The Lady of Skye (closed)

"They'll prove you wrong, Tamblin." Kitty said softly, hugging Brogan a little tighter against her side, her head resting against his own. "They will be their own men and women as they grow."

"They're welcome to try an' see jus' how much th'world crushes them," he sighed, returning to his place at the window and resting his head against the wall.

Kitty said nothing to that as she settled back into bed with Brogan, holding her boy tightly as he slumbered. She dozed again until dinner was called and she was intent on actually attending it. With Brogan's help, she got dressed and walked to the great hall, holding his hand the entire way until she was seated next to her father with a long sigh.

"I see I've missed some things." Kitty said, glancing down the table to Matthias and Rosie the two of them trying so hard not to let on that something was growing between them.

"Perhaps," Martin chuckled. "Matthias is forward and Rosie is receptive. So I think it'll work nicely."

"You're encouraging it? Even knowing that she has a mysterious past?" Kitty asked, glancing over at her father. "I know you want him married and some children running around the keep, but is this really for the best?"

"I won't tell Matthias who he can and can't fall for. And no one should be judged for a past forced upon them. And whether he marries and has children or not, I just want him to be content. He can find his own way, he's an intelligent man."

"Spoken like a true old man." Kitty said kissing her father's cheek gently. "I want him to be as happy as he can be as well, but I don't want his heart broken."

"I don't think Rosie would do that herself. It'd be other factors that Matthias will want to help her fight."

"I know, Pa. I just wish I could protect everyone in this family from all the bad things that might happen." Kitty said softly.

"So do I... But there are just some things we have to let everyone do and either fly or fall. We'll be there to pick them up if the latter happens." He kissed her cheek as the meal was served.

Rosie actually seemed relaxed and at easy with Matthias as the meal was served. She had enjoyed her afternoon with him and the twins and her eyes had been opened by their conversation before that. It seemed that he might be interested in her beyond a friendship. It was welcome news, but she wasn't so sure that he was making the right choice when it came to her.

Conversation was mostly light as the meal went on, and just as it was being cleared away, a strange sight entered the keep before Rosie could help round up the children to get washed up with time to play before bed.

A dark Wolf with honey-colored eyes entered, escorted by a guard. The Wolf was dressed in partly common, partly tribal clothing with a long dark tunic and trousers, a hide cloak, and a bandolier and belt. He looked to be in his prime, but a touch of grey showed in his thick mane and chest. He felt out of place and it showed, but there was a bit of hope in his eyes as he glanced around. The guard bid him wait there, and approached Matthias.

"Lord Matthias, sir," the guard spoke up. "We located th'Wolf who was expectin' the ship."

Matthias paused, having been on his way to follow his nieces and nephews. "Rosie," he spoke up softly. "Hold for a moment."

Rosie paused as she went to follow after the twins as they rounded out the group of children. She gave Matthias a strange look as the guard base them to come towards the wolf. She had no idea who he was nor what he was doing there, but she politely followed Matthias’s lead in the matter.

Matthias kept Rosie at his side as he approached, and as the Wolf saw Rosie, his honey-colored gaze lit up with hope. He kept quiet til he was addressed, his eyes turning to Matthias.

"Tauren, is it?" Matthias asked quietly, offering a hand to shake. "Matthias McTavish."

"Your lordship," the Wolf shook his hand and bowed his head. "Tauren Sauldai. I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner... I was away on a trade run for my tribe in Mull."

"Not to worry. I only hope this visit isn't in vain." Matthias looked to Rosie. "This fellow believes you're the one he was waiting for. The one your Wolf sent you to meet."

"If I may... I already know it's her," Tauren murmured, a smile coming to his face, almost fatherly. "I'd know my girl anywhere, even if it's been ten years since I last saw her lovely face." He took a step forward. "I've been told you may not remember me... but I remember you, Rosie. We didn't get to spend much time together, my side of the family and your mother's... but you were my best girl when you both still lived in Ireland... before you had to go... I was so overjoyed when I got your father's letter last year, saying he'd found you in Spain and he nearly had the money to get you out of your awful circumstances. But he didn't have enough for himself... He had to stay behind. But he sent another letter, telling me you were coming here to me, to be safe while he tried to hide your trail."

"Wait... who are you to her?" Matthias asked, confused at how this Wolf knew her story so well.

"Her Uncle, her father Adrin's brother. Adrin was the one who sent her... I only hope he'll be along one day too. He's in a dangerous place for our kind."

Rosie simply stared in silence at the wolf, racking her brain for any shred of a memory. She would have been half gowns when she spent time in Ireland with him. If he were right, she was half were. Her Ma never spoke of her father that she could remember and she had long learned to not ask questions about him. Questions would be punished swiftly by her mother’s employers.

