A Girl of White Winter Read online

  Trey’s brow furrowed as if he didn’t understand. “Loraine’s money?”

  “Yes,” Francis said. “It all belongs to you and Kara now.”

  I dropped my eyes to my hands in my lap, but when I glanced up, Alexi was watching me.

  * * * *

  That evening, a knock sounded on my bedroom door.

  “Kara?” Adina asked.

  Opening the door, I found her and Trey on the other side. Poor Trey. His close-trimmed beard was turning white. I stepped back to invite them inside.

  “Are you both well?” I asked.

  Trey said. “My dear…I am aware you did not come to live here of your own accord, but you are a woman of independent means now. You can go anywhere you like and do anything you like.”

  “I’ve no interest in travel,” I answered.

  “No, but if you wish, you could go back to Lady Giselle and live on de Marco lands.”

  Adina took my hand. “Or you could stay here with us. The three of us have become a family, don’t you think?”

  Her voice was thick with hope.

  Suddenly, I had choices.

  But I had no wish to return to Lady Giselle now. I had no wish to spend my days pleasing someone else. Adina and Trey accepted me for exactly who I was, and they expected nothing more.

  “Of course I’ll stay,” I said. “You are my family.”

  * * * *

  The next morning, we said our good-byes and gave our thanks to Alexi and Francis in the courtyard.

  Alexi did not kiss my hand, but he said, “Now you’ll not ever need to send for me, will you?”

  I tried to smile at him. “No. I am content and safe here.”

  Nodding, he mounted his horse.

  Adina took my arm, and together, with Lily trotting at our heels, we walked back toward the front doors.

  I was home.

  * * * *

  The courtyard around me disappeared, and I found myself once again inside the small shack, kneeling by the hearth and staring into the center panel of the three-tiered mirror.

  Fighting to take in air, I thought on all that I had just lived through.

  The faces of Royce…Adina…Trey…and Loraine swam around me.

  But the dark-haired woman was now looking out from the left panel.

  “That would be the outcome of the second choice,” she said. “Now you’ll go back to the beginning again, to live out the third choice.”

  “Wait!” I begged. “Give me a moment.”

  I needed to think.

  “To the beginning once more,” she said. “To live out the third choice.”

  My mind went blank, and the interior of the shack vanished.

  The Third Choice

  The Settlement

  Chapter Fifteen

  I stood in the darkness just outside the door of the shack, feeling dizzy and disoriented, as if I’d forgotten something and needed to remember. What was I doing out here? Then I remembered that Raven had just left me—with the door unlocked—and I had to a decision to make.

  He’d given me the option of leaving with his troupe in the morning or staying here and taking my chances—or I could escape the settlement and try to get back to my lady. Looking to the left, I saw the long tree line stretching along the backs of several dwellings. I could make my way along these trees far enough to slip down into the chute.

  But instead, I just stood there, knowing I couldn’t force myself to take such an act.

  Ashamed, I went back inside and crouched down by the fire. I stayed like that all night, even after the logs had burned to ashes.

  Outside, once the sky had begun turning gray, I heard footsteps approaching, and I watched the door. Caine entered first, with Raven behind him. Both men appeared tense, but Caine didn’t react to the door having been unlocked. Perhaps he already knew.

  He wasted no time. “Raven’s just asked that you be given a choice to go on the road with his group. I’m asking you to stay.”

  Before he finished speaking, I’d made up my mind. I didn’t know either one of them, but I couldn’t risk leaving this place with a group of strangers and traveling further from my lady and my home.

  Caine stood there looking down at me with his dark eyes locked into mine, and I suddenly wished that I were not crouched on the floor. Standing, I tried to straighten my wrinkled and mud-spattered gown.

  “I’ve decided to remain in the settlement,” I answered.

  Caine closed his eyes and exhaled. With visible relief, he turned to Raven. “She’s staying here with me.”

  Startled, I wondered if I should correct him. I’d not offered to remain with him, only to remain in the settlement.

  Raven spoke up. “You’re certain, Kara? You want to stay?”

  I wanted someone here to take me home, but that choice had not been offered. “Yes.”

  He shrugged, perhaps believing his part here was done. “All right then.” Touching Caine’s arm, he said to his brother, “I need to go and help with the packing, and then we’re rolling out, but I’ll see you after the first snow.”

  Caine nodded. “Be safe. Take care of Jade and Sean.”

  Raven was already walking out the door. “I will.”

  Then I was alone with Caine, and I wavered. His features were narrow, and his cheekbones were high. He wore his black hair quite short, not even an inch in length, and even I could see that most women would find him handsome. But he was so tall. Raven had promised Caine wouldn’t hurt me or sell me. I hoped this promise could be trusted.

  “Come with me,” he said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Just come.”

  With little choice, I followed him out the door of the shack. He led me around the front and headed deeper into the settlement, down a center path.

  Walking through the settlement in daylight, I could see that it was indeed larger than my first view in the night. At least forty dwellings were scattered about in no apparent pattern. Several constructions were larger than the others, such as the stable and barn and what appeared to be a smithy.

