his brother composed himself. When he turned back, there was only the slightest sheen in his eyes but his face looked older and more haggard than it had only moments before. “So be it.” Striding to another stall, he began to saddle his own horse.
“Where are you going?” Marc gathered Destiny’s bridle and led him from his stall.
“With you.” He quickly readied his mount. “If you are determined to go, I would share this one last ride with you, my brother.” Marc nodded and swiped his face against his shoulder, unashamed of his tears.
“One final ride.” Swinging up on his horse’s back, he waited until Jarek had done the same. Side by side, they rode from the stables, through the courtyard and out the castle gates.
Chapter Thirteen
Kathryn meandered toward the stables, her thoughts filled with all she’d seen this morning. The sun was high in the sky and her stomach was informing her that it would soon be time for lunch. The air was clean and unlike anything she’d ever experienced back home where it was stale and sterile at best. Here the rich smell of earth and grass filled her nostrils. The only sounds she heard were of people laughing and talking as they worked and animals going about the business of living. It was incredibly peaceful and, in some ways, healing.
The castle was incredible. It was more like a mini city where Jarek was CEO and Marc the VP of operations. She snickered. That meant that Christina and Mara were the trusty executive assistants who actually ran everything, all the while letting the men think that they were in control.
They were incredibly self-sufficient here. They grew their own herbs and vegetables, as well as harvesting wild mushrooms, greens and berries. They raised cattle, pigs, sheep and goats for meat and milk, as well as for their hides. The women produced vast amounts of cloth for clothing, spinning and weaving it all in their homes.
The men were all warriors but they were also farmers. There were two blacksmiths and a barrel maker, along with several carpenters and masons. The list went on and on.
Anything that needed doing, there was someone skilled who could do it.
The blacksmith, who was actually Mara’s brother, had wanted to talk to her about her tweezers. He was trying to make something similar but slightly larger so that Mara would have a pair to use in her healing duties. She’d found herself sketching designs in the dirt for several medical instruments. A gruff man by the name of Dumphries, he had been intrigued and excited by the challenge of creating them, especially when she promised him that he could have her tweezers.
She’d met quite a few people today, including Mara’s family, which consisted of her husband, their four children and her husband’s brother. At first, everyone they’d come across had been reticent but they’d quickly warmed up to her, chatting and inviting her to view whatever they were working on or asking her into their homes. Christina and Mara were a great source of information. What those two women didn’t know about the people and workings of the castle wasn’t worth knowing.
And Mara. Kathryn was in awe of the other woman’s knowledge of plants and their medicinal properties. She’d studied botany but Mara knew things that you couldn’t find in books. She had a feeling she could talk to the older woman for years and still not learn a fraction of what the she could teach her.
Christina was skilled at spinning and weaving and had learned to cook since she’d come to Castle Garen as a bride. It was obvious that everyone there adored her. That was another reason that Kathryn couldn’t stay. It would be awkward with the two of them here, wouldn’t it?
Yet, Christina had hinted more than once that it would be nice to be able to talk with another woman who understood what she’d gone through and where she’d come from. Jane visited but it wasn’t as often as either of them would like.
Kathryn had told her what had become of Earth. Christina had been shocked but not overly surprised by many of the changes. It had been easy to talk to both Mara and Christina and she’d enjoyed herself in spite of the fact that she knew she was leaving.
As beautiful as the castle was, as much as she liked the people she’d met and as much as Marc held her heart, her place wasn’t here. This was a place of magic. She was a woman of science. Plus, there was the fact that someone had to stop her father and General Caruthers in their mad bid to control the world and destroy those outside the Gate. Earth needed changes if all its people were to survive.