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But it was a love not to be. Tacey had died in childbirth with Caria, and William had brought the baby back to Castle Questing to hide her from King Edward and his systematic destruction of the Welsh royal houses.

Caria was a full-blooded Welsh princess, only she didn’t know it.

All she knew was that she was the youngest child of two people old enough to be her grandparents, and her brother Thomas adored her more than any of them.

He’d spent years away from her and since his return home, seemed to be trying to make up for all of it.

Little Caria was loved deeply and greatly spoiled.

It was what her mother would have wanted.

But the fact remained that Thomas had been resistant to any suggestion of marriage since the loss of Tacey.

It was the whole reason he’d been sent away with Kevin, the whole reason he’d tried to find himself on the hot sands of The Levant.

Caria was his link, his reminder of what he’d loved and lost, and since Thomas had assumed Wark’s command, the child divided her time between Wark Castle, Thomas’ outpost, and Castle Questing, home of William and Jordan.

Thomas’ mother wouldn’t let the child out of her sight, and William didn’t like her spending an over amount of time at Wark, so Caria went back and forth between the two fortresses frequently.

It wasn’t an ideal situation.

Thomas knew that. Even now, as Caria tugged at his hair and hugged his neck enthusiastically, he couldn’t imagine marrying anyone and leaving Caria behind, but he also couldn’t imagine anyone but his mother or Tacey raising the little girl, and that was a problem.

One problem of many.

William wasn’t unsympathetic. He knew what Thomas’ issue was; he’d known for some time.

The years that Thomas had spent in The Levant and beyond, broadening his experience and doing God-only-knew what else, had been a not-so-subtle way of purging the loss of Tacey from his mind.

He’d fought, he’d whored, and he’d lived a life on the edge, but all of that adventure and death hadn’t worked.

Tacey was there as strongly as ever but, in William’s opinion, it had gone on for too long.

As he watched Caria snuggle with Thomas, he went to stand in front of his son.

He had to make the man understand that this was for his own good.

“Thomas, I know this betrothal is not something you want, but it is important that you not pass up this opportunity,” he said. “De Vauden is offering you everything he has, and his riches are vast. Do you understand that?”

Thomas sighed heavily. “I do.”

“If you remain here in my service, you will always only be my garrison commander for Wark,” William stressed gently. “What de Vauden is offering you is so much more. Can you not see that?”

Thomas still refused to look at him. “Of course I can.”

William eyed Jordan, who was looking at her son with some sorrow. She knew his heart was still wounded, eight years after Tacey’s passing. But she also knew the situation with de Vauden might be just what he needed to get on with his life.

“Thomas,” she said quietly. “Ye canna grieve forever. I know ye dunna want tae marry, but ye must understand that marryin’ another willna push Tacey from yer heart.

She’ll always be there, love. Men have been known tae love again after loss.

It has been eight years since Tacey’s passin’ and it is time tae move on with yer life while ye’re still young.

Ye’ve had yer adventures and ye’ve done things that ye’ve needed tae do, and now it is time tae settle down and accept responsibility.

Yer father is offerin’ ye a marriage that will secure yer legacy, and ’tis somethin’ ye deserve.

Tacey would want ye tae take it, I say. Will ye not give yerself that chance? ”

Thomas shrugged as Caria slithered off his lap and ran to Patrick, who was the next brother most willing to play with her.

Having several children of his own, Patrick picked her up and hung her by her ankles as she giggled.

Thomas watched her as she played. As he watched Patrick gently swing Caria back and forth, Thomas ended up looking at Scott and Troy.

“You knew about this,” he said to them. “You knew what Papa was going to do to me.”

Scott cleared his throat softly, looking to his feet as he formulated his reply, but Troy didn’t hesitate. “We knew,” he said. “De Vauden is a great northern lord, Thomas. Any one of us would be pleased and proud to accept such an offer, but you act as if Papa is giving you a death sentence.”

“Do you really have no ambition in life other than to be Papa’s garrison commander for the rest of your life?

” Scott lifted his head, speaking in a low voice.

“I have multiple properties to call my own in addition to commanding the Wolfe’s Lair.

