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)
“Tell me what I want to know, and I will end your life swiftly, otherwise I will leave you for the animals to feed on,” Knox threatened.
“I will gladly be fodder for the animals, rather than offer you any help,” the man said.
Dru approached him. “Why suffer?”
The man nodded at Knox. “He understands.” He stared at her, tenderness in his eyes. “You look just like your grandmother. Petite. Pretty. Honorable. Too bad your mother hadn’t been more like her.”
“Why does my mother’s people want me dead?” Dru asked, surprised she had a family she knew nothing about. “I know nothing about them. I have done nothing to them. I want nothing from them.”
“Yet your mother took everything from them.” He shut his eyes for a moment. “Do what you will. I will say no more.”
“Whatever my mum did, she had to have done it long before I was born. It must be a burden to carry such revenge for so many years. I refuse to be part of such long-standing hatred.” She turned to Knox. “I will not see him suffer.”
Knox nodded and Dru walked away, turning her back on the scene.
Knox looked down at the man, his face troubled. “You hold your tongue out of honor, yet she speaks and acts with honor. Now you die a dishonorable death.”
The man raised his chin. “Her mother left us no choice.”
Knox drove his sword into his chest, bringing a swift death.
He went to Dru, got them both mounted on his mare and rode away.
“Do you think more will follow?” she asked, peering past his shoulder to keep watch.
“Nay. I think he is the one who tumbled down with his horse into the ravine. He was left injured, and he no doubt raced to reach us, worsening his injury and the reason why he fought so poorly and why he had no horse with him. When the others saw him get to his feet, they probably figured he would eliminate us. We are safe for now.” He hugged her with one arm. “One other thing, he spoke of honor, and he wore fur skins. The clans further to the north pride themselves on honor and wear fur skins more than any other clan in the Highlands.”
Dru hated to admit it, but what recourse did they have? “I don’t think we have much choice. I think the safest place for us is with Lord Torrance.”
“Aye, he has enough warriors to see that you’re kept safe,” Knox agreed.
“There is someone I’d like to stop and speak with first, Albert. He came from a clan in the north, a marriage bringing him here years ago.”
“That would work perfectly. I was told Lord Torrance stays at a small clan that is about a day’s ride from Albert. We can speak with him first, then head to Lord Torrance. But we will need to be careful. We don’t want anyone to learn we survived the attack. We’ll head that way now and find shelter before dusk.”
He directed Star in a different direction and he, as well as Dru, remained quiet and alert, watching for unexpected company.
The cave was small, little more than a hollow carved into the hillside, but it gave them shelter from the chilled wind and the fading light. By the time they discovered it, dusk had slipped its fingers across the sky, painting it in soft grays and quiet golds.
Knox knelt to build a fire, his hands steady even as his mind churned. Each spark that caught on the kindling seemed too loud in the hush between them.
Dru sat close, her back against the earthen wall, arms wrapped around her knees. She hadn’t said much since they had left the dead man behind.
Knox glanced over. Her eyes were distant. Haunted.
“You warm enough?” he asked, his voice low.
She nodded without looking at him. “Aye.”
He studied her for a moment longer, then stripped off his cloak and gently draped it around her shoulders.
She didn’t protest. Her fingers clutched the fabric like it anchored her, but it was his familiar woodsy scent that calmed her. It was as if she was wrapped snug in his arms.
“I keep thinking about what he said,” Dru said when he dropped down beside her. “That they’re hunting me because of something my mother did. Because of her choices.”
Knox did what he’d been aching to do and what he knew his wife needed. He eased her into the crook of his arm, hugging her close. His hand massaged along her arm to ease the tension he felt there. “I cannot imagine what your mother could have done that would spur such vengeance on her daughter.”
“I thought the same myself.” Her voice cracked. “Why didn’t she tell me? Warn me?”
He reached for her hand—cold, tense—and laced his fingers with hers.
“With so many years past, maybe she thought it was done and no longer needed to be concerned about it. After all, she worried enough with what plans your father would have for you.”