Free Once Upon a Romance 03 - With True Love's Kiss by Jessica Woodard Page A

until she had settled herself before hunkering down beside her.
    “Perhaps,
since it is not a secret, you would share the story with me.”
    Bianca
sighed. Her unfamiliar anger had fled, and with it all her energy. She wrapped
her arms around her chest, and stared into the fire. As always, the flames
showed her the story Robin wanted to hear.
    The story of
Thomas.
    As though it
came from a thousand leagues away, and without a conscious decision to do so,
she heard her voice begin speaking.
    “You know
that I spent most of my childhood with the MacTíre family?”
    “I do.”
    “I was happy
with them; they treated me like one of their children. King Lodney had given me
over to their care completely, and Lady MacTíre told me she had always wanted a
daughter. I spent my working hours learning to read, and play the harp, and
keep accounts, and my leisure hours trailing after my foster brothers. Fain and
Liam were older, and they used to tease Jamie and me, calling at us to climb
higher, swim faster, or run farther. The only one who dared tell them when they
pushed us too far was Thomas.”
    “I thought
the MacTíres had but three sons?”
    “They did.
Thomas was the son of their castelaine. He was Liam’s age, but he’d grown up
working alongside his father, and always seemed much older than the rest of us.
More sober, more responsible. Even Fain listened to Thomas, and Fain almost
never listened to anyone.” She smiled at the memory, then went on. “When Thomas
wasn’t working with his father, he would come play with the rest of us. I
followed him everywhere. I’m not sure, given how much I adored the MacTíre
boys, how I ever found room in my heart to latch on to him, but I did. The
moment Thomas joined us I would abandon Jamie to Liam and Fain’s teasing, and
follow my idol around.”
    “And he
cared for you, as well?”
    “Oh no!
Thomas couldn’t stand me. I was always in his way. And when he didn’t pay
enough attention to me, I took to teasing him, as badly as Fain and Liam ever
teased me. If he climbed a tree I climbed it as well, only higher. If he dove
in the lake I dove deeper. If he picked a handful of berries I would pick
baskets full. I must have driven him to distraction, when we were children.”
    “And yet,
you smile.”
    “It’s a
funny tale. I remember the day I told him I loved him for the first time. I
must have been all of ten years old. We were having visitors that evening, and
Lady MacTíre had forbidden me to go swimming, since my hair was already clean
and brushed and braided. The boys were under no such injunction, so I was
sitting on the bank, watching them throw each other around in the water. Thomas
came up the bank to sit on the grass and let his breeches dry, and I was just
mesmerized by the way the water formed into perfect drops on his brown skin.
The words just came tumbling out of my mouth. I told him I loved him, had
always loved him, and I hoped that one day he would ask Squire MacTíre for my
hand.”
    “What did he
say?”
    “He gave me
a look of utter horror, and ran for the house.” Robin’s eyes were wide, but
Bianca grinned. “He was only eleven! Just a boy. And I was still a child. Oh,
my heart was broken, of course. I went sobbing to Lady MacTíre, telling her my
life was ruined, and over, and she might as well send me to the nunnery.”
    “And what
did she say?”
    “She said to
not despair. That we all grow up, and that in due time Thomas would see the beauty
that was right under his nose.”
    “And did he?”
    Bianca
sobered. “Not before we all went through a great deal of heartache. That year
was the same year that Prince Jestin and Squire MacTíre were killed on a
hunting trip with Brannon. The same trip where Fain went missing. At the time,
we didn’t know what had happened to him. The MacTíre family lost its head and
its heir, all at once, and the kingdom lost its crown prince. It seemed as
though everyone, everywhere was in mourning, and none