Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“I wish I could help you, my lady, but with the room already sealed when my mum and I arrived here and few people willing to speak about it, or so my mum said, there is little to tell. As I got older, she warned me to keep my distance from the keep, Lord Dermid was quick to anger for little to no reason. To this day, I have never been inside the keep.”
“Oh my, that is not right. You must come visit and see for yourself the welcoming place it has become.”
Philip smiled. “I truly would like that, my lady.”
Flora smiled and laughed as conversation continued, enjoying tales of Philip’s younger years, and learning more about the clan and the keep along the way.
She left Philip smiling, having enough honey bread to last him until tomorrow though he warned it would probably not last him the day.
Closing her cloak tight around her against the cold and seeing the sky had grayed considerably, a sure promise of snow, she had one more place to stop before returning to the keep. She had planned to do this sooner but found herself making excuses to delay it. Now, she was determined to see it through.
She spotted him walking through the village and called out, “Walsh, a moment please.”
He stopped and approached her slowly. “I knew the time would come that you would want to talk. That you would have questions, but I do not know if I will have the answers you seek.”
“I do not know what answers I seek,” Flora admitted not only to him but herself.
“Then I will tell you what your da told me to tell you if the time ever came, though he hoped it wouldn’t, that his secret was revealed to you, and you had more questions than there were answers.”
“Aye, please tell what my da advised,” she said, eager to hear the message her da had left for her.
“These were his words. He made me repeat them over and over so I would get them right. He said you would understand,” Walsh said, and took a fortifying breath then continued. “Flora, as seekers of knowledge we look for explanations to everything. However, some things in life cannot be explained. They simply must be lived.”
A smile lit Flora’s face, hearing her da’s soft yet strong voice speaking those words and the image of his bushy brows almost touching as they drew tight in concentration made her feel as if he was there with her.
“Thank you, Walsh, for delivering my da’s words and I am most grateful to you for being his friend and keeping your word to him.”
“I have yet to do that. I will see you safe before I take my leave,” Walsh said, his eyes drifting past her shoulders. His interest caught elsewhere.
Flora followed his glance and was not surprised to see that his attention had been drawn to Anwen smiling and talking with friends.
“Maybe it is time you followed my da’s advice and simply live,” Flora said and turned away, leaving him staring after her.
If her parents’ death had not forced her to come to the Highlands to her uncle’s clan, she doubted she would have understood her da’s message. While he had spent endless time in talk and studies, it was not until he took on an adventurous side and truly began to live, began to fully experience things, did he begin to gain the knowledge he sought. The reason he had accepted the king’s post as a spy. It had challenged him, and he had learned from it.
What an adventure it must have been for him and her mum, and Flora was glad they had gotten to live it.
Flora smiled when she saw her husband approach, though worried when he did not return the smile.
Torin took her hand when he reached her. “The men have returned from their mission, and they have news of the bounty on your head. I thought you would want to be there when I speak with them.”
CHAPTER 22
“That is a substantial sum,” Flora said, learning the amount of the bounty. “And yet you say you could learn nothing of the person who offers this bounty.” She continued talking, not waiting for a response. “Why would anyone go after such a bounty without any proof that it would be paid? What if this anonymous person started a rumor of an offered bounty when there is none? What if it is his way of seeing it done without it costing him one coin?”
“That would be foolish, my lady,” the one warrior hurried to say.
“John is right, my lady, no person would take such a chance,” the other warrior said. “Everyone knows you do not double-cross a mercenary. You would be hunted down, and your death would not be an easy one.”