Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 116749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
She was also happy at how much Saber’s voice was improving. He was able to speak more without his throat growing sore. She was confident that very soon his throat would be well healed.
She was soon at Brit’s cottage.
“Come in,” Brit offered with a smile when she opened the door to Elysia.
Elysia entered, and seeing the bairn asleep in the cradle, kept her voice low. “I have a small gift for Lenis.”
Brit took it and her smile grew when she saw the lovely swaddling blanket Elysia had stitched from various cloths into a lovely design. “This is beautiful, Elysia. Thank you so much. Would you like to sit and have a brew?”
Elysia glanced at the table. “You are busy baking bread, perhaps another time.”
Brit laughed softly. “I do what I can while Lenis sleeps. I sometimes nap with her when I can.”
“A wise choice,” Elysia said. “You look well. Are you feeling well?”
“I feel good, though for a while I was worried that Kevin would be forced to go fight for the Clan MacBridan. Everyone seems to think that Bram has been successful since he has yet to return home and no dire word has been heard from him. I pray that is so.”
Elysia found herself lost in Brit’s words after leaving the cottage. A niggling of fear still poked at her at times that Saber would be taken from her, though it didn’t seem likely. She felt for Brit and the other women whose men would be called to fight, knowing some of them wouldn’t return. Senseless loss always tugged at her heart and even more so now that she had a husband to lose.
She finished delivering the other repaired garments, receiving food items and wood to be delivered to her wood stack at the cottage in exchange for her work. Bliss had always been grateful for the wood. It had provided a good supply for the winter. She was glad to add to the stockpile, hoping Annis would be home before winter settled in, leaving her no worries about heating the cottage.
She made her way back to the cottage and with it being only a couple of hours before dusk and with gray clouds rushing overhead with a sure promise of rain, she decided to head home.
Her mind was a flutter with endless thoughts that she wished to chase away. She breathed deep and concentrated on the rhythm of her steps, until her mind stilled and she enjoyed the sound of the birds, the scurry of the animals, the scent of rain in the air, the rustle of branches, and the crunch of leaves from footfalls.
She halted at the sound of the footfalls and turned her attention on her surroundings. Was someone following her? She was too far from the cottage to call out to her husband. Annis had often advised her to keep a knife tucked in her boot. She had argued with her sister, insisting that she didn’t have the strength to fight off a man. Annis thought otherwise. She insisted that a knife placed in certain strategic areas worked wonders. She wished she had listened to her.
A rustle of branches almost had her running until she spotted the person who broke past them—Rory.
“I told you to be careful of who you trust,” Rory said, his unsteady steps indicating that he’d enjoyed more than his share of ale.
Wanting to avoid any confrontation, she said, “I do my best.”
Rory tapped near his cheek and having missed his intended target pushed his finger up near his eye. “Don’t you see what’s in front of you?”
“Tell me what I fail to see,” Elysia said, thinking his drink spoke more for him than he did himself.
Rory shook his head. “You have to see it for yourself.”
“Why?” she asked.
Rory’s head hung down as if in defeat. “You won’t believe it otherwise.”
“I will look harder,” she said.
His head jolted up. “That is wise of you. You are a kind and good woman, Elysia. I don’t want the same fate for you as my sweet Shona.”
Elysia stared at Rory as he took unsteady steps to the village. She wondered what he meant. How could her fate be the same as Shona? She hadn’t wed the cursed lord, her sister Bliss had.
Eager to reach home, she hurried her steps and was overjoyed when the croft came into view and her husband as well. He was bare-chested and drying his hair and chest, no doubt from a dunk in the rain barrel after working the land all day. He smiled when he caught sight of her and her stomach fluttered. She still got a thrill when she saw him and she didn’t think that would ever change. She’d always be happy to see him.
She held the basket up as she approached. “I delivered the stitching I finished and have some fine vegetables to make a stew.”