Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 92771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Quint was getting impatient. “What aren’t you telling me, Nug?”
Nug turned away, running his fingers through his hair, then turned back, his face full of frustration. “How do you expect me to trust you when you are a stranger to me?”
That was understandable since Quint would feel the same if he was in Nug’s position. So how did he get Nug to trust him? He thought of an easy solution. “Would you trust Shade with this secret?”
“Without a doubt.”
“Then that should be answer enough of whether you can trust me or not.”
Nug dropped down on one of the benches at the table in the solar. “Shade is wise when it comes to people. I sometimes think she can see deep enough inside a person to know their true nature.”
Quint had never given that thought, but if she could see inside the workings of the body, why wouldn’t she be able see other things in there as well? If so, what else had she seen inside of him?
“Your word that you will utter nothing of what I tell you?” Nug asked.
“You have my word,” Quint said and sat on the bench opposite from Nug.
“I thought Caleb was dead when he was found. I think he believed himself about to die since he hurried to whisper two words to me before he fell unconscious… he lives.”
“So, you chose to make everyone believe Ryland lay wounded in his bedchamber so no one would search for him.”
Nug nodded. “Aye. I know Ryland well. He would go somewhere to seek help, an army of men, to rescue his clan, maybe to clans in the north.”
“Why not nearby clans?”
“Ryland doesn’t trust some of the nearby clans. A few foolishly sided with Lord Torrance, thinking their wealth will grow along with Lord Torrance’s wealth. But Torrance does not share, he rules. He would have it no other way. He has been like that since he was young and would join me and Ryland to have adventures in the woods. He always had to climb higher in the trees than others, catch the most fish, be the best hunter, the better swordsman, claim the prettiest lass, be the most powerful, the one everyone listened to and obeyed. I was no match for him, but Ryland was and when Ryland bested him, he would fly into a rage refusing to accept defeat. The older we got the worse Torrance got. With his father’s death about a year ago, he became ruler of the clan. Many Glencairn clansmen left the clan before the old lord’s death, fearful of Torrance’s vicious rule. They sought refuge here at Clan MacLeish. Torrance sent warriors immediately after his father died to bring, by force, if necessary, the traitors, as he called them, home. Ryland would not allow it and so the feud between them began. But it had started long before then. It was just the spark Torrance needed to light the fire.”
“And that brought about the recent battle,” Quint said.
“Aye, but it didn’t go as planned. Torrance and Ryland were to meet and talk with only a small contingent of warriors. Ryland didn’t trust Torrance and had warriors standing by where they couldn’t be seen.” Nug sighed, shaking his head. “Torrance arrived with an army and struck without warning. We didn’t stand a chance. We lost a lot of good men.”
“So, Lord Torrance is a vengeful man.”
“The most vengeful I have ever known. His father, Lord Edmund, confessed on his deathbed that he had fathered two sons and a daughter all from different mistresses. He ordered his son to kill his half-brothers so that they would pose no threat to the leadership of the clan, but he was to use his half-sister to benefit the clan by arranging a lucrative marriage. Torrance promised his father that he would and told him that he had just the right man in mind. I suspect he will hunt her down and see her wed immediately.” Nug grew quiet.
“There is something that gives you pause,” Quint said.
“Aye. Ryland and Torrance could pass for brothers they look so much alike. But the difference was obvious when they spoke. Torrance forever demanded whereas Ryland looked to find reason and solutions. Many believe Torrance and Ryland are half-brothers, Ryland’s mother having been close friends with Torrance’s father long before she wed Ryland’s father, and both men resemble Torrance’s da. No one dared say it aloud but there were endless whispers that continue to this day. Another reason for Torrance to hate Ryland.”
“Or another reason to be vengeful,” Quint said, giving thought to the tentacles of revenge that Shade once spoke of and how they spread and touched innocent people.
“I pray every day that Ryland did manage to survive the battle and that he is somewhere planning a way that he can bring an end to this madness. If not, it will be hell living under Lord Torrance’s rule. One day. One day soon, I tell myself that I will receive a message from Ryland telling me that soon it will be over, and peace will prevail.”