“And that is why you wish to marry Scott? To become a married woman so soon?”
“I want to marry him because I love him. I will never love another. Please, Papa.”
Paris looked at her. Then, he lifted his hands, cupping her face. “Hector, Apollo, and Helene were born,” he said, looking into her eyes. “And then, there was you. There was always something special about you. Mayhap it was because you looked so much like your mother. When I look at you now, I see her so very clearly. Mayhap there is a part of me that always wants to keep you by my side because of it. Is that so wrong?”
Athena smiled at him. “Nay,” she said. “It is not wrong. I will never truly leave you, Papa. Don’t you know that? I will always be your Tee, in this life or in the next. I will always be your angel.”
“Swear it?”
“I do.”
He kissed her forehead and dropped his hands. Then, he stood back, looking at her torso, noticing the flowing dress, concealing her condition. He could hardly bring himself to speak the words, but there was no use avoiding the subject.
“When are we to expect this de Wolfe offspring?” he asked.
Athena instinctively put her hands to her belly and Paris could see, in that gesture, just how much she’d been hiding from the family. He could clearly see her rounded tummy.
“Soon,” she said.
“How soon?”
“You had better let Scott and I marry in the next few weeks or this child really will be born a bastard.”
“Does your mother know?”
Athena shook her head. “I’ve not told her, but I think she suspects. Mama is not stupid.”
Scott chose that moment to make an appearance. Having run all the way from the hall with Kieran on his tail, he was breathing heavily by the time he came to a stop and looked between Paris and Athena in a panic. Kieran had only told him that there was trouble in the stables and when he saw the broadsword leaning against the wall of the stall, his eyes widened.
“What is that doing here?” he said. Then he held out a hand to Athena. “Tee, come with me, love. Get behind me. I will protect you.”
He collected the sword, convinced that Paris was about to take the weapon to his daughter, but Paris held up a hand to calm him.
“Be at ease,” he said. “I was not the one who wielded the weapon.”
Scott looked at them both in confusion. “You weren’t? Then –?”
“It was your future wife as she demanded I give you my permission to wed,” Paris said, eyeing his daughter. “She was going to kill me if I didn’t.”
Scott stared at him for a moment as his words sank in. “My future wife?” he repeated. “Then I have your permission?”
Paris sighed heavily. “If I do not give it, my daughter is prepared to fight me to the death, so you may have it.”
Scott looked at Athena, who smiled brightly at him. Then, she flew at him, throwing herself into his arms as they giggled uncontrollably together. It was the joy of youth and unrestrained love. Paris didn’t know if he felt better or worse as he watched.
“You were correct, Scott,” he said. “I was a fool. And my daughter is also correct – I am selfish. I suppose… I suppose I simply wasn’t prepared to face this moment and it made me angry. I have lost two daughters in one night and that is a great deal for any man to take. Helene and Athena have always been my special little girls and it has always been the two of them, my little blossoms, and now… now, they are becoming wives and mothers and it is difficult for me to swallow. For what I said… mayhap you will forgive me in time. I did not mean it.”
Scott had Athena wrapped up in his arms, just where he wanted her, so he could be a little forgiving. “There is nothing to forgive, Uncle Paris,” he said. “I was angry. You were angry. I should not have said such things to you and I am sorry, too.”
“I should not have called you an animal.”
“My father says that it takes one to know one.”
Paris’ eyebrows flew up in outrage, looking over at William and Kieran, who were grinning broadly. When he saw the grins, he couldn’t become too angry, mostly because they were right. That was the trouble with being close to men who had known him in his youth.
They knew everything.
He turned to Scott.
“Then we are a family of animals,” he said. “But you are a fine animal. I knew you when you were born and I have watched you grow up. I am entrusting you with my daughter, mayhap the most important creature in your entire life. May she always be that to you.”
Scott’s features were full of joy. “For always, I swear it,” he said. “Thank you, Uncle Paris. I will not disappoint you.”
“I know,” he said, watching the pair as they ran off gleefully. He shouted after them. “But do not announce it! I will do that when I return to the hall!”
William watched the pair flee the stable, off into the night. “They will not wait,” he said. “They are running to the hall to tell everyone.”
Paris grunted. “I know,” he said, sighing. He grew serious. “William, I still do not want them naming their son after me, but not because I do not want the de Wolfe name. It is because that privilege is for Hector, my firstborn.”
William shrugged. “I would not worry over it,” he said. “They only said they were going to name the child after you to gain your favor.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. They are, in truth, going to name it after me, as it should be.”
Paris rolled his eyes. “God,” he muttered. “Another William de Wolfe. Can we stand such a thing?”
William grinned. “He will be the greatest knight England has ever seen,” he assured him. “He not only has de Wolfe blood, but de Norville blood. How can he not be the greatest knight?”
Paris hadn’t thought of it from that perspective. “You are correct,” he said. “I’d not thought of it that way. A knight with those bloodlines will be invincible.”
“Indeed,” William said, slapping him on the shoulder. “Come on – let us head to the hall so that you may confirm their announcement.”
Paris snorted. “Or deny it,” he teased. But he quickly sobered. “I am sorry about today, William. I behaved poorly with Troy and I did it again with Scott. How do you tolerate me?”
William glanced at Kieran, who simply shook his head. “I have no choice,” he said. “We are family.”
“Speaking of family,” Kieran said, eyeing Paris. “Apollo has been showing far too much interest in my daughter, Moira. Tell him to stay away from her or he’ll not like my reaction.”
Paris pointed to Kieran as he spoke to William. “Do you hear this?” he demanded. “This is exactly how I feel with the de Wolfe cubs sniffing around my daughters.”
William didn’t support him. In fact, he frowned. “And Hector has set his sights on Evelyn,” he said, referring to Paris’ son and William’s daughter, who was barely into womanhood. “If Hector gets too close, I’ll cut off something vital. You may want to tell him.”
Paris rolled his eyes. “I cannot believe my ears,” he said. “Have I not been stressing this very point? Men are animals!”