Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“It is either that or Slayer will descend on your clan, and you will not like what he does,” Cavell warned.
“I will sit with my da,” Elsie said and waited for him to deny her.
“I won’t be long since there is little to tell him. I will join you shortly.”
“There is a small, unoccupied cottage not far from May’s cottage. Melvin is welcome to make use of it while he is here.”
“That is kind of you.”
“It is the sensible thing to do since he will see that Clan Murdock has nothing to hide and report such to Slayer so that he leaves our clan in peace.”
The more he came to know his wife, the more obvious it became that she was not insane, so why had her da sent her and her sisters to the abbey?
Melvin was shown into the Great Hall shortly after Elsie left. With not much to tell him, Cavell planned on keeping their conversation short.
“My wife offers you a cottage to stay in while waiting for news about her clan,” Cavell said as soon as Melvin joined him at the table.
Melvin stared at him perplexed. “No one must know I am here gathering information for Lord Slayer.”
“I will make it known that you are a fellow Gallowglass warrior in need of a place to stay for a while. I doubt anyone will think anything of it. Besides, another pair of eyes and ears would prove helpful.”
“I suppose you are right.” Melvin enjoyed a generous swallow of ale from the tankard in front of him on the table. “Have you found anything helpful so far?”
“Not yet,” Cavell said. “Chieftain Norris is not lucid enough for questions.”
He did not see any reason for telling Melvin about Chieftain Norris sending his daughters to the abbey, at least not yet. He wanted to find out more before sharing that bit of news.
Melvin leaned across the table and kept his voice to a whisper. “A warning, my friend, remain a detached Gallowglass warrior while here, for if it is discovered that Clan Murdock is involved in any way with Slayer’s loss, he will decimate the clan.”
Cavell needed no reminding about that, it weighed on his mind since learning of it. What weighed even more heavily on his mind was how he could protect his wife against Slayer’s revenge if necessary.
Cavell left Melvin to eat and with instructions to Alda to show him to the empty cottage near May’s place and while the woman appeared surprised, she held her tongue and nodded.
He heard voices as soon as he reached the partially open bedchamber door and hurried into the room.
“You will obey me, daughter, and return to the abbey,” her da said, waving his frail hand at her.
“My wife is not going back there,” Cavell said, approaching the bed.
“Cavell?” her da called out, lifting his head off the pillow to look for him. “You are here with my daughter?”
“Aye, we are home,” Cavell said, moving closer to the bed so the old chieftain could see him.
“Finally,” her da said, dropping his head back on his pillow with a generous sigh of relief. “Where is May?”
“I am here, Chieftain Norris,” May said, and stepped closer to the bed.
“Good, I need a witness,” her da said. “Listen well, Cavell, I pass the leadership of Clan Murdock onto you. You are now Chieftain Cavell of Clan Murdock. It is now yours to defend and keep safe and as was my agreement with your da, you will claim allegiance to Clan McCabe.”
That remained to be seen, but Cavell kept that thought to himself.
Elsie rushed to say, “We can go free my sisters from the abbey.”
“Nay they remain there,” her da said with a yawn.
“Why?” Elsie asked anxiously, seeing her da drifting off to sleep.
“Brother Kendrick keeps them safe, worry not,” her da said and his eyes fluttered closed in sleep.
Elsie stood and turned to her husband. “You are now chieftain with the power to free my sisters. We leave now for the abbey.”
CHAPTER 9
Cavell would have preferred to learn more before rushing off to Dundren Abbey, but having seen the way Sky was being kept and not knowing what was happening to Leora, he had to agree with his wife. They could not wait to free her sisters.
As soon as he and Elsie left her da’s bedchamber they both rushed to gather what was necessary for them to take their leave. It was a half day’s ride to reach the abbey, which meant they could reach it before nightfall and his wife’s sisters would not have to spend one more wretched night in that place.
The one problem he faced was that Clan Murdock did not have a bevy of skilled warriors. Most Highlanders could wield a sword, some better than others, but battling seasoned Highland warriors was a different matter. And with mercenaries in the area, Cavell feared he would lose the ten Murdock men who he had chosen to go with him.