Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Make sure you do,” he cautioned.
Dru grinned. “We have to work on trust in our marriage.”
“You have to work on being an obedient wife.”
She laughed. “That’s something I will never be.”
“Then it is good our marriage will end.”
Dru continued laughing. “Wed only one day and you already want to get rid of me.”
“Not yet, but hopefully soon enough,” he said, sternly and didn’t understand why it disturbed him.
“My hope as well,” Dru said, the unexpected thought that she would miss the comfort of his arms a complete shock to her.
CHAPTER 5
“Wait a bit to follow me into the village,” Dru instructed Knox when they reached the edge of the woods not far from the village.
Knox nodded and slipped his arm around her narrow waist to ease her off his mare. It reminded him of what a wee bit of a thing she was, and he grew concerned for her safety. She might be his wife in name only, but he still had an obligation to keep her safe.
“Be careful,” he ordered.
She tilted her head back looking up at him and was caught for a second by his fine features. Few men possessed such good looks that could capture a woman’s eyes and heart in one glance, but not her. She was wise to a man’s ways, and she wouldn’t succumb to them… not ever.
She smiled broadly. “I always am.”
Dru walked off worried over a sudden, unfamiliar flutter in her stomach. Could the nuns have served a touch of rotten food this morning? She hoped not and was glad when it calmed as she walked, then vanished completely as she neared the village.
Finally, a bit of luck. It was market day, and the place was busy. So, there would be no lack of people to talk to.
Dru slipped through the crowd with ease, weaving between the bustling stalls and the lively hum of trade. She had always enjoyed market days in this village. There was energy on those days, a blend of barter and gossip, that made people talk more freely than they should.
She let her fingers skim over a bolt of fabric, her eyes never lingering too long in one place. Familiar faces greeted her, some with cautious nods, others with easy camaraderie of past dealings. She was known here, as in other places, as someone who brought news with her. That was the key. No one could suspect she was here for any reason other than her usual trade, share news she had come upon and gather bits of information that might be beneficial to others.
A plump merchant with a graying beard called out to her. “Dru! Thought you’d gone and disappeared. And here you’ve gone and cleaned yourself up. What’s the occasion?”
Bloody hell. How could she have forgotten to return to her odorous self before showing up here? She thought fast.
“Disappeared? Now why would I do that, Hugh?” She leaned in with a grin, slipping an apple off his cart as she had done a hundred times before. “Mother Abbess at Cramond Abbey would have me no other way.”
Hugh nodded, easily accepting her reasonable excuse, then let out a mock groan but made no move to stop her. “You never do pay for those.”
“Consider it a tax for my charming company,” she teased and slipped the apple in the fold of her plaid. “Besides, if you charged fairer prices, you wouldn’t be missing one apple.”
“Bah! I charge fair enough, and you know it.”
She chuckled and let her gaze drift, catching snippets of conversation as she moved from one stall to the next. A woman fretted over the rising cost of wool, a group of men argued over a recent raid on a neighboring clan, and a traveling merchant boasted of the fine metalwork he carried from the Lowlands.
Dru listened without looking like she was listening—an art in itself.
She paused at the baker’s stand, pretending interest in a honeyed oatcake while her ears caught the low murmur of two men nearby.
“Lord Torrance has been restless of late. He wants his half-sister found.”
The other man scoffed. “Aye, and for what? Chasing ghosts, he is. That half-sister of his—she’s been lost for years.”
“Maybe, but he’s desperate. More coins floating about than usual. Makes a man wonder what he’s truly after. Maybe he’s going to make a move on those two northern clans, enemies of his father for years.”
Dru made a mental note of their faces and information before turning away and moving on.
She didn’t look around for Knox. That would ruin everything. He’d arrive later, unnoticed, just another face in the crowd, though on second thought, his generous size and fine looks would make that unlikely. Until then, she had more listening to do.
“My stars, Dru, you’re all cleaned up. I almost didn’t know it was you.”
Dru turned with a broad smile at the short, pudgy woman with unkempt flaming red hair.