Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“You are pensive. Lost in your thoughts?” she asked of his silence.
“Aye,” was all he said.
“Sometimes a good place to be and other times not so much.”
“Very true,” Slayer said and realized he had never held an interesting conversation with a woman until now with Sky.
He had had no time for women. They served a need and that was all and there were plenty of women who sought out Gallowglass warriors. They were free with their offerings, so he never lacked a female when in need of one. He found, to his surprise, he very much enjoyed talking with Sky. He also realized that she was far kinder than any person he had ever met, and it did not sit well with him that he was keeping the truth from her as to why he rescued her. He needed to tell her.
“I will clean and cook the fish,” he said, concerned she might lose her appetite once he revealed the truth.
“I can clean and cook the fish, if you’d like.”
“You know how to do both?” he asked, thinking that her family had sheltered Sky far too much for her to know how to do simple tasks.
“Aye. I asked Cook to teach me, worried that one day I may need such knowledge.” She chuckled. “And that day has come. I will be able to feed myself while you are gone.”
“I will clean the fish. You can cook it,” he said abruptly and walked away from her.
Sky wondered what she said that caused him to get annoyed. But she refused to allow herself to worry over it. The day, so far, had been the best in weeks, and with the squirrel making friends so easily with her today, and Slayer soon to take his leave, she knew she would enjoy her time here. She entered the cottage to prepare a few wild onions to cook with the trout as Dea, the clan cook, had taught her to do.
It was not long before they sat down to eat.
“You did well,” Slayer said, not used to offering compliments but the trout had been tastier than he expected.
“Dea, our cook, was kind enough to teach me when no one was around or else no one would have eaten the food if they knew I helped prepare it.” Sky could not keep the sadness from her eyes. “I caught her one day dropping the food I made into the scrap bin for the animals. She begged me not to tell my da that she would not do it again and she would continue to teach me as my da had ordered her to do.”
Slayer would have punished the woman for what she had done to Sky, and he had to fight to keep the anger out of his voice. “Your da punished her for what she did, didn’t he?”
Sky shook her head. “I did not tell him. I understood Dea’s fear. If anyone learned that she was feeding them food I made, they would never speak to her again and my da would have had no choice but to remove her from the kitchen. That was not fair to her. I learned a bit more from her, then stopped the lessons. I cooked some when the kitchen was empty and shared my fare with the forest animals. They enjoyed it.”
“You are far more understanding and kinder than most. How you can sustain such a kind nature when you have been treated so unkindly puzzles me,” Slayer said, perplexed and annoyed at how much she had been made to suffer.
“It puzzles me at times myself, but it is who I am.”
“Perhaps you inherited it from your parents or sisters?”
She chuckled. “Not from my sisters. They are far different from me. And I definitely did not inherit it from my da who loses his temper on occasion. As for my mum, she was kind in her own way and stubborn as well. Your brother Warrand, was he like you?”
Slayer crossed his arms over his chest. “Define like me.”
“Fine looks, strong stature, commanding nature,” she said without hesitation.
“Those are not words anyone would use to describe me.”
She amended her description with a smile. “Unkind. Terrifying. Vengeful.”
“So, you do know me.”
Sky thought she caught a slight smile on his lips, but it was too brief to be sure. “I am learning more about you and judging you for myself. You cannot be completely unkind when you have treated me well.”
“There is a reason I have treated you well,” Slayer said, knowing he could not delay telling her any longer.
“I assumed it is out of duty. A pledge you made perhaps to your brother or father to protect me, to keep me safe.”
He leaned forward, bracing his arms on the table. “Aye, it is out of duty. The duty of a husband to his wife. We are wed, Sky. You are my wife.”