Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

"H ave you seen Diara?"

It was after sunset at Lioncross Abbey, and Roi was back in the ladies' solar. His mother and eldest sister were there, too, with the lit tapers creating a warm glow against the backdrop of the neat but crowded solar as they both worked on garments.

Dustin looked up from the fabric in her hands.

"Nay," she said. "She never returned, so I assumed she had gone somewhere with you."

Roi shook his head. "She did not," he said. "I left her to go to your chamber, but I've not seen her since. I thought she was with you."

Dustin lowered her sewing into her lap. "I am sure she is around somewhere," she said. "Mayhap she was weary and lay down to rest. The past few days have been very busy for her."

Roi nodded. "Possibly," he said. "I will go and see."

"Everyone is gathering in the hall, Roi," Dustin called after him as he headed to the door. "Find her and bring her to sup. Your marriage is tomorrow, after all. We will want to celebrate tonight with you both."

Roi paused at the door. "There is a good deal to celebrate," he said. "But there is also a good deal to mourn. I find myself in a peculiar position."

Dustin wasn't unsympathetic. "I know," she said. "We will mourn Beckett forever. But you will only marry Diara once, so I do not think your son would mind if you celebrate your union tonight."

Roi thought on that. "You are right, of course," he said. "But I still feel as if something is missing."

"Something is missing, sweetheart," Dustin said softly. "But only in body. In spirit, he will be sitting next to you."

Roi nodded, but then he chuckled ironically. "That will be a little strange, considering I am marrying his betrothed."

"He would want you to be happy, and if it is with Diara, I do not think he would mind."

Roi hoped that was the case. Even if his son hadn't been interested in marrying, he still wondered how he would have felt about his father marrying the woman intended for him—and liking her.

His pale eyes glittered at his mother.

"You like her, don't you?" he asked.

Both Dustin and Christin, sitting next to her, nodded. "I do," Dustin said. "She is a sweet lass and she is eager to please. She will be good for you, Roi."

"She knows how to play chess," Christin said, a twinkle in her eye. "She brought the board in here from Papa's solar yesterday and was trying to teach the little girls. Have you played with her yet?"

"Nay."

"I suspect she might make a formidable opponent."

Roi simply grinned at his sister, indicating his joy at the prospect. They all knew how competitive he was, so a new wife who could play board games would be of particular delight. With that, he left his mother's solar and headed to the wing where female and married couple visitors were housed. Single men were always kept in the knights' quarters or in another part of the house, and he made his way up the stairs to the level above.

A search of several chambers on that level, including the one that Iris was staying in, failed to produce Diara. Iris, now nursing a head cold, had no idea where Diara was but offered to help search. Roi declined the ill woman's offer because he wasn't particularly concerned, but he ended up searching other parts of the keep simply to see if she'd wandered around or was sidetracked by something. The entire third floor was void of her presence, as was the top floor.

He went back down to the entry level.

By now, he was becoming a little concerned, but not too terribly. He knew that she was somewhere on the grounds. He simply had to find her. But when a search of the entire keep and the abbey failed to turn her up, he went outside, into the night, to commandeer the help of a few soldiers. They knew what she looked like, so before the hour was up, Roi had about fifteen soldiers helping him search for her.

They looked everywhere.

At least, Roi thought they did. Two hours after he started his search for Diara, he was no closer to finding her and struggling not to get panicky. He came in through the kitchen yard, into the kitchens themselves simply as a back way into the keep. He'd come through the warm, steamy kitchens before in his search, but that had been early in the process and he hadn't asked any of the servants if they'd seen her. But on his second pass, he happened to ask if they'd seen Lady Diara and was rewarded with a few nodding heads.

They pointed out into the yard.

Now, he was getting somewhere. The cook, a big woman who had been making de Lohr meals for years, seemed to think that Diara might have gone into the stable because she never left the yard or came back into the kitchens, as far as she knew. The woman also happened to mention that she thought Diara might have been weeping, which concerned Roi even further. If he couldn't find her, then perhaps she didn't want to be found. But he was going to tear Lioncross apart until he did just that.

