Zia nestled closer against him. It wasn’t until a few minutes had passed that he realized she was crying softly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, upset, trying to pry her burrowed face away from his chest. He finally managed to grab her chin and force her to look at him, and her tear-filled eyes broke his heart. “Everything will be fine, don’t worry.”
She sniffled and shook her head, freeing her chin from his grasp. “It isn’t that. It is when I see your passion flair that I know and feel down into my soul how very much you love me, and I know how lucky I am to have found you.”
“We’re both lucky, and I intend for us to stay that way. As for how it happened?” He shook his head. “I don’t know, but I believe the magic of love will find a way to help us now.”
“That isn’t practical,” she teased.
“We—our love—were never practical from the start. Why should it be any different now?”
They both laughed, and after a brief kiss Zia said, “There’s something I must tell you.”
He sat in the chair, pulling her into his lap. “Tell me, I’m listening.”
“I want to tell you the story I just heard, about my mother and father.”
Artair nodded. “I’d like to hear it.”
Zia recited the story her grandmother had told, growing teary-eyed once again.
He kissed her and hugged her close. “How sad for them and for you. I would have never believed someone could die from a broken heart, but now I know it is possible.”
“I felt the same as you when my grandmother told me, but there is more.”
“More that causes you hurt?” he asked with concern.
She nodded.
He held her tight. “I am here for you and always will be.”
She smiled and rested her hand to his cheek. “That is good to know, for my father is in your home at this very moment.”
Artair scrunched his brow and shook his head. “I don’t under—” He grew pale. “Oh my God! Bishop Aleatus is your father.”
“Yes, he is. My grandmother warned me that the information could prove more dangerous than helpful and told me to be careful what I did with it. That is why I waited to tell you.”
“It is a secret no one would have blamed you for keeping,” he said, “but I’m glad you entrusted me with it.”
“But what do we do with it? Will it help us or harm us? That is what I have been trying to decide.”
Artair thought a moment. “Your grandmother claims that your father loved your mother beyond all reason. I cannot see a man who loves a woman so deeply do any harm to the child born of their loving union .”
“You think I should tell him who I am? Though my grandmother says he will know, for I look just like my mother.”
“Then how can the bishop not love you, his daughter?” Artair encouraged.
“We don’t know that for sure. Perhaps the years have not been kind to him and he is now bitter.”
“A few moments ago I told you I believed the magic of love would help us find a way out of this mess.” He smiled. “I believe it just has. You need to believe the same.”
Chapter 34
Zia held firmly to Artair’s hand as they approached the solar. She was grateful to him for speaking with Cavan and assuring that their meeting would be a private one with the bishop. She was also grateful that Artair chose not to divulge her secret to his brother. He left that choice to her.
Zia fussed with her short hair, though it had grown longer since it had first been cut, she wished it was at a more proper length.
Artair grabbed hold of her hand. “You are beautiful. It makes no difference about your hair or anything else. Your father will only see his daughter, and see the woman he loves in you.”
She released a sigh. “I am so glad you are here with me.”
“I’ll be right beside you the whole time. You can depend on it.”
Artair opened the solar door, and she kept hold of his hand as she entered the room.
The bishop sat in a chair facing the burning hearth. She couldn’t see him, or he her. The only part of him she did see was his hand draped over the arm of the chair. His fingers were lean and long, like hers, and showed little signs of age, and he wore a sizable emerald ring on his middle finger.
“Come stand in front of me, woman,” he ordered. “I wish to see this supposed witch with my own eyes. And don’t think you can bewitch me, for I am a man of God.”
Zia looked to Artair, and he kissed her cheek quick and gave her a little shove to get her moving.
“Do not keep me waiting,” the bishop said curtly.
He loved your mother beyond reason. I could see it in his eyes the day his family tore him from her arms.