by Sherry Ewing
She leaned over and pushed the two metal pieces upwards. Taking the edge of the parchment, she pulled on a flap as the metal went through a small hole.
“It’s called an envelope, but the proof you seek is inside,” Emily declared with a knowing smile. “Go ahead, Riorden. Take a look at your future and know that your heart’s desire is still attainable if you just go and get your wife.”
“This is how Em and I knew the four of you had lived a full, rich life,” Juliana added with a smile of her own.
With trembling limbs, he took out the thick parchment. There was another sheer film of something almost see through. He pulled back this layer and almost dropped the portrait he held in his hands. Tears formed in his eyes as he stared at it in disbelief.
’Twas a family portrait of their children, along with Gavin and Brianna’s. They were all older than they were now. As his eyes focused on the right side of the picture, he gazed lovingly at the perfect image of Katherine sitting on a bench with a daughter. The young woman had a long braid of tawny colored hair, filled with different colored flowers. Another small girl sat at his wife’s feet, and a young puppy was lying next to her with a curled tail. She looked as if she would be a handful, and the little imp had his dark black hair and sparkling blue eyes. But ’twas the son, standing next to him in his image, with the exception of his hair, that almost was his undoing. The young man also had his mother’s coloring, but there was no mistaking this was his son. The son she was carrying right now.
Riorden lightly skimmed the image of Katherine’s face, lovingly set with a perfect smile, with his fingers. His eyes widened in surprise as her favorite scent filled his nostrils, and he inhaled deeply the fragrance she called Japanese cherry blossoms. Aquamarine eyes twinkled back at him as if they shared a lover’s secret, and ’twas the first time in months that he had the smallest measure of hope. Looking at his wife’s two lady friends, who were doing their best to hold back their tears, he knew within his heart that they had enjoyed the same experience as he just did. His beloved Katherine was indeed alive!
He handed the portrait to Ulrick and Nathaniel, and they, too, gasped in surprise. After their quick examination of the picture, Emily put it back away. ’Twas not something to be left lying about for prying eyes.
“It was given to us by a man named Simon Armstrong who helped us while we were in twenty-first century Bamburgh. He’s also the person who assisted with certain delicate matters relating to our very twelfth century husbands,” Emily said softly.
“Hopefully you remember Em’s love of history,” Juliana began. “We had moved to England recently and were doing a bit of research when we stumbled across an article stating it was thought your father had been poisoned, although there had been no proof as to who might have done such a deed.”
“Mostly, everything we found showed that your father had no enemies, and, since Warkworth was relatively small, we couldn’t find any reason why someone would want him dead,” Emily added.
“Where is she?” Riorden whispered, ignoring for now the news of his sire’s death.
“Where do you think she would go?” Juliana and Emily asked at the same time.
Nathaniel rose from his chair. “There really is not any question where she would go, since she is only familiar with two estates.
“You mean to tell me she’s been at Berwyck all this time, and Dristan did not even have the decency to let me know?” Riorden yelled.
His solar door suddenly burst open as Aiden came stumbling in, still covered with snow. “Riorden, Katherine’s alive!” he exclaimed, and then came to notice who occupied the room. “Emily? Juliana? What the devil is going on here?”
Emily hurled herself into his arms. “Hi ya, brother? How’s it going?”
“You are going to be the death of me, lassie, but ’tis good to see you,” Aiden answered. He looked at Riorden with a raised brow. “Why do I have the feeling I have just told you old news?”
“I have just learned of it, myself,” Riorden grumbled, “but first let me apologize for my actions afore you left.”
“You can make it up to me,” Aiden said with a smirk. “I would think you need to get yourself to Berwyck and retrieve your wife afore she gives birth.”
“You have seen her then, and she is well?” Riorden prodded expectantly.
“Aye, she is more than well, from what I could see. To be honest, I did not stay around long enough to have much speech with her, or anyone else for that matter. I turned right around and headed back so I could let you know she yet lived. I was overly delayed due to the horrendous weather we have been having.”
“I must needs get to Berwyck, right away,” Riorden declared, heading for the door. His footsteps halted suddenly at Juliana’s next words.
“She won’t be there, my lord.”
“Why the hell not?” he roared.
Juliana came to stand afore him and placed her hand gently on his arm. “If I know my sister of my heart, and I think I do pretty well, then she has been waiting for you to come for her. She isn’t one to not give someone she loves a second chance. Some may think it’s a fault of hers, but, personally, I think she’s just more tenderhearted than the rest of us. She is a firm believer that true love will win out if freely given. Since she will know that Aiden will ride to get you, there is only one place she will go, and that’s to Bamburgh to return to her own time. She will have felt that all hope is lost, because you never came for her of your own choice.”
“But, I thought she was dead!”
“Yes, but she doesn’t know that, now does she?” Emily answered softly.
He gave the ladies a bow. “I can never repay what you have returned to me.”
Juliana only smiled. “Just hurry and go get your wife before she makes the stupidest mistake of her life.”
He made for the door and practically ran into Gavin and his lady. “I must hurry, but I believe there are those within who would love to have speech with Brianna,” Riorden said, and they witnessed his smile for the first time in months.