Find her.

The stable was dark and quiet at this hour except for a few oil lamps about, placed strategically so they were away from anything flammable. Horses were snorting, some were crunching the leftover grain in their buckets, and still others were lying down, sleeping. Roi's own horse, an enormous black stallion with white streaks in his mane, must have smelled his master, because he nickered softly as Roi passed by. Roi slapped the beast affectionately on his big arse and continued through the stable block, finally reaching the end. Still no Diara. He knew the soldiers had searched the stable earlier to no avail, so he was about to turn away when something caught his eye.

A ladder to the loft.

He had nothing to lose, so he quietly took the ladder, up into the darkness that was the hayloft, and poked his head up through the opening. It was fairly dark in the loft, with very little light penetrating from below, but it was enough to see a figure off to his right, several feet away and sitting against the roofline of the stable.

He struggled to see in the darkness.

"Diara?" he whispered.

The figure jumped as if startled, and Roi took it as an affirmative that he'd indeed found whom he was looking for. He climbed up into the loft, crawling over to the figure, only to see that there were two figures. Peering closely, he could see that Diara had her arm around Dorian, who was asleep with her head on Diara's lap.

"God's Bones," he muttered. "You scared the life out of me when I could not find you. What are you doing up here? And why is Dorian with you?"

Diara hadn't been asleep. She'd simply been dozing when Roi softly called her name, but was now focused on the man she'd been agonizing over for the past several hours. To hear his voice, soft and deep, was like a dagger to her heart. He sounded so concerned for her, and she loved that. She loved that he'd tracked her down, as if she was important to him.

And that's what was so heartbreaking about the entire situation.

"She was tending her horse in the stables," Diara whispered. "She and I have become friends. You have a very intelligent and clever daughter."

"Thank you," he said. "But why are you up here in the dark?"

"Because she found me," Diara said simply. "We spoke for quite some time until she fell asleep."

"That still does not tell me why you are in the loft," he said, looking around as if expecting to see others. "Are you playing a game of some kind?"

Diara thought on that question. Her hand was on Dorian's dark head, and she put her palm over the girl's ear, gently, to muffle the voices.

"I suppose I have been," she said, leaning her head back against the wall. "I've been playing a game all along, ever since we met. A game that pitted the reality of me against the reality of you."

Roi wasn't following her. "What reality?" he asked, no longer whispering. "Why are you up in the loft, and why has no one seen you for hours? What are you doing here?"

Diara looked at him. There were so many answers to those questions, answers that she didn't want to give.

But she knew she had to.

"I want to go home," she finally said, though her lower lip was beginning to tremble. "I wish to leave tomorrow morning."

"We are to be married tomorrow morning."

"Nay." She shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "Roi, we have been fooling ourselves. That is the game I am speaking of. The truth is that I am not meant for you. No one thinks so. If we go through with this wedding, eventually, you would come to realize what a mistake you have made, and I could not stand it. I could not go on knowing how miserable you were."

He frowned at her. "What in the hell are you talking about?" he said. "What do you mean that no one thinks you are meant for me?"

Diara was starting to weep. She was also still trying to remain still and quiet as Dorian slept on her lap, but it was a struggle. She was hurt and angry and filled with anguish, so much so that she didn't see any need to be evasive with Roi about her reasons any longer. He wanted the truth, and she would give it to him.

"When I was going to find the lace that your mother asked me to fetch, I heard Tiberius talking," she said. "I recognized his voice because of our conversation earlier in the ladies' solar. I do not know whom he was talking to, but I suspect it was his brothers. He told them that his Uncle Westley had informed them of the rumors he'd heard about me. Tiberius is under the impression that you are marrying a whore."

Roi flinched as if he'd been struck. For a moment, he simply stared at her, and she could see his eyes glittering in the darkness as he processed that statement. It was several long and tense seconds before he replied.

