right from the start?”
Her parents turned to stare at each other and burst into laughter.
“What does that mean?” She knew their relationship had been difficult at the start, especially because her mother had been controlled by those bastards, but why wouldn’t she have wanted to get away?
Her father grinned. “The first time we met, on the docks in Inverness, we stood a hand’s width apart assessing each other. Neither of us said a word, and when we did, ’twas not kind.”
She set her utensil down, staring from one face to the other. “Truly?”
Her mother nodded, smirking as she reached for Connor’s hand under the table. This was what Dyna wanted. A relationship like her parents’ marriage. Fierce yet tender. “Your father didn’t know I was working for those men against my will. He didn’t know about Claray. He was quite harsh, and I didn’t know what to expect from him. I’d spent years around men who were motivated by personal gain, not honor. I struggled to understand his motivations. I struggled believing his actions were true and honorable. It was a foreign idea to me. Inconsistent with all the men I knew.”
“Papa harsh? I do not believe you, Mama. How could you believe him harsh?” She took another bite of her porridge just because she didn’t wish to appear too interested in these new details about their story. Secretly, she was awaiting every word.
“’Tis true. I hated him. Nay, I feared him.” She studied her husband, assessing him as if they were both back in Inverness on the docks. “I was afraid to have any feelings for him because I feared he’d disappear and leave me.”
Dyna wiped her mouth with a linen square, pondering this thought, something that resonated with her. She understood that fear because she worried Derric would just disappear, like he had so many times already.
“When did you meet Derric?” her mother asked. “How did the first encounter go?”
Dyna snorted, something she tried—belatedly—to cover with a linen square.
“That well, aye?” Papa asked.
“’Twas not the best. He insulted his own sister and I didn’t like it. Joya is one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met.”
“You were upset with him…”
“Aye, Papa. He did anger me, so I reacted honestly and put him in his place.”
“And his place was?”
“On the ground. I tripped him and set my knee upon him.”
“So you were on top of Derric?” her mother asked, stifling a giggle.
Her parents exchanged a look again, and Dyna shoved aside what was left of her bowl of porridge, annoyed by their inquisition.
“It doesn’t matter how we met, or what’s happened since,” she insisted. “There was nothing between us in the beginning, so I had no reason to handle him carefully.” She scanned the hall to make sure no one else had entered. “He might have a daughter.”
“And that matters why?” her father asked. “You remember your mother had a daughter when we met?”
“I’m aware of that, but if the lassie is his, Derric may decide to offer her mother marriage. He could choose her over me.”
Her mother used that soft, comforting tone again. “And you’d prefer he desert his daughter and her mother? Have you asked Grandsire about this situation?”
But she didn’t have time to answer, because her father had questions for her, too. “So he’s not sure the bairn is his? Was the mother a camp follower, who…” He scowled, his hand scratching his jaw. “Never mind.”
“Papa, I’m not a bairn,” Dyna scoffed. “I understand the ways of men and women. So much so that I wish I didn’t have this foolish piece of skin that everyone wishes to guard so well.” That would surely put a halt to their conversation.
Or so she hoped.
Her mother patted her hand. “Don’t give up on the man. He has true feelings for you, whether you see it or not. And I can see you care for him. If you did not, you would never have slept well in front of him on the horse. You trust him. ’Tis why we keep questioning you about your feelings.”
She shrugged her shoulders, afraid her voice would give her away. The thought of putting her feelings for him into words frightened her. Somehow it would make them seem more real.
“You doubt us,” her father said. He stood and held his hand out to her mother. “I think we can show you exactly how we were when we first met. What say you, Sela? Can you dredge up the feelings you once had? The