Even as the column of horses began to walk out of Hale Castle courtyard, Summer continued to look for Isaac. Was it too painful for him to see her leave? The very thought of that twisted her heart, and she wanted nothing more than to leap from her mount and rush to find him.
Perhaps fortunately, his appearance at the entrance to the stables precluded that idea, and her gaze snapped to him. Her lips shaped his name, and she lifted a hand to reach out to him — and her horse stepped out, next in line. The distance between them widened, and hopelessly she dropped her hand, fighting back tears.
He approached the courtyard feeling like his heart was about to escape form his chest, it was beating that furiously, and his wide and terrified eyes scanned the crowds, looking for the familiar fiery hair, shining like a beacon in the darkness surrounding him.
And then, their eyes locked across the crowds and he mouthed her name and how much he loved her, hoping that she was closer than he thought, and that she could lip-read, before she was moving away, and his legs buckled a little. He longed to run after her, but he knew that he couldn’t do it — the pain would be too much for the both of them to handle.
Summer fought the entire trip to keep her melancholy concealed. It became easier when they arrived at Kent; she immediately plunged into a whirlwind of wedding preparations, interspersed with lessons and fittings and formal presentations, leaving her little time to focus on missing Isaac.
But she thought of him every night, and hardly a week passed without her crying herself to sleep at least once.
After Winter’s wedding, though, the situation worsened rapidly. The former serf felt isolated and alone. The folk she’d come to Kent to learn about seemed to have no time for her, or expected her to be someone different. She missed Isaac dreadfully, and began to neglect herself, spending hours in her tower absorbed only in thoughts of him.