Page 90 of The Thornwyck Rose
Seren reached out, smoothed the sweat-dark curls back from his damp brow. “The physician said I will heal.”
“You shouldn’t have to pretend you’re well. He put a sword to your neck.”
“And yet here I am,” she said softly. “Alive.Still with you.”
He shook his head, his small face drawn in rage. “Then, when I am grown, I shall slit my father’s throat just as he nearly slit yours.”
His mouth twisted. “When I am lord, I will erase his name. Strike it from the banners. From the walls. From the keep itself.”
“Son.” She caught his chin and forced him to meet her eyes. “Look at me.”
His eyes locked on hers, wide and furious.
“Your rage will make you bitter. And a bitter boy becomes a bitter man. A bitter man becomes a despotic lord like your father.”
“But he?—”
“Do not be your father when the lordship becomes yours.”
David’s jaw tightened.
“Yes, Mother.” But his gaze slid back to the cut at her neck. “Still…” he said after a moment, his voice low, “he will pay for that one day.”
“Vengeance is the Lord’s,” Seren said, cupping his cheek. “Leave it to Him. Be a child, for you are still a child.”
He didn’t argue.
Instead, he crawled into the bed beside her, curling close the way he had when he was small. He kissed her cheek and whispered into the crook of her neck, “One day, I will protect you and my sisters and Ragnar. The way you and Commander de Montfort protect us.”
A knot formed in her throat, and she closed her eyes against the ache.
“That I know is true.”
She held him tighter.
“Is it true, though?” he asked. “Did you kiss the commander? Do you . . . love him?”
Margot dropped the basin, the water sloshing onto the floor. She stammered an apology, but Seren barely heard it.
Her heart beat fast.
“No, Son,” she said carefully. “Husband and wife share kisses, like the ones Captain de Léry spoke of. A kiss on the cheek is acceptable for friends . . .”
Her voice faltered. She couldn’t lie to her son.
She loved Erik, so she didn’t answer his last question.
David sniffled and rubbed his eyes on her sleeve. “I thought maybe you did.”
Seren pulled him back to meet his face. “Why do you think that?”
His cheeks flushed red, and he tucked his chin. “I’m sorry.”
Seren tightened her embrace. “You have nothing to apologize for.” She drew him against her again.
He turned his face into her shoulder, and she kissed his hair.
“Does Father kiss you like the kiss Captain de Léry spoke of. You are husband and wife,” David asked.
