Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 90737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Eat well, for you need strength for later,” he said with a playful leer. As usual he could have sworn he heard her silent chuckle resonant in his head and he reached for a chunk of cheese breaking it in two to hand a piece to his wife.
She took it in her hand that already held a piece of bread and walked her fingers across the table and shrugged, her eyes going wide in question.
“You want to know if Henry found anything,” Cree said.
Dawn nodded eager to hear.
“The snow has made it difficult for him. The only thing we have so far is the smaller track inside a larger one and none fit the size of the dead man’s boot.”
Dawn held up three fingers as she munched on the cheese.
Cree nodded and made quick work of the piece of bread he had popped into his mouth, then got busy peeling two quail eggs. “Aye, three people, one dead, the other two we know nothing about though one is most likely the killer. The question is why he killed the man.” He handed his wife one of the peeled eggs.
Dawn watched her husband’s attention drawn to Newlin, talking to one of his warriors at the far end of the Great Hall. She rested her hand on his arm and shrugged when his eyes met hers.
“I ordered Newlin to change the way his sentinels guard the village. They are too predictable in timing and the areas they cover. A few days of watching them and someone would know exactly where to enter the village without notice. I have also advised him to build a wall in certain areas. It would make defending the keep easier.” Cree cast another look at Newlin. “Unfortunately, I do not think he has the coin to be able to do it. I think Newlin has more problems than he says and is the reason why he hastily wed his daughter to Lord Bhric. Clan MacShane is a wealthy and influential clan, though how it will fare under the new lord is anyone’s guess. I do not know this Bhric, or have I heard anything about him, but I am familiar with Northmen and some of them can be savages.”
A shudder ran through Dawn, thinking of her earlier conversation with Tavia. She worried for the young woman and wished there was something she could do to help her, but there was not a thing she could do. Tavia was wed to Lord Bhric, and nothing would change that.
“Something troubles you, Dawn?” Cree asked seeing his wife chewing on her lower lip instead of her food.
Dawn shook away the troublesome thoughts.
Cree leaned his head down again to whisper, “Something does trouble you and I can see it. You will tell me later.” Appeased that she nodded, he reached for more cheese to share with her.
“Forgive my tardiness, Lord Cree,” Tavia said, hurrying to take a seat next to Dawn. “I needed to see Flora settled for the night.”
“How is she?” Cree asked, knowing it was what was on his wife’s silent tongue.
“Not as well as I had hoped, but I do have hope that the new brew Auda, our healer, has made will help her and she will improve,” Tavia said.
“Lord Cree does not need to be bothered with news about Flora,” Newlin reprimanded his daughter when he took a seat next to Cree.
“Lord Cree asked, Da, and I thank him for his thoughtfulness,” Tavia said.
“That is kind of you, Lord Cree,” Newlin said. “My brother’s daughter can be a troublesome lot. She is much too intelligent for a woman.”
Cree grinned, knowing his wife’s eyes went wide without even looking at her and was not surprised when his wife rapped her hand on the table to get Newlin’s attention. If she had a voice, she would shred Newlin like a sharp blade.
Newlin looked to Dawn. “Is there something you need, my lady?”
Dawn jabbed Cree in the arm with her elbow and he knew exactly what she wanted him to say. “She wants to know why you feel that Flora is too intelligent for a woman?”
Newlin shook his head. “The Highlands are far different from the lowlands and the large towns that house places of knowledge. To survive the Highlands, it takes more brawn than learned knowledge. My niece can chatter on about an array of subjects, but my brother failed to teach her about what she needed to know to truly survive life. He was well aware that if anything happened to him and his wife that Flora would become my responsibility, and she would come live here in our ancestral home. Her mother failed to teach her any wifely duties and my brother taught her nothing about the Highlands and the harshness that can be found here. Without such knowledge, I fear Flora will not survive well here.”