  Beyond the farthest dwelling, I could see more cleared land now growing apple trees. Each dwelling we passed sported its own kitchen garden, but at this time of the year, only potatoes, carrots, turnips, and onions remained in the ground. Chickens pecked in the dirt, and goats wandered loose, eating grass and weeds. There were pigs inside fenced areas. Even at the crack of dawn, a number of people were up and about, feeding chickens, gathering eggs, and milking goats.

  As Caine and I continued on, people nodded to him and cast surprised glances at me.

  He said nothing and led me onward all the way through the settlement to the side farthest from the chute. There, he approached the largest house I’d seen here. It was one-level, but built entirely from logs, with a wrap-around porch.

  Opening the front door, he motioned me inside.

  Stepping in, I found myself in an open room. The floors were hard wood, but there were a few rugs placed beneath polished wooden furniture. One entire side appeared to be the sitting room, with a stone hearth, while the other side contained a wood stove, counter, and a dining table with chairs. The walls held numerous shelves filled with cups, plates, and jars of spices. It seemed a comfortable arrangement to have the kitchen, dining area, and living room all in the same large room.

  But I wasn’t there long.

  Caine led me to an archway in the back of the room and down a hall. He opened the first door on his right.

  “In here.”

  Following him inside, I found myself in a bedroom. The four-poster bed was good-sized and covered in a red and blue quilt. There was a wardrobe, several side tables, and a wooden couch with a long pad on the seat. There was a pitcher and basin on one table. Another table contained a plate of bread, apples, and c
heese.

  I stopped not far inside the doorway, wondering why he’d brought me here.

  “This place is my home,” he said from the doorway. “And this is my room. There’s water in that pitcher and food on the table. I have a number of things to attend to today, so I need to leave you in here. You’re welcome to wash and eat.”

  “You want me to stay in here?”

  “I don’t want you to leave this room. I’d like your agreement to stay in here, but I’ll order you if need be.”

  Confused, I shook my head. “Order me?”

  “You’re my property. You’ll do what I say.”

  A knot began growing in my stomach. “Raven said I had choices.”

  “No. Raven gave you a few choices, and you chose to stay with me. I took you as property from those noblemen. You belong to me.”

  My breaths came faster. This was not what I’d agreed to…or what I thought I’d agreed to. “Where is Raven? I’ll go with him and his troupe.”

  Caine pulled the door halfway closed. “He’s rolling toward the chute by now, and you already made your decision. You’ll be safe in here, but do not leave this room. I mean it.”

  Closing the door, he shut me inside.

  Alone, I was even more frightened—as I had time to think. I’d made a terrible mistake. I’d made the wrong choice.

  * * * *

  In autumn, sunset came early, and by late afternoon, dusk was approaching. I’d not disobeyed Caine and had remained in the bedroom all day without even going near the door. I’d washed my face and hands, but I needed clean clothing, and all the clothes in the wardrobe were his—mainly a collection of wool shirts, vests, and a long coat.

  There was no flint in sight, and I wondered what I might do for light once darkness set in. Perhaps there was a flint in one of the table drawers. I’d just started looking when the bedroom door opened.

  I whirled.

  Caine stood on the other side. Leaning down, he lifted something heavy from beside him. It was my trunk.

  “Your things are in here,” he said. “I thought you’d like some clean clothes. But I want you to change and then come with me.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Just do it.”

  After setting down my trunk, he closed the door, leaving me alone again. I’d not packed the trunk myself and had no idea what was inside. Kneeling down, I opened it, finding a white silk gown, an ice blue silk gown, and two muslin day-dresses, one white and one of ice blue. There were clean slippers, stockings, undergarments, and a fresh shift. My silver hairbrush and mirror lay at the bottom, along with a few silver hair clips that had been gifts from my lady.

  The silk gowns laced up the back, so I’d need help with one of those. Both of the day-dresses laced up the front. After removing my mud-spattered dress, I chose some clean undergarments, the white muslin, and the clean slippers. After this, I dressed quickly, fearing Caine might walk in to check on me.

  I’d just finished lacing the dress up when he knocked. “Are you ready?”

  “Almost.”

  My hair was in snarls, so I brushed it out.

  He knocked again.

  “I’m ready,” I said through the door.

  Opening the door, he entered, starting slightly at the sight of me all in white. He seemed so affected it took him a moment to recover, and then he said, “We’re going to the common house for dinner, but my grandfather will be there, and before we eat, I’d like him to marry us.”

  I shook my head, uncertain I’d heard him correctly.

  “I’m in earnest,” he said. “I want you to marry me now. I know it sounds mad, but I can’t risk losing you to some other…choice someone might offer. Raven caught me off guard this morning, and I won’t risk anything like that happening again.” He stepped closer. “Will you?”

  “No,” I answered, moving away. No matter what he claimed, he sounded mad to me. “I can’t marry you.”

  He sighed. “I didn’t think you would.” Closing the distance between us, he took hold of my wrist. “What’s about to happen may seem harsh, but you haven’t given me another choice.”

