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)
“Do you trust he tells you the truth since he is a known lair?” Slayer asked.
“Aye, he was too fearful not to since we invited him to join us in our travels to confirm what he told us,” John said. “He heard two men talking, mentioning Lord Bannaty by name and that he would be dead soon enough and that no one would ever suspect that he had been poisoned. The person would dispense the poison a little at a time until it finally killed him.”
“Which would mean it was someone who frequented the keep or someone already there.” Slayer grew anxious to get his hands on the two men. “Tell me that this liar knew these men and you found them.”
“He was familiar with one of them and he was not hard to find—” John hesitated briefly. “He was dead when we found him.”
“And the other?”
Again, John hesitated. “We cannot find him. He seems to have vanished.”
“Or was never there to begin with.”
“Angus and I thought the same, so we brought Rory, the liar, home with us figuring he might be more prone to the whole truth while a guest of the Gallowglass.”
“I will question him myself tomorrow,” Slayer said.
“Aye, my lord. Angus and I will make sure he is ready for you,” John said.
Slayer made his way back to the cottage, the overhead clouds growing darker. It would not be long before it rained. It had rained the day he learned of his brother Warrand’s death. He and his men were just returning home from helping a nobleman protect his land from a neighboring clan who claimed it belonged to their clan. What should have been nothing more than a skirmish had turned into a bloody battle with heavy losses on both sides, though he had lost no men. Then came the news of his brother’s death and he wished he had a battle to ride into, needing to release the overpowering rage that consumed him for failing to protect Warrand as he was meant to do.
He would not fail his brother again. He would find out who was responsible and make them suffer brutally before killing them.
Shaking his head too clear away his burdensome thoughts, he approached the cottage. It was time to talk to Sky about their marriage, though there was little to say. They were wed and nothing would change that.
He opened the door and stepped into an empty cottage.
Sky sat by the stream wishing the sun hadn’t vanished, though she was glad her squirrel friend had returned and brought a friend with him, though they were busy nipping at the ground for what insects they could find.
The cottage had lost some of its charm after learning she was wed and would be sharing it with her husband. Her disappointment had brought her to the stream, not to think but simply to be. Her sisters could never understand her need for solitude, how she could spend hours alone in the woods and not mind. It was something she had always done, even when young. She had longed to make friends at one time but not anymore. She had all the friends she needed in the forest. She could truly live her days out here and be content.
The squirrels suddenly sat straight up, their eyes alert and their heads held still as they listened. They heard a foreign noise and with a quick look at her, they took off.
Slayer’s presence filled the forest before he was even seen. It frightened the animals, caused the birds to take flight and the wind to whisper in warning. She shivered, worried at what the future might hold with such a powerful man.
Sky did not move, she stayed as she was, listening, just as the squirrels had done and finally heard his footfalls. They were strong and quick, and she could almost feel the anger in them.
He came to a stop beside her, and she kept her eyes on his boots, a bit fearful to glance up at him and see anger in his eyes.
“Give me your hand. We will return to the cottage,” he said, and held his hand out for her to take hold of it.
She did not argue even though she would have preferred to stay where she was. A conversation with him was inevitable and so was the outcome. He would inform her that they were wed and there was nothing she could do to change that. She was to accept it and be a dutiful wife, something she did not want to hear.
She reached out and took his hand and it closed firmly around hers and, with an easy tug, he pulled her up onto her feet. He kept hold of her hand, to her surprise, as they walked back to the cottage in silence. She wondered if it was on purpose, a warning sign that he had no intention of letting her go. Raindrops began to fall, and he tucked her snug against him as though he could protect her against the rain and hurried their steps to the door.