Time to Heal Read online

  “He only let me in for a little while to hold Jamie,” she protested. “He saw how very unhappy I was and he knew that Jamie will only stop crying for me.”

  For a moment, her mother’s icy demeanor broke and she became more animated.

  “If you wanted to hold him, then you should have married his father,” she snapped, her cold gray eyes flashing. “Lord Torrington was perfectly willing to wed you, as you well know! You could be wife to a future Earl right now and soon to be a Countess if you weren’t so stubborn! Instead you had your cousin Richard call him out and shoot him, which did nobody any good!”

  “It did me some good.” Emmeline spoke in a voice that was quiet and controlled, though she felt like shouting. “He outraged me, Mother.” She lowered her voice still further. “He raped me! How could I marry a man who would do such a thing, just so he could go on doing it legally the rest of my life?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous and melodramatic, Emmeline,” her mother sniffed. “You act as though you are the only woman to ever suffer through such treatment. The marital act is never pleasant. Do you think I enjoyed conceiving you? No, I most certainly did not!” she went on, before Emmeline could answer. “But I didn’t try to have your father shot. I bit my lip and did my duty and endured until he was finally tired of me and went back to his…other pursuits.”

  As a resident of a brothel herself, Emmeline knew exactly what her mother meant by “other pursuits” though she didn’t like to think of it.

  “Mother—” she began but Lady Agatha held up a hand.

  “I told you not to call me that anymore,” she said severely. “And furthermore, I do not wish you to come to Hastings Hall again. It will cause talk.”

  “What?” Emmeline could scarcely believe what she was hearing. “But…but you promised when I handed Jamie over to you that I might visit him sometimes,” she protested. “How can I see him if I am forbidden to come to Hastings?”

  “He is not your concern any longer,” her mother said coldly. “Leave him to Higgins—she is well equipped to care for him.”

  “No, she isn’t—he is ill and she’s not doing anything about it!” Emmeline exclaimed. “I can tell by the sound of his cries—”

  “You can tell no such thing,” her mother snapped. “I had Dr. Mullins out only the other day and he pronounced the baby’s condition to be perfectly healthy.”

  “Dr. Mullins is nearly eighty and almost blind,” Emmeline said. “He can’t see past the end of his nose—let alone well enough to examine a sickly baby! You need to get someone else—someone younger.”

  “You mean like your cousin Richard?” Lady Hastings raised an eyebrow critically. “What a pity he abandoned you and went to live among his kinsfolk. Not that I would allow him back into Hastings Hall after he killed your only chance at respectability.”

  Her mother’s words cut her to the quick. It did feel like Richard had abandoned her—though with all the kafuffle about his missing wife, Caroline, and the way Lord Harkens had been hanged for her murder—though no body had ever been found—she didn’t blame him for absenting himself. But she did miss him terribly—he had been the only member of her family who still talked to her and treated her like a person instead of a disgrace.

  Oh Richard, she thought sadly. Where did you go? You’d soon set things right with little Jamie if you were here—I know you would!

  If her mother would allow him to see the baby, that was—which wasn’t at all certain. Speaking of Lady Hastings, she was leaving now.

  “Goodbye, Emmeline,” she said frostily. “Please do not come back. Ever.”

  “But—” Emmeline began, but her mother was already gone, shutting the solid front door of Hastings Hall in her face.

  There was a finality to the gesture that shook Emmeline to the core. For a moment she wanted to cry again. But then she bit her lip and forced herself to lift her chin. No matter what her mother said, she would see her baby again, she told herself. She hadn’t survived this long on her own by being a wilting violet. Somehow, she would see him and make certain he got the medical attention he needed.

  She just wasn’t sure how, exactly, that was to be managed.

  Three

  “Are you certain all these garments are necessary?” Skahr frowned down at himself. He was wearing leg coverings which reached to his ankles as well as a white shirt which buttoned down the front. There were also other garments which went over his arms and torso called a “waistcoat” and a “frock coat.” These strange articles of clothing covered his arms to the wrists and since he was used to being bare-chested, he found them most uncomfortable.

  “Yes, absolutely,” Kat said with certainty. She and her friend Sofia were the two women from this world who were getting him ready to enter the world where the maiden he was seeking was to be found. Apparently her name was “Emmeline” which was strange but lovely, Skahr thought as he tried to get comfortable in the new outfit.

  “I do not understand why I should be made to wear such clothing when my hides are much more comfortable,” Skahr remarked.

  “Because in the world you’re going to, clothes make the man,” Kat explained patiently. “You see, Emmeline’s world is sort of analogous to our own world back a few hundred years ago in the Victorian era. During that time, everyone was very prim and proper and wearing the right clothes was extremely important.”

  “But they are so constricting,” he protested. “What if I need to draw my sword and fight?”

  To illustrate his point, he pulled his five-sided great sword from its scabbard and made a practice sweep through the air. Sure enough, the fabric of the linen shirt and the black coat pulled most uncomfortably, inhibiting his swing.

  Kat winced and took a step back.

  “Hey—careful with that thing, big guy! I like my head right where it is, not rolling across the floor, thank you very much!”

  “I would never endanger you,” Skahr told her, frowning. “Like all Kindred, I hold female life to be sacred. And I have perfect control of Biter”

  “Uh…Biter?” Kat and Sophia both looked mystified.

  “My sword—it’s name is the Foe Biter,” Skahr explained. “Do you not name your weapons here?”

  “Nope.” Kat shook her head. “Sorry. But then, we don’t have the need to carry weapons around the Mother Ship—we’re safe here and we believe that leaving blasters laying around is a bad idea.”

  Skahr nodded thoughtfully. “A wise decision in times of peace. But even so, you have no need to fear my sword.” He handled it lightly as he spoke. Kat had an unruly wisp of hair sticking up from the top of her head. With a flick of his wrist, he trimmed it neatly away so that a few auburn strands drifted down to the floor.

  Her blue eyes widened as she watched the hairs fall.

  “You handle that thing like it’s light as a feather! Seriously, how much does it weigh?”

  “See for yourself.” Skahr handed her the sword, hilt-first, with a nod of his head. He would not normally allow a stranger to hold his blade—which had been given to him with great ceremony during his manhood rites—but he was doing his best to be courteous to his hosts, who were helping him on his quest.

  He had been surprised to arrive, not in the world where the maiden of the prophecy could be found, but in another world entirely. The people here lived in a giant metal ship which they claimed was floating in the sky. Though Skahr had seen no evidence that this was true, he was willing to believe it. It was probably just another kind of magic and the Goddess knew, he had seen enough of that in his lifetime not to discount the beliefs of others.

  Despite their odd claims, everyone here seemed to know of the one he sought and they were eager to help him find her. One of her kinsmen, a male named Richard, had even settled here with his bride. So Skahr was content to accept their offer of help and prepare himself to go into the world where she could be found. And in the meantime, he was on his best behavior.

  Kat took his sword by the hilt gingerly, gripp