“You’re saying the man who paid for my passage was my father?” Rosie asked, her voice filled with confusion. “So he was one of my Ma’s clients?”

"Once, but he fell in love with her and they stuck together. He tried to make life easier for her, especially when you surprised them, but her employers wouldn't let go... They got so annoyed with him that they sold your mother and other girls like cattle. Your mother ended up in Spain. He searched for you both, but he lost the trail after your mother passed... And then he chanced across you."

Tauren looked down at his footpaws. "My brother was the epitome of trouble as a young man. He drank, smoked, gambled, and frequented brothels. But falling in love evened him out and he became responsible. He built a thriving business, one of few of our kind to have money and respect. If he'd been able to build it faster and afford your mother's freedom, he might've prevented all this... but he did his best. And the best he could do for the daughter he'd lost was to get you away from the life your mother died to."

Tauren met her gaze again, offering a gentle smile. "You're a Sauldai, Rosie. You may have been lost for a long time... but you're definitely family."

Rosalind Sauldai. That was her name. It rang a distant bell in her head, but it also sounded just as foreign to her as anything else. The wolf in front of her seemed so earnest about the entire situation, explaining her birth in such a way that made her feel embarrassed. Her parents had been in love, but her mother was still a slave, sold to men for their own devices. Her father had been one of those men.

“Tell him thank you for freeing me.” Rosie said softly to the man, unsure of how she should feel right then.

Tauren's ears folded back slightly, worried that his beloved niece wanted nothing to do with her father's family. "He loves you, you know. He always did. He would drop everything for you. He's a good man, even if he had a rocky youth. I... I only hope he makes it here, and you get the chance to meet him. If only for a moment. You probably have your own life now, and without memories of us... You were always my favorite too. I... I hope we can at least be friends. Someday."

Rosie felt a slight anger rise in her chest as he swore that her father loved her. "If he loved me so much, he wouldn't have allowed me to be raised in such a place nor for my mother to suffer as she did."

Rosie was horrified the instant that she snapped those words at the wolf in front of her. She was not an angry person, but something about the hopeless situation that she had been born into and had herself been forced to work in for a short time made her so upset.

Tauren's ears laid back completely at that. "He tried, sweetheart... He did everything he could to make it easier... but there's only so much a were can do against rich and powerful humans... You two were taken away and gone before he could reach you. He didn't waste a moment in following what trail he could. He went across Europe looking for you... Even to the slavers in Rhodes and Spain, thinking you'd been taken as a half-were."

"It wasn't enough." Rosie said softly, turning from the wolf and hurrying as quickly as she could from the room, brushing past Kitty so quickly as she emerged from her rooms that she was nearly knocked over.

Rosie didn't stop running until she was safely in her tiny room, cowering in the corner beside the bed, sobbing into her curled fist. The pain that she felt was immense and unexpected, certainly not what she had expected when she thought about the circumstances of her birth. Her mother had been a prostitute and her father her client. It wasn't a pretty picture no matter how they might have loved one another.

Raul had married her after her mother's death to ensure that if her father ever did find her, the fee would be ten fold what he could have asked otherwise. He treated her terribly, did things to her that were equally as terrible as her greatest nightmares, and did so with the type of glee that frightened her to the core.

The wolf that had bought her freedom had looked so angry when she had been brought to him that first day. She had been afraid that she might have done something wrong and this was another punishment that Raul had thought up to show her how much power he held. Now, she could see that her father was angry at what had been done to her and not what she had become.

Matthias turned to watch Rosie go, then turned with a sigh to Tauren. "Give her time... it's a difficult story to digest."

"I know," Tauren murmured. "If she does need anything... anything at all, I live in the northern wood with my people. If Adrin turns up... I'll keep him away til she's ready."

Matthias nodded, sending an escort with the Wolf to see him safely home. Quietly, Matthias bided his time, giving Rosie what time she needed to process.

'Go to her, Mat." Kitty said softly after what seemed like hours had passed and she watched her brother try to bide his time. "She needs someone like you to be strong for her. She is as lost as any woman that I have ever seen before."

"It's not my place," Matthias murmured, glancing off toward the hall where Rosie's room lie. "What can I do? I know even less about her situation than she does." He sighed quietly, rising but hesitating to move even at his sister's insistence.

"You care about her, Mat. Even if you try your hardest to convince yourself that she deserves better than you, you still care about her." Kitty said softly as her brother stubbornly refused to see what was between the two of them. "Even Ma and Pa see it too."