The Lady of Skye (closed)

"Whatever happened...it wasn't your fault." Rosie said softly, hearing the sincerity in her father's voice as he talked about her mother and how he tried to make her happy.

There was nothing more that she could say as she stepped away from her father, moving back towards Matthias where she felt the safest. She watched as her father picked up his pack and turned to leave again, leaning into Matthias's side without really even realizing it.

"He makes me sad." She said softly to Matthias as the children tried so hard to mind their own business behind them. "And it makes me sad that I just can't remember. It all sounds so familiar, but what if I'm wrong?"

"All you can work with is what you remember and what little you've learned. To me, he looks like a man trying not to break under hardship, though he hides most of it."

Matthias looked to her, and wrapped an arm about her shoulders to offer what little support he could. "He loves you, that's clear as day. That seems to be the most important thing."

"I'm sure having a daughter that could remember her childhood would ease his fears." Rosie leaned a little further into Matthias's side as he wrapped his arm around her slender shoulders. "He deserves at least that."

"Uncle Matthias?" Selena asked from behind them, the couple turning to look at the young woman as Durban and Brogan packed up their grandfather's instruments. "Can we go back inside? We're done with what Ma wanted us to do."

Matthias turned and leaned down to kiss Selena's forehead. "Go ahead, love. Tell your Ma what you found. I'm sure she'd like to hear what you got up to." He gave her a smile and sent her off with her brothers.

Selena gave him a nod, turning to tell her brothers that they could go. As soon Durban had the last of the items packed up, he and Brogan started to carry it all inside, Selena following soon after with their papers.

"You love them like they're your own." Rosie commented, knowing that Matthias cared about those children greatly. "You'd bring them to Skye in a heartbeat. Why have you never had children of your own?"

Matthias straightened as the children made their way into the keep, Brogan scampering along behind the elder two. Glancing to Rosie, he shrugged slightly. "I've been traveling since I was of age, learning from mentors and lords around Europe. My family has never had any great wealth, but we do have connections and I decided to use them to learn all I could about being a proper leader. I've studied as far away as Bohemia, getting ready for the day I'll take my father's place as Duke of Skye on the Council of Mull. I only very recently completed my studies. Or rather, I came to the end of my list of potential mentors, and I learned of my sister's woes in Inverness and my father's failing health. So I came back, after a decade of travel. I've never settled in one place long enough to consider a family- I never intended to even consider it before I came home again for good. And now... I've been too busy helping my father and looking after my sister's family to really worry about a personal life beyond friends and the family I already have."

“You’d be a good father.” Rosie glanced up at Matthias as he told her his story. “They adore you and your parents. It’s sad to see their mother struggle so much but you give them hope that things might be alright in the future. Boar especially.”

"Maybe. I'm more concerned with getting things in order here first. I'm only a year older than my sister. I have time." Matthias offered her his arm. "Why don't we head in? The older children will probably be distracted a while. I have no idea what the little ones are up to."

As Kitty had felt stronger that day, the youngest children and her walked about the private gardens. Boar held his mother’s hand tightly, both for support and for comfort. The twins explored the flowers, Ashien sketching as much as he could as Kayla tried to remember the names that Martin had taught her for each plant.

Kitty glanced towards Matthias as he entered the garden with Rosie on his arm, her brother looking as relaxed as she had ever seen him before. It seemed that simply being around the mysterious Irish woman was doing him a world of good.

Matthias glanced around the garden briefly before stepping away from Rosie to kneel beside Kayla to see what she was up to, hugging her to his side when she looked up. "Keeping out of trouble?" He asked softly.

“I’m trying to remember what grandpa taught me about the flowers. I’m not very good at it.” Kayla said as she leaned into Matthias’s side. “I want a garden like this in Inverness. Ours is sad and brown.”

"It may mean you need to bring it back to life yourself if there aren't any gardeners." Matthias then glanced to Ashien. "And you know, the best way to remember is by writing them down with a picture. Your brother would be able to help you with that."

"I'm too little to garden." Kayla said with a shake of her head, looking up at her uncle as he encouraged her to do something new. "And sometimes we aren't allowed to go outside." She whispered softly to him, making that little confession that he may not have known.

"You're not too little. But I'll have a talk with your father and see what we can do, hm? And I'm sure you can find help if you need."

"Ghell or Warwick might help me. They help all of us." Kayla said as her uncle spoke about finding her help with her garden. "If we were in Italy, I could learn all sorts of things about plants."

She wouldn't tell Matthias about Vincenzo. It hurt Kayla to talk about her Papa anymore, so she rarely spoke about him to anyone other than her mother and a few of her siblings. Her greatest wish, however, was to go to Italy and see him and Ben again.