"Is that what Tiberius said?" he asked, his voice a rumble. "Exactly?"

Diara nodded. "He said that I was no stranger to spreading my legs, which is how I had managed to bewitch you," she said, wiping at her eyes. "He said that Odette was the only wife for you and that they should face the fact that their Uncle Roi was marrying a whore. Now that you know what your nephews and brothers are saying, I will not marry you and be subjected to that manner of vile abuse for the rest of my life. It is not fair to you and it is not fair to me. I want to go home tomorrow. If you will not take me, then I will simply go by myself, but either way, I am leaving. I came up here because I did not want to see your nephews again for as long as I remain at Lioncross."

By the time she finished, she was weeping softly. She couldn't even look at Roi, who so far hadn't moved a muscle. He was still on his knees in front of her. But suddenly, he was reaching down to pull Dorian off her lap. When Diara tried to protest, he grabbed her by the hand and practically yanked her onto her knees.

"You are coming with me," he said.

Diara dug in. "Nay," she said. "I'm not leaving the loft. I'm staying here until the morning, and then I am—"

"Nay, you are not," he growled, pulling her over to the ladder. "You are coming with me and we are going to settle this once and for all."

Diara was beginning to pull at him, sobbing as she resisted. "I will not come with you," she said. "Don't you understand? I cannot do this to you, Roi. I cannot subject you to those rumors for the rest of your life. They have followed me, and I must accept that, but you did nothing to deserve it."

"Get on the ladder."

"Nay!" she shouted, bracing herself against the loft opening. "Are you listening to me? You cannot live your life with men whispering behind your back that you married a whore. I would not do that to you!"

He was already on the ladder, pulling her with him no matter how much she fought back. Finally, he grabbed both of her hands and held them still in a viselike grip.

"Look at me," he said calmly. "Diara, look at me. That is not a request."

She was a weeping mess, but she managed to lift her eyes to him. Once he saw that he had her attention, he pulled her hands to his lips and began to kiss them.

"When I volunteered to marry you in my son's stead, I did it out of duty," he said quietly. "I did not do it because I had any desire for a wife. I did not do it because of my personal regard for you. I did it because I felt I was morally obligated to do it. Do you understand that?"

She nodded, tears coursing down her cheeks. "Please, Roi," she begged softly. "Let me go. Let me go home and let us end this before either one of us is truly hurt."

His eyebrows lifted. " Before either one of us is hurt?" he said. "Lady, it is too late for that. I buried my son two days ago, and knowing you were in the chapel, feeling your presence, is one of the only reasons I was able to get through it without going mad because somehow, someway, you have gotten under my skin. I never thought I would feel this way again, the way I do when I look at you. The way my heart beats against my ribs at the sight of you. The way my soul takes flight when you laugh. The utter and complete joy I feel when I see you smile. All I know is that I cannot be without you. Please don't give me a taste of happiness only to take it away. It's like giving a man a glimpse of heaven and then denying him entry."

Diara was still weeping, but now with the thrill of his words. She stopped resisting him, and her hands moved to his face as he continued to kiss her fingers.

"When I look at you, I see a future I never thought I would have," she murmured. "Mayhap it is too soon to tell you that I love you, but I do. I have never loved anyone more in my life. I love the way you make me feel. I love the way you speak to me as an equal, and I love the conversations we have. You are kind and generous and compassionate. That is why I cannot marry you, Roi. I would never torture you with the horrible things men say about me. Can you not understand that?"

He pulled her to him, kissing her fiercely. "I think I loved you the moment you asked me if I had dreams, just like my son had," he said. "And the way I felt when I looked at you… I cannot describe it other than to say it made a grown man like me feel like a squire again. I was never giddy in my life until I met you."

"But…"

He cut her off with another kiss. "I understand what you are saying as far as the rumors of men," he said. "But I told you once and I will tell you again—I will kill anyone who speaks so terribly of you. I have shoulders big enough to bear your burden and I do it gladly, for it is something you should not have to deal with alone. I do not care what men say so long as you love me. That is all that matters to me."

