THE SECRET (The Power Of Love Conquers All)
CHAPTRE 14

"Why does he need you?"

Sgaire was the one who voiced the question. Jacelyn was surprised that the man was willing to talk to her, so the girl turned around and smiled at him.

"He already has Ramsey." Before Jacelyn could answer the man had already added his words.

"And all of us" Azril said. "We are his family."

Jacelyn turned around to look at Azril. "I'm sure Ainsley Callista is comfortable with your loyalty. But, anyway, you guys are men."

Ailean raised one of her eyebrows in response to Jacelyn's words. The man clearly did not understand what Jacelyn was saying. It was not only Ailean who was feeling confused. Garfie and Azril looked just as confused.

"Ainsley Callista also has a female family" Garfie said.

"I'm sure so," Jacelyn agreed.

"Then why does he need you?" garfie asked as she reached out to pick up the piece of pork in front of her, but her eyes remained fixed on Jacelyn, waiting for a response.

"For the time of giving birth," Ailean guessed out loud.

"Then he thought he'd get in trouble?" Garfie asked his Leader.

Ailean nodded. "It seems so."

Azril snorted, Jacelyn responded to that response. "Ainsley Callista has reason to worry. He's not a coward, if that's what you think. She is one of the bravest women I have ever known. He's strong and..."

"You don't have to bother explaining," Azril interrupted with a wide grin. "We all know the advantages of Ainsley Callista well. And you don't have to defend her in front of us."

"Did he think he was going to die?" asked Garfie who seemed surprised by his thoughts.

Before Jacelyn could answer, Sgaire had already voiced her voice out loud. "If Ramsey's wife thinks she's going to die, why would she call you Northumbria?"

Jacelyn turned to look at the mound of robes under the tree trunk. Then, the woman turned around again. Jacelyn decided not to answer the rude man's question. The man could have called her thousands of questions, but she wouldn't have answered a single question from him.

Everyone was waiting for Jacelyn to answer. However, the women they wait for are more concerned with busying themselves with occasionally storing the place to eat back into his bag.

Sgaire's curiosity turned out to be far greater than Jacelyn's dislike. It was evident that the rude man decided to join them. No, the man even nudged his friend to be able to get a place beside Jacelyn, he encouraged Azril to give right to her.

Jacelyn shifted to give the man some space, but still the man's arm was still attached to his arm when Sgaire finally sat down. The man did not back down. Jacelyn looked towards Ailean to see her reaction. However, Ailean's facial expression showed nothing.

Ailean took an apple to throw at Sgaire. While Jacelyn still refused to look at the man next to her and suspected that Sgaire was still pouting. But Jacelyn heard the man bite the apple.

Then, Ailean winked at him. Jacelyn replied with a smile.

"Do you mean to make me ask again, Northumbria?" Sgaire said with a mouth full of apples.

And it was true that Jacelyn decided to make Sgaire ask him back. "Ask me what, Sgaire?" jacelyn asked, trying to sound innocent.

Sgaire let out a rough sigh. The sigh was hard enough to break the eating place in front of the man, Jacelyn thought. Jacelyn bit her lower lip to hold back the laughter of her own thinking.

"Are you deliberately provoking my emotions?" ask Sgaire.

Jacelyn nodded.

"You won't understand." Jacelyn replied in the end.

"Because I'm Stewart's guy?" Sgaire.

Jacelyn let Sgaire see her frustration over what the man had just said. "Do you know, I've always been told that Stewart can be so stubborn, of course I never believe that kind of nonsense. But, after now that I've met you, I'm sure that I should rethink about it."

"Don't make Sgaire riled up," Azril warned Jacelyn.

"Yes, Sgaire can be very rude if her mood is not good" Garfie told Jacelyn.

Jacelyn's eyes widened. "Are you saying he's happy now?" Jacelyn said reluctantly.

Garfie and Azril nodded simultaneously. Jacelyn laughed out loud. The girl felt certain that the knights were joking with her.

while the knights were convinced that Jacelyn had lost her mind.

"We're all wondering why Ainsley Callista called you" Azril said as Jacelyn managed to control her.

Jacelyn nodded to answer. "Because you don't know me very well, I have to admit some vices in me so that you can understand. I am very stubborn, and also arrogant, even though there is nothing that deserves to be arrogant in me. I'm so possessive... Have I mentioned the ugliness?"

Everyone except Ailean shook her head at Jacelyn. However, Jacelyn looked towards the leader. The man's eyes glowed warm. It felt quite stressful to be able to get the full attention of such a handsome man. Jacelyn had to force herself to be able to shift her gaze so that she could concentrate more in her explanation.

Jacelyn nodded. "Well, I'm very possessive" whispered Jacelyn. "Ainsley Callista is also aware of all these vices. In fact, he was relying on the ugliness of that ugliness."

"Why?" Ask Sgaire.

"Because she thought she was going to die" Jacelyn explained. The girl sighed before adding.

"And I'm too stubborn not to let that happen."

The men did not laugh at him. Ailean smiled, but none of the others showed any reaction to her bragging. Jacelyn could feel if her cheeks were blushing. The girl tries to hide it, Jacelyn distracts the embarrassing show by rearranging the dining room to control the shame in her.

There is not much food left to store. As soon as Sgaire started eating, then the man would not stop until the last piece.

Jacelyn resigned herself to go back, to wash the apple cider that felt sticky on her finger. The girl sat on a grassy mound near the river water and washed her hair until her scalp was goosebumps. The woman was exhausted, yet she also enjoyed the beauty and quiet comfort around her so much that she was lazy to move.

As the sun almost disappeared from the sky, leaving only golden orange shadow lines, Ailean came to approach him.

Jacelyn's welcoming smile made Ailean startled. The man reacted by becoming rougher than usual. "You should sleep, Jacelyn. Tomorrow will be a hard day for you."

"Is tomorrow going to be a hard day for you?" ask Jacelyn.

The girl stood up, smoothed the wrinkles on her dress, and rushed down the small mound. Because of the hurry, he forgot his comb. It stumbled on his feet, making him stagger and fall on the ground. Ailean was moving at an astonishing speed for such a big man. The man grabbed Jacelyn's body before she fell.

Jacelyn was horrified by her own carelessness. He urged her to thank Ailean for helping him. But, that sentence was stuck in his throat. The girl could only stare at Ailean in confusion. The sharpness of the man's eyes made Jacelyn's heart tremble. His reaction to the knight was very unreasonable, and since he could not think of it logically, then he could not control it.

"No."

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