Warrior's Last Gift(22)

            The one thing she could be thankful for was that they had left the snow behind them hours ago as they’d come down from the mountains.

            “Do you see that haze on the horizon?” Eric lifted an arm to point ahead of them. “Unless I miss my guess, that’s where we’re headed.”

            Jeanne stretched to see over his shoulder. “Will we make it there before nightfall?”

            “We will,” he confirmed, as tight-lipped as he had been all day.

            After what had passed between them last night, he’d shut himself off completely as if they were hundreds of miles apart.

            Thank the saints they were so near to their destination. She could imagine no better way to end this awful day than by fulfilling her pledge. With her goal so close, Eric’s refusal to talk to her couldn’t matter. Nothing mattered now except the small bundle she carried in her pack.

            Another half hour of riding and the sea stretched out before them, a ribbon of bright blue, separated from them only by a strip of sandy beach at the edge of the rugged rocks they traversed.

            Once they’d crossed onto the sand, Eric dismounted and lifted Jeanne down.

            She gathered stones to build a small fire pit close to the water, while Eric gathered bits of driftwood and brought them to the pit.

            Once the tinder caught and a few small flames licked up around the wood, Jeanne kneeled by the fire and pulled the small boat from her pack. With shaking hands, she removed all the bandages and set the little sail in place. Then she adjusted the pillow in the hollow on the deck before dipping into the pack again for the little bag containing Eymer’s tooth. Gently, she placed the tooth on the herb-laced pillow and started toward the water’s edge.

            “Wait.” Eric stood next to her, a bundle of dried weeds clutched in his hand. “I need the truth from you once more, Jeanne. You say that Eymer knew the babe was mine. Did he know before you wed or after?”

            The past was past, she reminded herself, doing her best to steel her heart. She no longer had any need for secrets.

            “Before,” she answered, meeting Eric’s gaze. “It was the reason he offered himself in marriage. To give our son a name. To give our son a father who wanted him.”

            “And the two of you kept this from me.”

            Jeanne shrugged, sighing deeply. “Eymer counseled for yer being told the truth, but I would not agree to it.”

            “Why?” A suspicious shine filled Eric’s eyes and he dipped his head, blinking rapidly. “Why would you withhold knowledge of my own son from me?”

            “If you had wanted me and a family, you would have said so when I asked ye that we wed. You said no. I’d never hold a child over yer head to force you into what you did not want. My mother did that, and my father resented her till his dying day. He resented me, too. I’d no have a child of mine spend his days believing himself to be the cause of his parents’ misery.”

            Again he met her gaze. “And you feared I would turn into yer father.”

            Jeanne nodded her agreement.

            He scrubbed his free hand over his face and stared out over the water. “So this is the debt you feel you owe Eymer. To repay him for his being willing to raise our son as his own.”

            “Yes,” she whispered, turning toward the water with the little craft clutched to her breast. “Because he willingly offered up his freedom to raise my child. Because he was unendingly kind and courteous toward me. Because this was the only thing he ever asked of me in return.”

            “Here.” Eric handed over the bundle of weeds, taking the boat with his other hand. “Use that to set fire to the ship’s sail. I’ll place him into the water for his journey.”