"Papa?"

A small voice entered the mix, and they both looked over to see Dorian a few feet away, on her hands and knees, looking at her father and Diara apprehensively. When the young woman saw that she had their attention, she scooted over to Diara.

"Papa, you will marry her, won't you?" she said, laying her head on Diara's upper arm. "I do not want her to go away."

Roi smiled wearily at his youngest daughter. "Nor do I," he said, looking to Diara. "Mayhap if we both beg her to marry me, she will."

Diara found herself boxed in by a young girl with pleading eyes and a man who kept kissing her hands. This was the life she wanted, with people who adored her. But she was afraid—afraid those pleading eyes would turn away from her and she would lose this dream she was so afraid to believe in. Afraid that the rumors and gossip would finally break him down.

"Roi," she said softly. "You know I want to, but—"

He interrupted her. "You are so determined to protect me, come what may, that you are stripping me of my pride," he said. "I am a competent man, Diara. Deedee . I want to protect you . I want your burdens to be mine. I want to feel needed, because I most certainly need you. Can we not trust one another enough to know that nothing on this earth can separate us? Especially not foolish rumors?"

Diara could feel herself giving in. Deedee , he'd called her. That name had never meant so much to her as it did coming from him. She didn't want to leave him, anyway, and his pleading was succeeding in tearing down her wall of determination.

"Aye," she finally said. "I do trust you, I promise. But…"

He began to pull her down the ladder. "Then come with me," he said, not allowing her to finish. "Come with me because I am going to end this once and for all. Dorian, come with us, sweetheart."

Diara let him pull her down the ladder, down into the stables below. He had her by the waist, then by her hand, as if fearful she'd try to get away from him. He helped Dorian down the rest of the way, and his daughter latched on to Diara's other hand, which Roi thought was rather sweet. Truth be told, he'd always felt rather distant from his daughters. He'd identified so much more with his son. But he felt rather bad that Dorian was clinging to Diara, a woman she'd just met, and not to him. That told him a lot about how he'd treated her and her sister, though he really hadn't meant to.

A problem he would remedy after the more pressing one he was about to address.

He had some brothers and nephews to see.

*

The great hall of Lioncross Abbey Castle was full.

Clouds had moved in just after sunset and a light rain was beginning to fall. Inside the hall, the hearth was blazing and men were feasting on boiled beef and sauced mutton. The ale flowed freely, and somewhere, a soldier had a lute and strains of a song could be heard.

But Roi wasn't paying any attention to that.

He was focused on his family.

He entered the hall with Diara and Dorian in tow, pulling them through the crowd, heading for the dais where his family was sitting. The table was crowded with them—Curtis and three of Curtis' sons, with his mother and Adalia and Christin, and flame-haired Rebecca and her thieving boys. Further down the table sat Douglas and Westley, his de Shera nephews, and his youngest sister, Honey. His father sat right in the middle of everything, mostly listening to Curtis and his sons as they undoubtedly discussed something serious, because Christopher seemed quite intense.

But there were more people milling around the dais that he recognized.

People that had come for Beckett's funeral, including Roi's two knights, Kyne and Adrius, who had ridden in the escort party from Pembridge. There was also a local lord from the Welsh border, a Scotsman by the name of Jameson Munro. But mostly, he noticed that his eldest brother, Peter de Lohr, had arrived at some point during the day from his post of Ludlow Castle with his eldest son, Matthew. The only people missing from his immediate family were his middle brother, Myles, and his sister, Brielle.

He made eye contact with Peter as he approached the table. Peter hadn't been present at the funeral, as busy as he was, but even so, his presence now was most welcome. Roi had always had a close relationship with his father's bastard son, and he was glad to see him. When Peter saw Roi, his face lit up and he broke away from his conversation with Munro, but Roi didn't have time to greet him at the moment.

He was on a mission.

