Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Flora walked over to Anwen, recalling her husband mentioning something about a woman who had been frightened by the giant. “I assume you had a fright with the ghost.”
“Ah, my lady.”
“And where did this happen?” Flora asked and when Anwen hesitated to respond, she encouraged. “Please, share what happened with me. It would truly help me to know so that I may purge the keep of the ghost.”
“It was in Lord Torin’s bedchamber, my lady,” Anwen said, keeping her eyes downcast as she responded.
“Tell me about it.”
Anwen’s head shot up.
Flora saw fear in the woman’s eyes and sought to comfort. “Worry not. The ghost will not harm you. Now tell me, was it while you did your chores that the ghost came upon you?”
Iona listened from the shadows as she crept to the door and smiled.
Anwen’s cheeks flushed red, and her mouth opened but no words fell out.
Flora was about to suggest they step outside seeing how fearful Anwen looked when a thought struck, and she spoke without thinking. “You were in the room with my husband at the time?”
“Aye, my lady, but it is not what many assumed. Nothing happened between us,” Anwen said with a nervous tremor. “Please, my lady, please do not punish me.”
Flora’s brow wrinkled in question. “Why would I punish you? I was not wed to Lord Torin at the time. He could do as he pleased as could you.”
Anwen stared at her speechless.
Endless questions began to clutter Flora’s head. There was much this woman could tell her not only about the ghost but about Torin. With all the questions she could ask, she shocked herself with the one that fell unfettered from her lips.
“Would you go to Lord Torin’s bed now that he is wed?”
Anwen gasped. “Never, my lady, never would I lay with a wedded man and never did I lay with Lord Torin.”
“But there are women here who would?” Flora asked, not having given it thought since she believed that a husband and wife remained faithful to each other just as her parents had. Though she knew of some couples, friends of her parents and nobles who supported scholars in their academic endeavors, who had not remained faithful to their vows, and that included both husband and wife. She had seen for herself that those particular couples never seemed satisfied or happy.
Again, Anwen was reluctant to answer.
“Please share with me what you know, or think, Anwen, it would be a great help,” Flora encouraged with a gentle smile.
Anwen nodded. “I have seen for myself that there are women and men alike who do not adhere to their vows. I also know of some men who find that one woman is not enough for them.”
“Could it be that they have yet to find love?” Flora asked, finding the discussion enlightening.
Anwen sighed softly, shaking her head. “Love is rare, my lady. Lust is what most couples share and when gone there is nothing left.”
Iona nodded to herself as she slipped quietly out the door.
“There’s Iona and she’s wearing a smile. I have never seen her smile,” Kinnell said.
Torin turned to see Iona make her way down the stairs and he was surprised himself to see her smiling, the healer having a stoic nature, and for some reason that she smiled worried him.
“I like your wife,” Iona said when she reached the two men. “She speaks her mind and is wise in her words.” Her grin grew. “Though, you might want to get in there since your wife is speaking with Anwen and has some interesting questions for her.”
Torin rushed past Iona and took the stairs two at a time, hurrying to enter the keep.
“Flora!” he shouted once he entered the Great Hall and she and Anwen turned to look at him. “Anwen, you are dismissed to see to your chores.”
“I am not finished speaking with her,” Flora said. “I wish to ask her about the ghost or since you were present at the time of the incident perhaps you can tell me about it.”
Torin dismissed Anwen with a wave and the woman eagerly hurried out of the room. He went to his wife, stopping in front of her. “I ordered you not to speak to the woman involved in the incident.”
“You also failed to tell me that the woman was in your bedchamber with you at the time,” Flora said and hurried to continue before her husband could command her silence. “Not that it matters since we were not wed at the time, but I must ask… will you be a faithful husband? Or will you be a husband who is not satisfied with one woman and one not faithful to your vows?”
Torin hesitated, thinking about his da who had his fair share of women while wed, though his mum did not seem to mind. He had come to the conclusion that once his mum had produced a male heir for her husband that she had done what was expected of her and she and his father were never intimate again. He could not blame her since his father could be a cruel man.