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)
That thought gave her a hint of where he might be… her da’s solar. Though now it was the new chieftain’s solar. She headed there, to a small room behind the kitchen but accessed from the keep. She stopped, seeing the door open and hearing Melvin protesting.
“I was given strict orders not to return until I had information that was worth bringing to him, and I am going to follow those orders. You have seen for yourself what he has done to men who failed to follow his orders. One blow. One blow and he broke a man’s jaw. One twist of a wrist and it snapped, or he broke an arm.” Melvin cringed. “I can still hear the snap of bones and the screams of pain. And his skill and speed with a dagger match your own. You don’t even see him draw the weapon, just like you did yesterday with that monk. Your dagger was at his throat, and I didn’t even see you draw it. I am not going to Slayer until I have information that proves helpful to him. Besides, maybe it wasn’t Slayer who set the monastery on fire and abducted your wife’s sister.”
Elsie entered then. “If not Slayer, then who else could it possibly be?”
She halted her steps, her da’s potent scent of earth with a hint of ale still permeating the air, reminding her of the vibrant man he once was. Memories hurried to remind her how he used to swing her up into his thick arms and hug her close and tell her she was the most beautiful lass and his favorite, but she was to keep that a secret from her sisters. It took many years before she and her sisters discovered he had told each of his daughters the same thing.
Melvin’s snort of annoyance broke the tenuous thread of her memories, scattering them to once again fade away until once again recalled.
“I hope your sister does not stick her nose in places it has no business being if she is with Slayer since he will not tolerate such nonsense from a woman.”
“My sister is a kind soul,” Elsie said, fearful of what Sky might be suffering at this very moment.
“Another word for weak and Slayer cannot abide weakness. His tongue cuts sharp and there will soon be nothing left of her,” Melvin said.
“If he took Sky, he did so for a reason which means she is useful to him so he will not harm her,” Cavell said, seeing that Melvin’s remark brought a flash of fright to his wife’s blue eyes.
“True enough and if she does prove helpful, he will return her home,” Melvin said.
Elsie looked to her husband to confirm it, not knowing Melvin well enough to know if his tongue was truthful.
“He’s right,” Cavell said. “Slayer never harms those who help him.”
“How can you be sure of that?” Elsie asked, their words not as comforting as they should be.
“We wouldn’t say it if we hadn’t seen it with our own eyes time again and again,” Melvin said, waving his hand round and round in a circle as if to make her better understand it.
That reassured Elsie… some. At least she tried to convince herself that it did.
Melvin rubbed his chin as his brow creased in thought. “Though Slayer has never been one to have patience with women.”
“Leave us, Melvin,” Cavell ordered, seeing worry flare in his wife’s eyes and the way she hugged her arms, needing comfort against the news that continued to upset her.
When his wife approached him after Melvin left, instinct had him extending his arm in a fashion that invited her to step into an embrace, and she did, circling her arms around his waist as he hugged her close and she pressed herself against him needing the comfort of his strength. Her gentle sigh told him she was content to be there and that he was pleased to have her there made him once again wonder what it was that he was feeling for this woman. And more importantly, should he allow himself to feel anything? Somehow, though, he did not think he could stop the lingering feelings for her, no matter how hard he tried.
“Can we send a message to Slayer inquiring why he has my sister?” Elsie asked, feeling helpless to help her sister.
“We could but Slayer expects information and answers but rarely gives them. His response would no doubt be, I have need of her. I also doubt anyone here would have the courage or be foolish enough to volunteer to take a message to Slayer or that he could make it past his men safely. What about Leora? Where would she go after she escaped?”
Elsie needed no time to think about that. She knew exactly what her sister would do. “Here. Home. She would come home.”