"I hate you."
In that moment, Alice truly did hate Uncas. She hated him for what he did to her eight years ago. She hated him for whatever he had made her do to Ichante seven years ago. She hated him for what he had been doing for Ichante for the past seven years. Most of all, she hated him for making her hate herself right now.
Uncas stared at her, his dark eyes unblinking even as his jaw tightened fractionally.
Alice rose to her feet, her cheeks flushed with agitation.
Keeping his eyes on her, Uncas reached around and shut the door firmly. Everyone else had headed to the dining hall.
"I hate you." Alice repeated fiercely, her hands curled into fists at her side.
When he continued to hold her gaze unflinchingly, Alice took one step forward.
"This is what you always wanted, is it not? You wanted me to hate you. You want me to hate you." she hissed icily.
When he remained mute, Alice stepped closer until she was practically in his face, her neck cranked backwards to look to glare at him in the eye.
"From the heart? From the heart? My heart and yours?" Alice demanded, her voice rising mockingly.
Ichante had told his mother the meaning of his name. Not that Uncas was surprised that his son had done so. The truth- like all truths - was bound to be revealed someday. Uncas just had not anticipated that it would be so soon.
"That's the meaning of his name." Uncas concurred calmly, noticing Alice's eyes had turned into the same stormy grey as the skies outside. He saw her bite the inside of her mouth hard. His reply obviously had infuriated her further.
In that moment, Alice felt the genuine urge to inflict bodily harm on Uncas. He was not answering her question again, side-stepping his feelings in that cool, logical way of his... again. He always had the ability to rein in his emotions no matter how he felt. If he felt anything in the first place.
"Do you even have a heart?" Alice asked sarcastically. She thought she saw something akin to regret flicker in his eyes but it was quickly distinguished.
Uncas returned her frosty stare evenly, "Lost it eight years ago."
It took a few seconds for his words to sink in and when they did, it fuelled her rage another notch.
"Get out." she ordered coldly, "Get out of my sight."
Uncas sent one long, hard look her way before spinning away to leave the room.
"Do you have a heart?"
Uncas sat under the huge tree in the garden. It was still pouring but he did not care. The waterlogged ground soaked through his buckskins, his hair was plastered to his scalp. He had been sitting under the tree for the past two hours since he exited Alice's room, her wrath trailing in his wake. Uncas had never seen her so furious - or so hurt. His heart ached reluctantly as he recalled the vulnerability in her eyes earlier. The knowledge that Ichante could have been a child created from love had shaken her. Until today, she had staunchly believed that Ichante was an unfortunate child born in unfortunate circumstances, the result of a mindless, careless dalliance his parents had under a waterfall eight years ago... a stupid mistake birthed from Uncas.
He peered into the heavy downpour - so much like that night under the falls...
Eight years ago
"Get back!"
Uncas yanked Alice back from the edge of the cave. He wrapped his arms tightly around her freezing, shivering form.
"We are all going to die..." Alice stammered through chattering teeth, burying herself deeper into Uncas' chest.
"No. Not yet." Uncas reassured as he pushed a chunk of wet hair off her forehead.
Alice let out a hysterical laugh, "Not yet? You mean not today, but tomorrow. Once the Huron find us, we are all going to -"
Uncas cut her off with a hard kiss, his fingers sliding into her hair to hold her fast against him. Alice succumbed immediately, kissing him back with desperate passion. Their breaths mingled, their tongues tangled wildly, their bodies fused together, emitting a sultry heat despite their frigid surroundings. Uncas lowered Alice on the cave floor and rolled over, so that she ended up on top of him. He dragged his mouth away from hers, "Alice. We can stop here if you want."
Alice whispered drowsily, "What do you want?"
Uncas trailed one finger gently from her cheek to her lips, "You."
"Just for tonight?" Alice asked hesitantly as she stroked his jaw.
Uncas captured her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm, "Tonight, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the days after that..."
Alice studied the Mohican warrior who now lay sprawled intimately under her. Her hand skated down to his heart, which was thudding strongly. She bent over to place her ear against his chest - the steady cadence comforted her.
