Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 319

Chapter 319: Confrontation
Mia woke suddenly, feeling as if something was very wrong in the world. Her hand was empty, and the sky was not quite light just yet. She looked around with concern, but there seemed to be no disturbance she could see.

Ford wasn’t in his bedroll, and no one seemed to be keeping watch. She didn’t see her father, either. A sinking feeling in her gut made her throw off her blankets and leap to her feet.

The secondary pull told her which direction Ford was. She looked for her father and had her fears confirmed, that they were off in the same direction. She strongly suspected what might have happened, but her feet couldn’t carry her fast enough.

She skidded to a halt a short distance away from the campsite, where Seth gripped Ford by the front of his shirt.

Ford’s hands were in the air in a gesture of surrender, and Mia’s heart stopped.

“Papa!” She cried, running towards the pair and shoving her father away from the man that she found herself caring far too much about, “What are you doing?”

Her father’s face held anger she’d never seen before. It frightened her a little bit, but the reality of her fear seemed to shake him out of whatever emotions had their grip on him.

“I’m… talking with Ford,” He said slowly. “About his nighttime activities.”

“You mean keeping an extra long watch so that you can get more sleep?” She narrowed her eyes.

“No,” Seth’s eyes narrowed. “About him touching my daughter while she sleeps, under all of our noses.”

“Papa! You make it sound far more sinister than it is,” Mia bowed up to her full height, indignant at the implications. “He’s holding my hand, that’s all! Helping my magic replenish faster!”

“I’ll hold your hand!” Seth turned on her with a wounded expression. “Your aunt will! Your cousin, your grandfather, anyone but him.”

“Aunt Annie did, the nights we stayed in tents, but it… I don’t know. It wasn’t the same. She helped calm my nightmares a little, but I think you know there’s more to it than that.”

She tried to convey with her eyes what she didn’t want to say out loud. That her magic drew her to Ford, and so he made the greatest difference in her magic usage. Ford apparently already knew this, but rehashing it somehow made her feel embarrassed. Seth breathed heavily for several seconds, then glared past her.

“Don’t take it out on him,” Mia said firmly. “He’s trying to help.”

“Then why has he felt the need to hide it from the rest of us?” Seth’s anger renewed itself, though he released his grip on the young man. “How long has this been going on, and how serious is it?”

She grimaced at the second question which presumed some kind of relationship between them.

“Several days. He’s been sacrificing his sleep for the good of the rest of us. Since that day I broke with exhaustion.” Mia stood up to her father, moving between him and Ford.

“I don’t hold any ill intentions,” The man in question said from behind her. “I’m only trying to help.”

“I don’t think I want to know how you ‘figured out’ that holding her hand while she sleeps helps,” Seth’s eyes flashed with rage, “but since you brought up intentions, what exactly are they?”

“Sir?” Ford asked as Mia tensed.

“What exactly are your intentions towards my daughter?” Seth asked slowly. Deliberately.

Mia swallowed, humiliation threatening to drown her. “Papa…”

“Don’t interrupt, Mia,” Seth warned.

“Will you please stop?” Tears sprung to her eyes, finally drawing her father’s attention fully away from Ford. “Everyone’s fine. Ford hasn’t done anything wrong. Stop treating him like a criminal! Did you notice the moment he started hiding? It was from you. You’re the reason he hasn’t just explained everything from the start.”

Seth stared at his daughter for a moment, ignoring Ford and focusing on her.

“It’s my job to protect you. And I failed at that so badly that it resulted in you and your mother and brothers being kidnapped. All of us being held hostage. Then, this… man… shows up, and takes you back to that very cave where I almost lost you once, and you expect me to treat him like some kind of hero?”

“I ran away. Me.” Mia gritted her teeth. “I asked Ford to go with me. He protected me. Kept me alive when I would have died. I thought we were past this–”

“I thought we were too, until I found him lying beside you,” Seth’s voice broke with rage.

“It wasn’t like that,” Mia told him again.

“Then let him tell me what it was like, man to man. Don’t protect him as if I’m an ogre and he’s a child,” Seth calmed himself enough to look at his daughter with an even, but fiery gaze. She faltered. Is that what she was doing?

“He’s right, Mia,” Ford said from behind her. “I can’t hide forever. If… if you don’t mind, maybe you could go start some breakfast? I’m sure we’ll be back soon.”

“I’m sure,” Seth agreed.

Mia didn’t like it. At all.

“When I came over here, he had you by the front of your shirt. You’re sure neither of you will resort to violence?” She turned to glance back and forth between them.

Ford offered her a shaky smile, while Seth remained nonplussed.

“I’m sure we can work it out without you mediating,” He replied firmly. Mia still felt the sheen of tears threatening to spill over, and her father’s shoulders relaxed a little. “If it makes you feel better, you can send over your grandfather or aunt in a few minutes to check on us.”

That did make her feel a bit better, and Mia nodded, throwing a last glance towards Ford before she walked away.

If he needed to, she hoped he was fast enough to disappear before her father caught hold of him again.