Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 99206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“For my mother,” Magnus said after slicing his cheek.
Kilkern grew more enraged. “Worthless whore.”
Magnus remained in control and lashed out again, slicing his other cheek. “For my grandfather.”
Kilkern grabbed for his face, the blood smearing on his hand. He gritted his teeth and raised his weapon. “You will pay.”
With a slice of his knife so fast that Reena did not see it, Magnus cut across Kilkern’s chest.
“For Reena,” Magnus said.
Stunned, Kilkern looked down at his chest and the blood that seeped into his white shirt. For a brief moment fear raced across his face. Then his face turned bright red as though his rage boiled over, and he launched himself at Magnus, knocking Magnus’s knife from his hand.
Reena’s heart stopped beating and her breath caught, and in that brief moment Magnus grabbed Kilkern by the wrist, shook the knife loose, twisted him around, and slipped his arm around Kilkern’s neck.
“This is for my father.” He snapped Kilkern’s neck with ease and let him drop to the ground.
Magnus did not waste a second glance on the dead man; he walked directly to Reena, though he spoke to Thomas. “Get rid of the stench.”
“With pleasure,” Thomas said and turned his attention to the two prisoners.
Magnus said nothing. He gently picked up Reena and cradled her as tenderly as he could, though he knew from her pained expression it was not tender enough. He cursed beneath his breath and took her out of the dungeon and up to his bedchamber, where Brigid waited with Old Margaret.
Tears came fast to Brigid’s eyes, but Old Margaret was ready to heal when she saw Reena’s bleeding wrists and ankles.
Magnus placed Reena carefully on the bed. Before the two women could reach her side, he announced, “I will not be needing your services. I will tend to Reena myself.”
Brigid attempted to protest, but Old Margaret placed a gentle hand on her arm.
“He needs to do this, let him be.”
The two women left, promising to check on Reena later.
After locking the door and ridding himself of his shirt, Magnus returned to the bed. With a gentle touch he began to cleanse Reena’s wounds. He was grateful he had all he needed at hand, the two women having prepared well for Reena’s needs. A pitcher of fresh water, a bowl, a crock of salve and clean cloths to wrap her wounds were at his fingertips.
He would make certain she healed, seeing to her every need, helping to ease her pain and making sure she suffered no more. He was, however, not prepared for her tears. They cut at his heart.
He dropped the cloth into the bowl of water and carefully took her small hand in his. “I am so sorry, Ree, for not reaching you sooner, for you having to suffer for me. When I saw you there on the rack I thought my heart would split in two and I thought I would go mad.”
Her tears rushed from her like a dam that had burst, her sobs heavy and mournful and cathartic. “I am sorry,” she wept. “I cannot stop crying. I am so relieved that you are all right. I knew you would rescue me.”
“You had no doubt even when he chained you to the table?”
She shook her head. “I only knew I needed to survive until you came for me.”
“Listen to me, Ree,” he said calmly. “I have waited long for the day I could face Peter Kilkern and make him pay for all the hurt and suffering he has caused my family. But when I saw you on that rack nothing mattered more to me than you. I would have done anything, and that included letting Kilkern go free if it meant saving your life.”
Her tears quieted as he spoke.
He smiled and patted her wet cheek with the end of the blanket. “And my heart filled with love and relief when you threatened Kilkern upon my arrival. Your courage astounds me, and I feel so very lucky that you have chosen me to love.”
She sighed, and a smile crept across her face. “You never had a chance once I did fall in love with you. I am determined, you know.”
He laughed. “The Legend finally met his match.”
She gripped his hand. “The Legend finally found love.”
Chapter 33
“It is your wedding day, your wounds have yet to fully heal in the last three weeks, and you want to walk in the woods when there is much yet to be done here?” Brigid asked, then threw her hands up in the air. “Why should that surprise me?”
Reena wrapped a blue shawl around her shoulders, having dressed in an old skirt and tunic for her foray into the woods. Spring was pleasantly upon them, and a cool breeze joined a sunny sky. She looked forward to being outdoors, having been confined to her bedchamber and the keep while she healed.