She hurried forward when she spotted Damia running toward her.
“Slow down,” Bliss urged when she reached the young woman and grew alarmed when she saw tears in her eyes. “Is it the bairn? Have you pain?”
Damia shook her head. “Lady Faline is here. Please, my lady, please I beg of you do not let her take me away.”
“You are not going anywhere,” Bliss said firmly. “This is your home and here is where you will stay.”
“Damia, what’s wrong? Is it the bairn?” Bram asked, hurrying toward them.
Damia turned and ran to Bram, his arms wrapping around her to hold her tight.
“Lady Faline is here,” she said through choked tears.
Bram spoke with a spark of anger. “You are not going anywhere.”
“I will go see to this,” Bliss said. “Her visit may have nothing to do with Damia at all.”
“Lady Faline always gets her way,” Damia warned and huddled closer against Bram.
“Lady Faline will not take you away. I will make sure of it,” Bram said confidently.
“Keep Damia out of sight, Bram,” Bliss urged.
“Have no worries, my lady, I will keep her from harm,” Bram assured her.
Bliss rushed toward the keep wondering if Bram realized how he felt about Damia.
“You should have told me you were coming, Faline, I would have had something prepared,” Bliss heard Lady Helice say as she entered the Great Hall.
“It is not a visit, Helice. I have come to collect my servant that my son had no right taking from me and that he wrongly fostered off on you.”
The woman’s commanding tone had Bliss thinking that Damia was right… the woman did intend to have her way.
“Bliss, let me introduce you to Lord Brogan’s mother, Lady Faline,” Helice said, waving her forward anxiously.
Bliss went to Lady Helice’s side and one look at Lady Faline with her hair drawn back so tightly from her face that she would not be surprised if it had stretched wrinkles away.
“Faline, this is Rannick’s wife, Bliss,” Helice said with a smile.
“I hope this one lasts longer than the other three,” Lady Faline said, her eyes roaming over Bliss. “You are Annis’s sister?”
“I am, my lady,” Bliss said proudly.
“She is a brazen one trapping my son into marriage,” Lady Faline said.
The news that Annis was actually wed to Brogan came as a surprise even though she had heard rumors, but she did not let it show. She did, however, correct the woman’s accusation. “It would not be Annis who trapped Lord Brogan into marriage.”
Faline’s face contorted in anger. “You dare suggest it was my son’s doing? You peasants do not know your place.”
“I will not tolerate you insulting my son’s wife, Faline,” Helice reprimanded.
“She needs reprimanding for her outrageous remark about my son,” Faline argued.
“Have you asked your son how their marriage came about?” Helice asked.
“There is no need to. My son knows his obligation to his clan and would never marry a peasant willingly. Amuse himself with one perhaps, but not wed one,” Lady Flaine said with a distasteful scrunch of her nose.
“Perhaps your son wed my sister because he loves her,” Bliss said, recalling the interest Brogan had shown in Annis and the way they enjoyed bantering with each other.
“My son may dally with a peasant, but I can assure you he would never love a peasant, let alone wed one willingly,” Faline said, her distaste of the subject remaining firm on her face.
Bliss forced herself to keep a pleasant tone. “Love can be unpredictable. Besides, from what I was made aware of all three lords had agreed that a search would be made among the peasants for a wife.”
“Lord Balloch would never have agreed to something so absurd. He learned from his own folly of having dallied foolishly with a peasant. That horrible woman, Verbena. His father, the wise man that he was, saved him from such a dreadful mistake. He would never permit his son to make the very same one he almost did,” Faline said and waved her hand dismissing the matter.
Bliss wanted to remind the annoying woman that a search had been made among the peasants since no noble would entertain an offer of marriage from the three cursed lords. But out of respect for Lady Helice, she held her tongue.
“Bring me my servant so that I may be on my way before the snow turns heavy and traps me here,” Lady Faline demanded.
Bliss kept her response firm. “Damia has a home here now. She is not going anywhere.”
“You have no authority in this matter,” Lady Faline said, dismissing Bliss with the flip of her hand. “This is Lord Lochlann’s decision.”
“What is my decision?” Lord Lochlann asked, entering the room.
“Finally, someone with authority in this matter,” Lady Faline said. “I have come to collect my servant, Lochlann. Please have her brought here so I may return home.”
Bliss hurried to speak up. “Damia serves me now. She assists me with my healing.”