"Do not stop." Alice murmured as she dropped light kisses on his warm, salty skin. She sought his mouth again, "I want you tonight, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the days after that..."
With a groan, Uncas seized her lips in another long, drugging kiss. Their hands frantically undressing each other...
Sometime later, the couple lay entangled in each other's arms. Uncas was lying on his side, with Alice tucked snugly against him, a hide thrown over them. Alice had one hand and one cheek plastered against his heart. She could hear the heavy, solid heartbeat. Right now, it was the most precious sound in the world to her. As long as his heart beat, Alice felt she could endure anything and everything that came her way...
Present
Alice paused at the window overlooking the garden. Uncas was sitting propped against the tree, his knees drawn up to his chest, gazing into the torrential rain, lost in thought. "Now I feel the rain because we are no longer shelter to each other." His despairing words that agonising night eight years ago came back to haunt her. Alice had cooled down and now regretted chasing him out of her room. She should have proposed a mature discussion about their past. But then again, Alice was not sure whether she wanted to dredge up all that painful unanswered questions since they were cordial with each other and Ichante seemed to be coping well with her presence.
Alice lost count of the number of times she had run out into the rain with her cloak while in England whenever she was upset – or missed Ichante. Or missed Uncas in the initial months she returned to England. The sensation of the driving rain slapping her face somehow made the pain of missing them a little more tolerable. Maybe because all of her memories concerning father and son had happened during stormy weather. Ichantewas born in the midst of a blustery rainy night and she used to take him out for quick strolls during drizzles when he was little. He had loved sticking out his tiny hands, attempting to catch raindrops, his eyes wide open in awe.
The rain was getting heavier and Alice was itching to ask Uncas to come into the shelter. She was certain he would not fall ill; just that she disliked the sight of him sitting out there by himself. He looked so alone and filled with remoteness. Just as she made up her mind to seek him out, a figure flashed past her. It was Ichante. He walked out unworriedly into the rain and to his father. Once there, he dropped next to Uncas. Uncas acknowledged Ichante with a nod and shifted so that his son could have more coverage under the tree. Father and son wordlessly viewed the storm impassively, looking like they relished every second of it.
Alice realised with a pang that she wanted to join them but she felt like a stranger intruding into their private world. Did they do this often? She mused morosely, her finger tracing the outline of their huddled figures on the windowpane. If she had stayed, would this been a family routine whenever it rained? If she had stayed, Mikayla would have never been born. Alice could not imagine life without her daughter either.
Uncas figured it was time to get dry - he had spent enough time reminiscing the past. He glanced at his son, who mimicked his stance, chin atop his knees, his expression pensive.
"Have you ever stayed in the rain with Mama?" Ichante suddenly queried, tipping his face to look at Uncas.
"Yes." Uncas answered carefully. This was the first time he had asked about Alice directly - or indirectly. It was a start.
"Did you like it?" the boy pushed on curiously.
"Yes."
"What did you do?" Ichante pursued innocently.
Uncas recalled the steamy kiss he shared with Alice at the top of the fort eight years ago and grimaced. He was not telling Ichante what his parents had done in the rain.
A shadow fell over them and at the same time, Uncas and Ichante were blocked from the rain and wind. Alice. She had come out to get them. It was her cloak that was presently sheltering them. She had heard their conversation - her quivering bottom lip was a dead giveaway.
"We watched lightning paint streaks in the sky." Alice supplied softly.
Ichante studied his mother seriously, "I know Papa is never cold. Weren't you cold?"
Alice kept her eyes on her son as she related candidly , "No. I could not feel the rain because Papa was my shelter."
Ichante seemed mollified by Alice's answer, nodding in understanding.
Uncas, on the other hand, felt Alice's words bathed him in a warmth that he thought he would never experience again. So warm it hurt. His fingers dug into the dirt, willing himself not to be affected.
"Please. Let us go into the house." Alice suggested, still holding the cloak above them.
Ichante and Uncas rolled to their feet in unison.
As Uncas took the cloak from Alice, their fingers brushed. Instead of drawing their hands away, the two let their fingers linger a little longer.