Without missing a step, he suddenly leapt onto the feasting table on the dais, nearly kicking his nephew, Arthur, in the head as he did so. Food scattered where Roi's big boots came to rest. As Arthur rubbed his clipped ear, Roi boomed at the entire table.

"Silence!" he roared. "All of you—shut your lips and be silent. I have something to say to all of you, and you will listen or you'll not like my reaction. Tiberius? Shut up !"

The table went deadly silent in an instant, including Tiberius, who had been drunkenly shouting at his cousin across the table. But he, and everyone else, looked at Roi in shock and surprise. Roi was more the silent, steady type, so this dramatic show wasn't like him at all. Roi was seething as he looked around the table, and that was clear to everyone.

No one would escape his wrath.

"It has come to my attention that some very unsavory things have been said about my betrothed, and I am going to put an end to it here and now," Roi barked. In particular, he focused on Westley. "West, you have been spreading gossip that you have heard from some lowly soldiers about Lady Diara, and I am here to tell you that if you ever repeat it again, I will cut your tongue out. Neither Father nor Mother can save you from my rage if you ever tell anyone again that you heard from some dimwitted soldiers that my betrothed has an unchaste reputation. Do you understand me?"

Westley's eyes were so wide that they threatened to pop from their sockets. "Roi," he stammered. "I… I…"

"Silence!" Roi shouted at him again. "You will not defend yourself, because you repeated the same rumor to me. Therefore, I know it to be true. You told Tiberius and Gallus and Maximus, and now Tiberius is going around telling people that I am marrying a whore."

All eyes turned accusingly to Tiberius, who suddenly took on a look of utter and complete fear. Before he could say a word, his mother stood up from her seat across the table.

"Did you say that?" Honey demanded. A petite woman with blonde hair and an iron fist, she glared at her youngest son. "Do not lie to me, Tiberius de Shera. Did you say such things about Roi's betrothed?"

Tiberius was in a world of trouble, and he knew it. Gallus and Maximus would give him no support in the matter because, in truth, they'd tried to be somewhat neutral about the situation. It was Tiberius who had run his mouth off.

"Uncle West said so," Tiberius said, climbing off the bench and backing away from a group of very angry people. "He said she easily spread her legs!"

Westley was on his feet. "I never said that," he fired back. "I will admit to telling you what I'd heard, but I never said that she spread her legs. I never said she was a whore."

Tiberius was going down, but he wasn't going to go down alone. "You said there were rumors that she was unchaste," he shouted. "It's the same thing!"

"It is not," Westley said angrily. "You're trying to put words in my mouth, and I will not let you do it. You're the one who is going around telling people she's a whore—not me."

Honey had heard enough. She flew around the table and grabbed Tiberius by the ear. Quick as a flash, she slapped him across the mouth—a fully grown knight—and yanked on his ear until he howled.

"I am ashamed of you," she said, dragging him down the table by the ear until he was within Roi's range. "Tell Roi that you are sorry and that you did not mean it. Tell him now ."

Tiberius was young. Young, foolish, and defiant. With his mother yanking on his ear and his grandmother heading in his direction, he knew that he was in major trouble. More trouble than his uncle could ever give him. But he wouldn't apologize.

Not until he'd had his say.

"She was supposed to marry Beckett," he said, in great pain as his mother tugged. "Uncle Roi has no claim to her. She was supposed to bear Beckett's sons, and our sons were all going to grow up together. Don't you see? It's just not right!"

Dustin reached him and grabbed him by the hair. Between Dustin and Honey, Tiberius was in a world of hurt.

"So you called her a whore?" Dustin said angrily. "How could you do such a thing? You're a silly, foolish, stupid boy, Tiberius. Can you not see how happy she makes your uncle? That should be your only concern!"

Tiberius was fighting a losing battle. "But she belonged to Beckett!"

"Beckett never wanted her to begin with!"

