Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 102573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Tavia wondered why they would do such a thing and it made her trust the two women even less than she already did.
“Does Greta teach you much?” Tavia asked.
Hertha lowered her voice to a whisper. “I feel more a servant than a student. Hume and I continue to prepare what plants we know in case you and our people need them. And I ask questions of Greta to learn what I can since she tends some illnesses differently than I am used to.”
“Hertha, why are you not tending to your chores?”
Tavia stopped, though kept hold of Hertha’s arm as she turned her head to Greta. “She is walking with me. We have not visited since arriving here.”
“She has chores to see to. Now be off with you,” Greta ordered.
“Nay, Hertha stays with me until I say otherwise,” Tavia said, her voice strong, though her stomach churned as it always did when she gathered courage to speak.
“I command what Hertha does,” Greta argued.
Tavia saw they were drawing attention from people around them and though she felt a slight tremble she stood her ground. “No longer. Hertha is from my clan and follows my word above all else.”
“Lord Bhric commands all here,” Greta said.
Tavia caught several heads nodding in agreement. Still, she remained not only determined but calm in nature and in her words. “Hertha will remain walking with me until I say otherwise. You can raise your objection with my husband when he returns. Until then, Hertha obeys me, not you.”
The whispers started and Tavia was sure that when her husband returned her confrontation with Greta would be relayed to him quite differently.
“I will take this up with Lord Bhric,” Greta said.
“Please do, Greta,” Tavia said and turned her head to continue walking with Hertha, her stomach already churning nervously over the inevitable confrontation with her husband.
CHAPTER 10
Tavia was returning to the keep after she finished talking with Hertha when a woman slowed by age approached her.
“My lady, a moment, if you please.”
Tavia walked over to her and took her arm, seeing that walking was not easy for her and knowing the feeling all too well.
“I am Wilona, my lady, born to the Clan MacShane. I want to say that I and others in the clan are happy and relieved that you are Lord Bhric’s new bride. Many in the clan worried he would wed one of his father’s own. It is good to see he wed a woman of this land and the blood of our homeland will continue to run through your bairns, future leaders of our clan.”
“Have the Northmen treated any Clan MacShane people cruelly?” Tavia asked eager to learn all she could about the clan.
“Nay, they have not been cruel, but neither do they bother much with us. They have their ways, and we have ours and we have yet to blend. They think otherwise since there is more of them than us, which is why we are so pleased to see one of our own. You are one of us. You know us and understand us, our beliefs, customs, our love of this land. And we are proud of your courage in wedding Lord Bhric.”
“I am grateful you told me this, Wilona, for I was feeling as though I was in a foreign land with so many Northmen. It is good to know my people are still strong here.”
“We are, my lady, and we stand strong with you.”
“If there is anything you need, Wilona, please do not hesitate to let me know. Also, the young woman I brought with me, Hertha, who has been assigned to help Greta, the Northmen’s healer, is a healer as well. She knows well how to tend the ills of our people.”
Wilona’s face brightened, her aged skin appearing as if it plumped from her wide smile. “I am so pleased to know that as will others.”
“You will like Hertha. She is pleasant, always smiling, and wise in the way of healing.”
Tavia continued talking with the older woman as she walked with her to her cottage.
“It has been an honor to have spoken with you, my lady,” Wilona said once at her door.
“The honor was mine, Wilona, and I hope to meet and speak with more Clan MacShane people. And we will speak again and perhaps next time share a hot brew together.”
Wilona’s face brightened again. “I would be honored, my lady, and I will let others know how pleasant you are and how eager you are to speak with them.”
Tavia turned away from the door once Wilona was inside and continued her walk to the keep. Hertha had been right about not locking herself away. The Northmen might not welcome her warmly, but her own people would, and she would see that she got to know them.
She felt much better than she had this morning when she woke not looking forward to another day. She had faced a struggle the last three days since arriving here, feeling more alone than she had ever felt. She was beginning to wonder if misery was all that awaited her in her marriage. Her husband certainly was not giving her a chance, avoiding her as he did and as he had done the morning they had woken in bed together. He had jumped out of bed so fast after she had woken, snuggled comfortably against him, that she had assumed he could not stand the touch of her. But that made no sense after giving it thought, since he had already kissed her and touched her intimately and seemed to have enjoyed it like she had done.