Rangers of Linwood (The Five Kingdoms Book 1) by LeAnn Anderson

replied, stepping over to her bedside. “Is this why I’ve been called? Do you need money for a doctor?”
    “Oh, no, Ryder, that has been taken care of.” The ghost of a smile appeared briefly upon her lips. What had once been a pair of vibrant rose petals was now simply dry and cracked flesh. The eyes that had once been the color of lapis lazuli were now greyish blue. “I have no need for a doctor anymore. I called for you because I am dying, Ryder, any time now, and I have one last request that I must make of you. I must have your promise before I fade that you will perform it.”
    Ryder raised an eyebrow. “And what task would you have me perform?”
    “Ryder, ten years ago, when we spent those nights in each other’s arms, a child was conceived. I am ashamed to have not told you. I kept her and raised her. I loved our daughter dearly. I purchased her a necklace for her fourth birthday, a gold locket with a sunburst on the front and her name on the back.”
    The hair on the back of Ryder’s neck suddenly stood on end. He had seen that necklace many times before. Surely there must simply be two like it, right? “Go on…” he whispered, his voice cracking.
    “I painted two tiny portraits all by myself,” Cliona continued. “You remember how good I was with painting. It was my favorite hobby. One was of you and me, for I thought that one day you might come back to me and wed me, though I never told her a thing about her father. The one time she asked, I simply told her that her father had left in military service, was missing, and presumed dead. The other picture I painted was her as a baby. I placed them both in the locket so that she might always remember how much I loved her, and how much you would have loved her if you knew her. Please, find her, Ryder. Find her and raise her. Be the father she should have had all along.”
    “I will do as you say,” Ryder said, swallowing hard. “I would have done so long ago if I had only known. What is our daughter’s name?”
    “On the day she was born, it was the spring equinox. The sun was shining down and it was a warm day, a beautiful one indeed, and so I called her Tesni, for it means ‘warmth from the sun,’ because the sun seemed to shine even brighter when she came into the world, and to be even warmer.”
    So there were not two necklaces like it. Hearing Tesni’s name come from Cliona’s lips and echo through the room told him everything that he needed to know. The Tesni Cliona had given birth to and the Tesni he had come to know and love were one in the same. Looking at Cliona, he could clearly see it. Tesni had inherited Cliona’s eyes, though the mother’s eyes were dulled by illness, while the daughter’s remained bright and beautiful. While his own hair was a darker blond, Tesni had gotten Cliona’s lighter, more golden locks.
    Yes, it was all too clear, now that he compared the Cliona of ten years ago to the Tesni of now within his head, and in his mind’s eye he saw it perfectly. Though Tesni looked much like Cliona, his daughter had inherited his chin and nose.
    “Then rejoice, Cliona, for I found Tesni months ago, or rather, Arya found her. Had I known that I was her father, I would have gone out of my way to make sure that she knew.”
    A last smile came to Cliona’s face. “Then I might rest in peace. Care for her, Ryder. Love our daughter the way she deserves to be loved. Knowing that you will, I die happily.”
    Her voice had been growing steadily weaker throughout the entire conversation. Now, she exhaled her final breath. Ryder reached out a hand and closed her eyes. He informed the inn keeper of what had transpired and took off back to camp. Part of him was sad that Cliona was now dead, but mostly he felt nothing but gladness. Tesni was his daughter, and he would make it known to her immediately, give her the family she should have had all along.
    As soon as he arrived, he dismounted and ran straight to Arya. “Arya! Where’s