Dustin hadn't meant to say that, even if it was the truth. Most of the family already knew it. She immediately looked to Roi apologetically as a gasp went up, mostly from the women at the table, and all eyes turned to Diara, who was viewing the entire scene with a good deal of horror. She was living her worst nightmare, slanderous rumors now being brought to light, but Roi had taken charge. He'd told her that he'd always protect her.

Now was his chance to prove it.

Before Diara could react in any way, Roi spoke.

"Beckett was unhappy with the betrothal, Ty, and since you were close to him, you know that," he said. "Why you should continue to state that Lady Diara belongs to him is beyond my comprehension. The truth is that Beckett was very displeased with the contract and had no interest in marrying at all. Stop acting like there was a love match, because there was most certainly not. Moreover, I fail to see how any of this is your concern. You have not only put your nose into business that did not involve you, but you spoke most unkindly of a woman who had never done you any harm. Is that the kind of man you are, Tiberius? A man who harms others and cares not for their feelings? Because if that is who you truly are, then I want no part of you. You are dead to me if that is the kind of man you are at heart."

Tiberius was feeling quite punished, literally, from all sides. His mother, his grandmother, and his uncle had publicly taken him to task. Arrogant as he was, he wasn't as stupid as his grandmother accused him of being. His brothers were virtually ignoring him, and Westley had already told him what he thought of him.

He knew he was done for.

He looked at Roi.

"I… I apologize," he finally said. "I suppose… I suppose things are changing, and I do not like it. Beckett is gone. He was the only one who understood me. And she… she was betrothed to him, and that means she belongs to him and I don't care what you say. But I'm sorry I said terrible things. I… I did not mean it."

Dustin let go of his hair, but Honey didn't let go of his ear. She dragged him over to where Diara was standing with Dorian cowering behind her.

"Apologize to her," Honey demanded. "You will never again shame me like this, Tiberius. Do you hear me? Apologize to this gentle woman."

Tiberius looked at Diara with a mixture of resignation and defiance. He hated apologizing. But he knew he had no choice.

"I apologize, my lady," he said quietly.

Diara gazed into the face of the young knight who hadn't been particularly kind to her since she'd known him. She could have been gracious about it, but she didn't feel particularly gracious at the moment. This entire situation had her about as worked up as Roi was, but unlike him, she wasn't going to jump on the table and shout about it.

She was simply hurt.

"Words," she finally said. "Mere words, Sir Tiberius. You have been using them against me since we met, so you have simply uttered more words that mean nothing to me. Do you want to know where the source of those rumors came from? Mayhap Westley would like to know, since he has been spreading them so freely. You see, I fostered at Carisbrooke Castle. There were two unhappy and unattractive de Redvers daughters who were jealous of me, and they were the ones who started the rumors, rumors that have spread from soldier to soldier because they like to gossip about the nobles. I never did anything wrong. I was never unchaste. I was pious and obedient, but that did not matter to Lady de Redvers. She spread those rumors happily, hoping it would deter men from me and turn them towards her daughters. Now you know. You have continued a petty woman's petty scheme."

Most of the table heard her. That caused Dustin to grab Tiberius' hair again and swat him on the behind.

"Out of my sight," she hissed. "Get out of my sight. I do not want to see your face again until my anger has cooled. Go ."

The last word was spoken imperiously, and Tiberius left the dais, followed by his mother for good measure. Humiliated that his mummy was escorting him from the hall, Tiberius fled quickly. Before he was even out of the hall, Roi turned to the table, but mostly, he turned to Westley.

"You are my brother and I love you, but repeating that gossip against a kind and decent woman makes me ashamed of you." He turned to the table at large. "And I am ashamed of anyone who listened to it and did not immediately dismiss it. You have all spent some time around Lady Diara, and I know you have seen what a fine, noble woman she is. She would make any man proud, and I must say, I feel wholly unworthy of her, and especially after this nonsense, she has every right to look at all of you as an undesirable group of in-laws. She has told me that because of your behavior, she wants to go home. She does not want to marry me. But I have begged her to reconsider because I have fallen in love with the woman and would be crushed if she were to leave. Mayhap you all can make up for your horrible behavior and plead on my behalf."

