Carissa shook her head. “Are you saying that Mordrac truly wasn’t my father?
“That’s right. You are not the daughter of Mordrac.”
“Mordrac killed my father?”
Ronan nodded and reached out and took her hand.
Carissa grasped tightly to him. She couldn’t believe what he was telling her. The news brought a mixture of relief and heartache. And it explained so much. She had often wondered how her nature was so different from that of her supposed father.”
She smiled and squeezed his hand. “I am like my true father.”
“I would say that you are.”
She gasped. “Do you know what this means?”
“What?”
“I have family other than yours. I have an aunt, and she can tell me all about my mother and father. I will be able to get to know them through her.”
“Yes, you will,” he agreed, “especially since my mother has already extended an invitation to our wedding to her and her family.”
“My aunt has a family?” Carissa said excitedly.
“A husband, two sons, and two daughters.”
Carissa squealed with delight.
“They do not live too far, and their village does not thrive well,” Ronan said. “I had an idea how you could help them.”
“Tell me.”
“You have a good-sized mercenary troop, many of whom have grown tired of battle and wish to settle. Why not see who would like to make your aunt’s village their home. With their help and protection, the village could thrive. And, of course, they would come under the clan Sinclare protection.”
“I know many of them who would like that, though others will wish to return to our camp near Everagis.”
“At least they will have a choice,” he said. “Something I think they would all prefer.”
“This is all so unbelievable,” Carissa said, shaking her head.
Ronan reached out and stroked the corner of her eye. “I thought perhaps this news would finally bring tears of joy to your eyes, and yet you still do not cry.”
She struggled to find an explanation. “I don’t know why I have yet to cry. And I don’t know how to explain that it is a sad joy that I feel. Learning that Mordrac killed my father because he wanted my mother saddens me beyond belief, and yet the joy comes from knowing that Mordrac’s cruel nature is not part of me. Happiness mixes with sadness, and yet I feel no tears.”
Carissa drifted back into his arms. “I was once told that when at last I cried, it would be with tears of joy.”
Ronan kissed her softly before she settled against him. “Somehow I will find a way to bring joyful tears to your eyes.”
Carissa sighed. “It has been so long since I cried.” She shook her head. “The tears I remember were sorrowful ones. I have never cried tears of joy. I don’t think I know how.”
“I will find a way,” he repeated.
She snuggled against him. “You make me happy, that is enough.”
Ronan rolled her on her back and leaned over her. “It is not enough for me. I want to give you all I can and more.”
“You want to make me cry?”
He gently touched the corners of her eyes. “I will never make you cry in sadness, but I will see you cry in joy.”
“That’s a tall task you set for yourself, Highlander.”
“There you go challenging me again,” he said with a smile.
“You do well with challenges.”
“I succeed in all of them.”
“This may be one time you don’t,” she said sadly.
He kissed the corners of her eyes. “I promise you that tears of joy will spill from these eyes soon enough.”
“A promise.” She sighed. “Then it will be so, though soon?”
“Trust me,” he said, his smile spreading.
She reached out and pressed her hand to his cheek. “I was taught to trust no one, but you changed that. I can’t say when I began to trust you. It just seemed to follow a natural course, and somehow trust developed on its own. It was there staring straight at me, I only needed to recognize it.”
“Like love.”
“You’re right,” she said with a nod. “Like love. Suddenly you realize it’s there staring you straight in the eyes and tearing at your heart.”
“And love has you and won’t let you go,” he said with a kiss.
Carissa stared at him for a moment.
“You don’t agree?” he asked with a raise of his brow.
“No, I mean yes, I mean…” Carissa smiled. “I was thinking that you have proved Mordrac wrong. Love not only endures, it conquers hate.”
“That loves does,” he agreed. “And it’s time for us to—”