Alice felt a jolt of awareness. His fingers were as warm and strong as she remembered.
Uncas forgot how delicate and smooth her skin was, like satin.
Uncas hefted the cloak higher to cover the three of them, "Let's go."
The trio ran into the house, the cloak billowing above them.
Later that night, Uncas flipped on his back and stared at the ceiling unseeingly.
"I could not feel the rain because Papa was my shelter."
His thumb unconsciously rubbed the spot where Alice's fingers had touched him earlier for fleeting seconds.
Soft like satin.
"So have you decided which house you like?" Cora inquired briskly.
Alice shrugged, "Yes. I told the realtor to prepare the paperwork."
"That would take some time. I suggest we head to the cabins first and return to Albany in a few weeks. Nathaniel and Chingachcook are waiting to see you." Cora opined, as she kneaded dough for the butter cake she intended to serve for tea. Alice had always admired Cora's talent in baking and cooking since she was dismal at those tasks.
"That would seem like the best idea, "Alice agreed, fiddling with the sleeve of her gown. She had tossed and turned for most of the previous night, thinking of Uncas. His attitude towards her bordered on diabolical but based on Ichante's accounts, he never once had painted Alice in bad light despite the fact that she had abandoned the boy seven years ago. For that, Alice was humbled and grateful. Uncas had yet to ask Alice why she had sent Ichante to him all those years ago. She knew that he suspected that her marriage to the Earl was not the one and only reason. Alice knew he would ask one day when he deemed the timing appropriate.
"She can't ride with you, son."
Ichante's shoulders hunched in disappointment as he muttered, "I'm a good rider."
Uncas rapped the boy's forehead, "I know. But Mikayla isn't. She needs an adult to keep her steady."
"Let's teach her how to ride when we are at the cabins," Ichante proposed, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
"We'll see. We need to ask for Mama's permission." Uncas said as he loaded Ichante's horse's saddlebags with supplies.
"She... can't ride either?" Ichante blurted out, looking completely taken aback that his mother could not ride a horse.
"She can... just not very well," Uncas quipped as he strode to his horse and began piling on the supplies. At breakfast, he had asked Alice whether she could ride alone. She had nodded - but not very confidently or enthusiastically. Uncas made an educated guess that her riding ability had remained stagnant over the past eight years.
"Are you sure you can handle him?" Alice squeaked as Cora brought over her horse, equipped with a side saddle. The beast was huge.
Cora patted the horse's neck, "Alba is as gentle as a lamb. I've been riding him for years."
Alice gulped. She prayed the horse she had to ride was much, much smaller.
Just then, Uncas led two horses out. Both were without saddles, with blankets strewn on their broad backs. Ichante skipped behind him, with Mikayla by his side. The little girl worshipped her brother and followed him everywhere like a faithful puppy. But it was obvious Ichante was equally endeared by his sister as he always looked out for her. Alice was glad.
Alice frowned. Where was her horse?
Once Cora was settled on Alba, Uncas lifted Mikayla and deposited her in front of Cora. Alice heaved a sigh of relief. Mikayla would definitely be safer with Cora. She peeked beyond Uncas. Was Cora's employee bringing out her horse? Uncas spoke briefly in Mohican and Ichante easily leapt on the smaller of the two horses next to Uncas. Once on the animal, Ichante started stroking its neck affectionately and murmured into its ear.
"Where is my horse?" Alice asked.
Uncas arched one dark brow at her. " You don't have one."
Before she could question him further, Uncas swept her up in his arms and placed her on his horse. In the next breath, he had hopped on behind her, pulling her flush against his chest, his arms looping around her.
Alice could not breathe. Her senses were overwhelmed by the Mohican warrior who practically hugged her in his arms. His scent, his strength...invaded her.
"You are riding with me." He stated unnecessarily.
Ichante grinned at Alice from his horse but she barely noticed. All she could feel was the scalding heat of Uncas' skin, his muscled arms and chest, and his heart beating slowly and surely. A shiver travelled up and down her spine, and she clutched the blanket with nerveless fingers.
Uncas leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "Ready?"