Squeals of delight emitted from his solar at the reunion he could only imagine between the women, who were more like sisters than just friends. Riorden rushed to his chamber and threw only a few things in a satchel that he felt he would need. Running to the stables, he began to pray in earnest he wasn’t too late to bring his lady home, where she belonged.
Chapter 33
“Please don’t follow me, Dristan,” Katherine announced gently. “This is something I think must be done alone, and I don’t think the time gate is going to open with you two hovering over me like you have all this time.”
“’Tis not seemly to leave you alone and unescorted,” Dristan grumbled.
“I do not care for this either, Katherine, not that you would heed my council,” Fletcher added with furrowed brows. “I know you said you are independent in this future of yours, but I would feel better if you would, at the very least, allow one of us to be close at hand in the event you have need of us. I do not like this idea of Time, as you say, taking you back, without us seeing that ’tis done safely.”
“You dolt,” Dristan muttered with a slap on Fletcher’s back, “how can she be traveling through time safely? It does not make sense, given her early description of being hit with a hard enough force to knock her over.”
“Gentlemen, please stop! Really, I’ll be just fine.” Katherine raised her hands and placed each on the two knights who appeared ready to have a wrestling match right in front of her. “It doesn’t matter what you two think or say. I’ve made up my mind, and that’s all there is to it. Both of you stay where you are. If in an hour’s time the gate doesn’t open, I’ll come back here so you can see for yourself that I’m still around. Hopefully, it won’t come to that, and I’ll just get swallowed up and thrown back to the future.”
She watched the uneasiness come across their features. And she did what she had done for the past several days, each time they had had this conversation, when she at
tempted to return to her own time. She hugged Dristan first and then turned to Fletcher. This time, it felt so very different, as though she really was saying goodbye to him for the very last time.
Fletcher held open his arms, and she willingly went into them, even though it was so reminiscent of her encounters with Riorden that she could hardly bear it when he wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug. He had been such a support to her these last few months, and she didn’t know how she would have survived without his friendship. He held on to her longer than he should have, she supposed, but what could she say to him that they hadn’t already discussed before?
“Please do not go, Katherine. Stay here with me,” Fletcher urged. “I will do my best to make you forget him.”
A startled gasp escaped her as her emotions began to get the best of her. It was the last thing she expected to hear from him and was a clear indication he cared for her far more than he should. “I wish I could, Fletcher, but I just can’t. It’s not you...honestly...you’re a wonderful man, but I’ll never be able to forget him. I know in my heart that I could never love another the way I’ve loved him. He’s a part of me, you see, my soulmate. He’s the other half of me, and a love like that only comes around once in a life time. It certainly wouldn’t be fair of me to stay with you, knowing I could never offer you even the smallest measure of what I have felt for Riorden. I care for you, Fletcher, but not in the manner you wish me to. I’m so very sorry.”
“There is nothing for you to apologize over, Katherine.”
Katherine looked around to see if Dristan watched them but saw he had moved to a nearby window, thereby giving them what privacy he could. Her attention returning to Fletcher, she reached up, placing both her hands upon his cheeks, and urged him to lower his head. She placed but the briefest kiss upon his lips before she released him again, much to his disappointment.
“Katherine, I lo─”
She swiftly halted his heartfelt declaration with her fingers upon his lips. “Please...don’t say it. You have been a dear friend to me, but you and I both know, I am not the one for you. Find your sweet lady, Fletcher,” she prompted, watching the shadows of sorrow swim across his amber eyes. “She’s out there somewhere, waiting for you to discover her. All you need to do is go and follow your heart.”
With another hasty kiss upon his cheek, she went to Dristan and repeated the gesture. With one last look, she whispered a soft goodbye and left them standing in the middle of Dristan’s chamber, looking like two lost little school boys who hadn’t gotten their way. The image made her smile, for it wasn’t a bad way to remember two people she had come to care for.
She walked steadily down the passageway and momentarily hesitated at her...rather, their chamber...his door. She gazed at the familiar wooden door, and with a firm hand, entered one last time to peek inside a room that had meant so much to her. Her breath caught, and fresh tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Flashes of memories echoed in her mind as she began remembering everything that had happened in this room, especially the first time they saw one another as ghosts. Her eyes darted to the wall, and her face became flushed as she recalled how he had taken her right then and there. It had been one of the most erotic encounters of her entire life and one she would treasure for all of her days.
Katherine wanted to leave something behind for him but could think of nothing she had with her that would be of any significance. He had already taken her heart. She had nothing left to give him, or anyone other than her unborn child. She turned from the room as unhappiness enveloped her soul. She was ready at last to go home.
With a deep breath, she again made her way down the torch lit corridor. She came upon the turret that she needed to go into but had the same feeling come over her as when they were attempting to get her friends back to present day England. She must go up the steps to return, for to go down would only hurtle her farther into the past.
