Page 118 of Bound to a Warrior
“I would love that,” Mercy said excited. “I had always wanted a sibling, and now to have a sister—” She stopped walking and turned and gave Bliss a hug. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Bliss returned the hug and said, “I am glad that we have met, that our destinies are entwined.”
Mercy sensed that Bliss knew more than she said, but if she had learned anything in the last two months with her, it was that Bliss told you things in her own good time.
“That’s understandable since so much had happened to you,” Bliss said. “Besides some things are obvious to me, while others see nothing at all.”
They entered the cave as they did every night just after dusk. At first Bliss had remained by Mercy’s side and had encouraged her as she struggled to learn to swim. But it hadn’t been long before her strokes turned natural and she was swimming as if she had been doing it forever.
“I believe the swimming helped tremendously in healing my shoulder,” Mercy said.
“Your tenaciousness is what healed your shoulder,” Bliss said. “I am amazed at how well and quickly you have healed in just two months.”
“It is all because you tended me with as much tenaciousness as I wanted to heal. And as soon as I was well enough to walk, you walked with me here to the pool. You understood without me saying a word how important it was for me to be here.”
“You wait for him here, don’t you?” Bliss asked.
Mercy nodded, feeling a tightness grab at her heart as it always did when she thought of Duncan. She knew she would miss him, but she truly had no idea how much. Being separated from him tore at her heart daily and the nights were so much worse, especially waking alone in bed. She had grown so accustomed to having him beside her that she felt empty without him.
Her hand went protectively to her stomach. She was far from empty. Duncan had given her a gift she would forever cherish. He had left her with child and that was the one saving grace. She carried part of him with her.
“It will be another couple of months before you round,” Bliss said.
Mercy laughed. “If it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t have even realized that I was carrying a babe.”
“You were too busy recovering from your wound to notice the other signs. Luckily they were minor to some that women experience.”
Mercy patted her stomach and smiled. “He is good-natured like his father and will give me no trouble.”
“That he is,” Bliss agreed, grinning, and Mercy wondered if perhaps she knew it to be so.
Mercy shed her clothes, eager to enjoy the water’s warmth, autumn’s chill having given way to winter’s cold, though it was still a few weeks away.
When she saw that Bliss wasn’t doing the same, she asked, “You’re not swimming tonight?”
“I have a yearning for honey buns.”
“You’ve set my mouth to watering,” Mercy said.
“Then you’ll be all right if I return to the cottage?” she asked. “And as soon as I set a pan to bake I’ll come fetch you.”
“Take your time. I’m lazy tonight and just intend to float in the water’s warmth.”
Quiet descended over the cave once Bliss left and it gave Mercy a chance to reflex. She was so grateful that Bliss felt like they were more sisters than friends. She had always wanted a sibling, someone she could talk with, confide in, someone to trust.
When she was very young, she had asked her mother about having a brother or sister and her mother had gotten angry with her and she had never asked again. Her mother was also very careful of who Mercy was allowed to befriend. And so she merely had limited acquaintances.
She had trusted Bliss immediately and she had grown more trustful of her every day since. She had tended Mercy with a gentle touch and a caring heart. She was a unique friend, and now someone she could call sister, just as Duncan did with his brothers.
Bliss had remarked many times how Duncan would come for Mercy, she only need be patient. Mercy wondered how Bliss could be so sure when she didn’t know Duncan that well. Bliss had explained that she had seen love in Duncan and Mercy’s eyes when she had first met them. And a strong love such as theirs could never be separated for long. Their deep love would always reach out and reunite them whenever apart.
Mercy hoped she was right and prayed that she and Duncan would be reunited soon. She missed him terribly and had come to realize that though their shackles had been removed, they were bound more firmly by love than any metal chains. And that nothing, not the king or a smithy’s hammer, could separate them permanently.
She floated peacefully in the warm water, knowing she had not only regained her strength but had become stronger than before. She knew that Duncan would insist she had gained her courage on her own, but he had taught her the true meaning of valor, for he lived it every day.
Mercy quickly turned as she heard footfalls and as soon as she saw Bliss, she knew something was wrong.
“Come quick, Duncan is in danger.”