  Dragging me from the room, he walked back to the main sitting room and let me go. I looked at the door leading outside and considered trying to flee, but knew I’d never outrun him. Kneeling down, he opened a chest and began digging through it. Then he drew out a thin, leather-bound book.

  In spite of my fear, I asked, “What is that?”

  “A book of laws. Can you read?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. So can I.”

  Grabbing my wrist again, he pulled me out the front door of the house and halfway back through the settlement, stopping at the door of the second largest building—the largest being the barn.

  “This is our common house,” he said, still carrying the book.

  He let go of my wrist long enough to open the door and then took me inside. The vast room was filled with long tables and benches…and people. Scents of warm food filled the air, fresh bread and something savory.

  All heads turned when we entered, and everyone stared at my silver-blond hair and white muslin dress, but their faces expressed more trepidation than anything else. They all wore shades of dark wool. They all had dark hair, dark eyes, and dusky skin. I must have looked beyond foreign in this setting.

  Caine wasted no time and drew me to a group of three people standing near the hearth. I recognized some of them from my arrival. Logan was as tall as Caine. His shoulders were broader, but his features were not so defined. Beside him stood the woman with the thick braid who’d first noticed me up on the horse last night. They both watched us approach with expressions somewhere between shock and disapproval.

  But the third member was Caine’s grandfather. As we drew closer, I noticed how much he looked like Raven, of medium height, with a solid build and strong jaw. His long gray hair hung loose down his back. He watched me with an expression of concern, and when Caine stopped only a few paces away, the elder man came to me.

  “I am Tristan,” he said, holding out his hand. “These people with me are Logan and Brida.”

  His voice was kind and so were his eyes, and I badly wanted to take his hand, but I was frozen in place with no idea what was about to happen.

  “Grandfather,” Caine said with a bow of respect.

  “Has the girl agreed to marry you?” Tristan asked. Apparently, he knew some of Caine’s plans.

  “No.”

  “Then you’ll have to wait. ”

  “No,” Caine said again, holding up the book. “I’m invoking the fourteenth law, and I choose to take her as wife instead of servant.”

  I felt dizzy, and the room began to spin. What was he saying?

  Brida gasped. “You can’t! That law hasn’t been used in over a hundred years, before our people settled here, back when they were still barbaric travelers making up rules to accommodate anything they took.”

  Caine opened the book and read aloud. “If a woman is taken in a raid as property, she can be claimed as either servant or wife.” He looked up.

  “But she’s not willing!” Brida argued. “Look at her!”

  “She was property,” Caine answered. “I took her as property, and now, I’m claiming her as wife. That is the end of it.”

  Tristan listened to all this carefully and asked Caine. “And she will live in the house with you and me?”

  “Of course. She’s my wife.”

  As of yet, Logan hadn’t spoken, but his face was a mask of anger. “Grandfather, we cannot allow him to use an old law to bring an outsider into our midst, into our family.”

  When Tristan didn’t answer, Caine turned to his brother. “I think you’ll find that Grandfather would be hesitant to let you question any of the laws. Because if you question the fourteenth law, I may question the
first one.”

  Everyone in the small group went still, and although I had no idea what the first law might be, Caine’s threat caused Logan to fall silent.

  Brida wrung her hands as if distressed. “So, is there to be some travesty of a hand-fasting ceremony, where you force her to make vows?”

  “No,” Caine answered. “Nothing is needed. It’s done. I’ve claimed her as my wife.” He looked down at me. “Are you hungry? I think dinner is ready.”

  Unable to answer, I swayed on my feet.

  I was Caine’s wife?

  When he caught me, a flash of regret crossed his features, but he did not relent.

  “Come and sit down,” he said. “Try to eat something.”

  * * * *

  The rest of the evening at the common house was a blur. At Caine’s bidding, I’d tried to eat some bread but couldn’t manage. When he and Tristan finished their own suppers and were ready to leave, they took me home.

  Upon entering the house, Tristan vanished into a side room off the kitchen, and Caine took me down the hallway to the bedroom. Only when he followed me inside and closed the door did a bolt of fear strike through me.

  I was his wife.

  Fear turned to panic as I looked from the bed to him.

  At the sight of my expression, he stepped away in alarm. “I’m not going to…” Then he grew insulted. “What do you take me for?”

  What did I take him for? I took him for a man who’d forcibly stolen me and then married me without my consent. At this point, I would not have put anything past him.

  Still watching me, he seemed to come to the same conclusion and turned away. “I just needed to make a claim. I don’t expect anything else from you.” He walked to the door. “Logan will make this difficult, so I need to sleep in here for the sake of appearance. You get ready for bed and under the blankets. I’ll be back in a few minutes, but I’ll sleep on that couch.”

  * * * *

  The next morning, when I woke up, I was alone in the room, but the door was slightly ajar. Rising, I dressed quickly—back into my white muslin—and left the room slowly, walking to the edge of the hallway where I could peer into the large living area.