Katherine made her way down a different set of stairs and backtracked to the tower. She stared up the stone stairwell as if willing the portal to open at her command. But there was nothing unusual happening. The stairs remained normal stairs. The walls remained sturdy with a few cobwebs hanging from the torches lighting the way. She sat down on the first step, praying for Time to take her back, but only silence met her ears. As in the previous days when she had willed the time portal to open, nothing happened to make Katherine think she was ever going to be transported to any place or to any other time period at all.
She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, whispering to God or the time travel faeries to take her back home. No matter how much she pleaded, her prayers went unanswered. She was so tired, and, as her tears began to fill her eyes, she rested her forehead on one of the stairs above her, praying for a miracle to save her.
* * *
Riorden opened the door to Bamburgh’s Great Hall, expecting to see it filled with courtiers. He was pleasantly surprised to see only a few knights and their ladies waiting about. He began to wonder if the king was even in residence when he heard his name being called from across the room. His eyes narrowed whilst a knight made his way to his side.
“Ho, Riorden!” Came the cheery call. Yet Riorden only thought of a young girl at Berwyck, pining away for this very same knight, who now casually crossed the room without a care in the world. His fist clenched and landed squarely on the man’s chin, and Ian went stumbling backwards. He kept his feet, unfortunately, and Riorden thought he was out of shape if the man had not come up close and personal with the floor.
“What the hell is the matter with you, Riorden?” Ian asked, rubbing his jaw.
“That is for Lynet!” Riorden bellowed, closing the space between them and grabbing Ian by the scruff of his tunic. He was just about to let his fist fly with a second blow, when he heard his name called, yet again. He was surprised to see Fletcher angrily making his own way into the hall. Thinking he, too, was about to place his own mark on Ian’s visage, Riorden smirked with a knowing gaze at Ian, who still stood, muttering away about the welcome he was receiving.
Riorden should not have looked away, for the next thing he knew, he was yanked away from the grasp he had on Ian. He was about to make his protest known, when lo and behold, Fletcher’s fist made contact with his eye. Ian began to laugh, but Riorden found this not at all amusing.
“What the hell was that for?” Riorden demanded.
“That is for making your wife shed more tears than she should, considering her condition, you imbecile!” Fletcher announced. “Why have not come for her?”
“What business is it of yours?” Riorden bellowed, advancing on Fletcher.
“I am making it my business!” Fletcher yelled as Riorden made a grab at him. They stood nose to nose, their tempers flaring.
“Enough!” Dristan shouted as he entered the room.
Riorden quickly dropped his hands that were near to clenching Fletcher’s neck.
Dristan approached the group, looked Ian up and down, and then turned his attention to Riorden “’Twould be in your best interest, my friend, to quickly go and retrieve your wife afore you cannot follow where she plans to go.”
“She’s at the entrance to the tower?”
“Aye,” Dristan replied, “and you had best hurry.”
“Did Aiden not tell you, I thought she had drowned in the river?” Riorden asked.
“Aye, he did,” Dristan replied.
“And does she know this, as well?”
“Aye, she does.”
Riorden shook his head. “Then, why does she still want to return to her time?”
“I believe she does not feel as though she has an alternative,” Dristan answered with honesty. “If you do not hurry, you will lose the opportunity to convince her to stay.”
’Twas all the encouragement Riorden needed. His boots echoed down the passageways as he made his way towards the tower where her friends had disappeared through the time portal, but a few months afore. All he heard was the pounding of his hea
rt as he raced to be in time. All he saw was her beautiful face, her warm smile, her blessed soul as his focus on his quest intensified, and he pushed himself harder to find her. All thoughts were gone from his mind, save one. He rounded the corner and slowed his steps when he at last espied the one person he feared never to see again this side of the veil.
Riorden’s eyes drank in the mere sight of the woman who had crossed time for him. She had to be uncomfortable, lying as she was on the stone stairs, and he worried for her welfare, along with the babe’s. Riorden vowed then and there that he would do all in his power to prove his love of her and make her stay with him. But her whispered words, spoken from the depths of her soul, nearly broke his heart all over again as he listened to her plea.
“Please, God! Why won’t you let Time take me back home to where I belong?” Katherine cried softly.
Riorden lowered himself quietly to sit beside his wife, although he dared not touch her. He leaned in close to her and whispered gently, “’Twill not open, my love, because God knows you already are where you belong.”
He saw her flinch upon hearing his voice. Quickly, he rose and offered up his own silent prayers that he was not too late to prove to her he was still worthy of her love.
Chapter 34
Katherine tried to catch her breath as every imaginable emotion raged inside her torn and broken heart. Happiness that he had at last come for her was overshadowed by a fear of losing him again. Anger boiled to almost overflowing that he had cost them so much until she let out her breath to calm the words that nearly burst unhindered from her lips. Words that, if spoken, would always separate their souls and split them forever apart.
She raised her head where it had been placed on the hard step, but she didn’t turn to face him. She was afraid that once she gazed into those hypnotic eyes, she would be lost. There was still so much that needed to be said before she could even begin to forgive him, and yet, a part of her still desperately wanted to go home. She was terrified to be hurt again, terrified to believe in him, and worse yet, terrified to let him see how much she still loved him with every beat of her heart.
