Barlay Manwoody trudged into his study, absolutely exhausted. It had been a long day. Some days he felt both too young and too old to be Lord of House Manwoody, especially with his newborn twin sons to take care of. They had been keeping the whole house awake, especially with their sisters tormenting them. His study was just about the only place he could get any peace, anymore.
He walked over to his desk and was about to sit down in his chair, when he realized someone very small had got to it first and was using it to nap. A small chuckle slipped from his lips. At three years of age, his third son was already showing signs of being precocious, getting into places he wasn’t supposed to, knowing exactly where to be to cause the most trouble, and managing to slip out of Kingsgrave a few times unsupervised. His sisters were not much better, but were less interested in getting out. He already couldn’t count the number of times the maids had panicked because “Master Kyne has gotten out again.” He loved his wife, Jeanette, in her own way, but he had to admit, her children didn’t quite have the spunk of his bastards.
Smiling, he picked up his sleepy three-year-old, sitting down on his chair, and letting the boy continue his nap on his lap instead. He reached for some papers, but was stopped, “Daddy?”
He’d woken him up. Barlay looked down on his son with a smile. “Yes, Kyne, it’s me. What are you doing in my study?”
“Nell and Twell were being loud again.” He said, as if that explained everything. Which it… sort of did. The children weren’t supposed to go into his study, and it was situated far enough from their quarters that most crying couldn’t be heard here.
“Who is my mommy?” The boy asked, suddenly.
The question surprised his father. “What?”
“Who is my mom?” He repeated, rubbing his eyes sleepily and looking up at Barlay in a childish curiosity that didn’t yet seem to know to be upset by the idea.
“Why do you ask, son?” Barlay quickly regained his composure and asked back.
“Well, Miss Chessie is Sara and Cara and Nell and Twell’s mom. And Jeanette isn’t my mom. So who is it?”
Barlay thought about it for a moment. “Well, her name was Marenne. She used to work as a barmaid on the edge of the Boneway. She liked to tend to horses.”
“Can I meet her?”
“Well, no.” Barlay said, shifting uncomfortably. “I don’t know where she is anymore. She stopped working there after she gave me you and left.”
Kyne blinked up at him, clearly thinking something, though Barlay wouldn’t hazard a guess what. “She left? She didn’t want to stay here like Miss Chessie, and take care of me like she does with Cara and Sara?”
“No, son. She didn’t. She was just like you.” He poked his son in the nose. “She wanted to be out and about and free.”
“Why couldn’t she be free with me?” The boy asked innocently.
This was a conversation he hadn’t expected to have, and it saddened Barlay a little to be having it now, when Kyne was still so young. Giving him a sad smile and pushing the sandy gold locks from his freckled forehead, Barlay just said quietly, “I don’t know. Sometimes I’d like to ask her that, too. But I’m grateful.”
Kyne wrinkled his nose, clearly thinking that made no sense. “Why?”
“Because when she came to me and told me she wanted me to take you because she didn’t want to raise you, she made me see that I wanted you, and all my children bastard or no, to be with me, and to have lots and lots of love.” He gave his son a squeeze and kissed him on the forehead, which caused his son to scrunch up his face again, this time in an expression of disgust. “So even if your mother didn’t want you, you are not unwanted by me. You are my son, and that is what matters most.”
The little boy crawled off his father’s lap. “I don’t get it.” He said, nose wrinkling again. “You’re funny, dad.”
Barlay laughed and pulled him upright. “So are you. Now go on, you’re not supposed to be in my study.” Kyne didn’t bother being rebellious, running towards the door with that funny little burst of energy he seemed to have. He never did like staying in one place long. As he tugged the door open, his father added, “And stop distressing your maids by running off.” But Kyne just laughed and ran out, most likely to cause some more trouble with his sisters. He didn’t understand now, but someday he would, and Barlay hoped he would forgive his mother then. Only time would tell.