Dustin was the first one to step up, taking Diara's hands and looking her in the eye. "We are not such a terrible family, my lady," she said sincerely. "I am so sorry that your experience with us has proven otherwise. We are decent and kind, and we love one another deeply. I would like to think that was where Tiberius was coming from—a place of love for Beckett and Roi. A need to protect him against harm. He simply didn't go about it the right way. Mayhap in time you will forgive Tiberius, though I would not blame you if you did not. But do not punish Roi for a foolish nephew's loose tongue."

Diara smiled faintly, feeling the woman's genuine heart. And Dustin had a big one. But suddenly, there were two big bodies in front of her, gently pushing Dustin aside, and Diara looked up to see Christopher and Curtis standing there.

Christopher took her hand and held it.

"I am so very sorry," he said in a deep, quiet tone. "Please do not judge the entire family by the actions of a few. Westley is a good man. He is loyal to the bone. But he is very protective of his brothers, so I believe it when I say that he was concerned for the woman Roi was to marry. He heard the rumors, and naturally, he should be concerned. But he should not have repeated them the way he did. I hope you can forgive him."

Diara wasn't one to hold a grudge by nature, but she was still upset after the events of the day. She'd been wounded before by gossip, so she wasn't too keen to trust or forgive those who had tried to hurt her. Still, she was faced with Dustin and Christopher and Curtis, with Roi still standing on the table and looking at her anxiously. She knew none of this was his doing, and the fact that he'd stood up to his entire family, just for her, spoke volumes.

He was a man of his word.

"Of course I will marry Roi," she said, smiling weakly. "I would not dream of punishing him for something he had no control over. But for the rest… I have been hurt by nasty gossip for years. I am sure that I will forgive in time, but it is a wound that still must heal. Your kindness has helped more than you know."

Dustin smiled at her, patting her cheek, but Christopher made his way over to Westley, who had the appearance of a kicked dog. Once his father started talking to him in a low voice, that look only grew worse. Meanwhile, Christin and Rebecca had moved over to Diara, and Christin went so far as to put her arms around Diara's shoulders. It was a very nurturing, protective stance, one that bolstered Diara tremendously. She looked up at Roi, still on the table, who was now watching his father lecture Westley. Diara broke away from Christin, though gently done, and went to the edge of the table.

"Roi?" she said hesitantly.

Hearing his name, he snapped his head in her direction. Quickly, he climbed off the table. "I am sorry if my actions upset you," he said. "But I felt strongly that I had to handle it in that manner. No questions, no confusion. I feel that it was the right thing to do."

She smiled at him to let him know that she wasn't upset by it. At least, not once she'd had time to digest it all. "You are a man of honor," she said. "I am grateful you thought enough of me, of the situation, to take it so seriously. I hope this is truly the end of it."

"It is," he assured her, his pale eyes glimmering at her. "I promise you, it is. You can see that everyone is very concerned about it. These are decent people, Diara. They simply had to be reminded of it."

Diara nodded. "I know," she said. "And I appreciate it. Do you think they would mind if we supped with them? Or should we go eat by ourselves?"

He chuckled. "Why would we do that?"

"Because you just berated everyone at this table. They may not want to eat with us."

He simply grinned. "How little you know, my lady," he said softly. "How little you know."

He was right.

As the group settled back down, Roi seated Diara at the end of the feasting table and made sure she was served the best of everything available. Dustin and Christin sat with them, along with Curtis and his sons, and eventually nearly everyone gravitated toward that end of the table. It was an apology, a salve to her wounded heart, and a show of unity for the future.

That was something Diara had never experienced.

For her, it was a night to remember. For the first time in her life, she was starting to feel accepted. As if she was part of something bigger, with people who wanted to embrace her. Rumors or not, it didn't matter. Roi had accepted her, and they would too. Odd how these people she had just met were turning out to be more of a family to her than her own.

And she was grateful.