Troy also has multiple properties and still maintains Papa’s outpost at Kale Castle, and Atty is the same.

He commands mighty Berwick, for God’s sake, and Blayth will command Castle Questing when Papa is gone in addition to his Welsh properties.

We have all done very well for ourselves, Thomas, and we have married well.

What makes you think you are any different from us? ”

Thomas was starting to feel scolded. “And Edward serves the king,” he said, turning around in his seat to face his parents.

“My brother, Edward the diplomat, the great adviser to the king, who has been gifted a barony in Cumbria near Scott’s holding of Castle Canaan.

He’s a great man; all of my brothers are great men. And then, there is me.”

“Thomas, I am trying to gain you your legacy so that you will also be great, like your brothers,” William stressed. “Marrying Adelaide de Vauden is not the end of your world. For all you know, it could be just the beginning.”

“Enough,” Jordan snapped softly. “Thomas, stop feelin’ sorry for yerself. Ye’ll marry the de Vauden lass and that will be the end of it. If ye dunna do it, ye’ll always regret it, and I’ll not have ye wallowin’ in self-pity for the rest of yer life. Let this be the end of it.”

She said it rather harshly, leaving no room for argument.

Strangely enough, Thomas didn’t seem to have one.

He understood that his father was trying to do something great for him and, in truth, the man was correct.

It wasn’t the end of his world, but it was a major change.

Truth be told, he wasn’t sure he wanted any of it or was ready for any of it.

Deep down, he was still as muddled and directionless as he had been when he’d first left for The Levant.

The only thing fighting in the Holy Land had done was give him a chance to grow as a warrior.

But as a man of flesh and emotion, there hadn’t been much development. He’d purposely kept himself sealed off.

Now, here his father was trying to do something good for him, something that would bring him the responsibility and riches he wanted so that he could be as prestigious as the rest of his brothers. In time, he would come to appreciate what he would inherit. At least, he hoped so.

It wasn’t as if he had a choice.

“Papa,” he said quietly. “It is not that I do not appreciate what you are trying to do. I do not want you thinking that I am ungrateful. If I must be honest about it, I suppose… I suppose it is simply easier for me to remain in my world as it is than to take the chance of stepping out of it. With de Vauden’s offer…

what, other than the marriage, is expected of me? ”

That sounded more like the Thomas that William had known before he’d gone off to The Levant, a reasonable man behind the sometimes-foolish facade.

But the man who had returned from The Levant– that was the selfish Thomas, moody and unpredictable and far too arrogant for his own good.

William had been dealing with that Thomas for the past few years.

But hearing something sensible from Thomas’ lips gave him hope that somewhere beneath that prideful exterior was a man he could reason with.

He considered the question carefully.

“De Vauden wants to send his daughter and her nurse to Wark Castle so you and the young woman can become acquainted,” he said. “He does not expect the marriage right away, Tommy. In fact, Adelaide is quite young, so he prefers a delay of a year or two.”

Thomas eyed him. “ How young?”

“She has seen fifteen years.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “She is a child,” he said, becoming agitated again. “You expect me to marry a girl of fifteen?”

William held his ground. “If you wait a couple of years, she will be seventeen,” he said. “That is an acceptable age.”

“And I will be thirty years and seven.”

“Age did not seem to bother you with Tacey. She was extremely young when you two met.”

That comment shut Thomas up, mostly because his father was right.

He’d never seen Tacey as very young; all he’d seen was the woman, a tiny woman with an old soul.

Without an argument, he simply shrugged, sitting back in his chair as Patrick set Caria to her feet.

The child ran back over to Thomas, her little hands tugging at his hair again.

Thomas’ focus was on the little girl as he spoke.

“When does de Vauden expect this to take place?” he asked.

“Soon,” William said honestly. “The sooner you get to know the young woman, the better for us all. De Vauden is in the great hall; let us go and see the man. He is most anxious to speak to you.”

Thomas shook his head, his dark hair lashing the sides of his face.

“I am sure he is,” he said sarcastically.

“The man saw me bolt out of a conference when you told me about the contract. He knows that you and my brothers have had to hunt me down. I am sure he is quite eager to talk to a most anxious suitor for his daughter.”