Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“I agree. I do not think there is much more for me to find here anyway. It is best we take what we have found, which is probably more than we realize, and see what can be learned from it.”
That she agreed with him surprised him, and that she believed they had learned more than they thought puzzled him since they were left with more questions than answers.
“Would it be better if we left now and not wait until morning?” she asked.
“Nay, the snow falls heavily, leaving it difficult to see where we go, and it will grow dark soon, which will only add to the danger. We leave after dawn when the light is strong. We will eat and get a good night’s rest so we will be ready to combat the snow tomorrow.”
He had answered, though not directly, what had been on Fia’s mind. They would not consummate their vows tonight and she wondered if he had a change of heart, and they would not consummate them at all. Did he regret what he had said to her and had seeing the two dead men made him think that she had bewitched him? She had no desire to ask him, or perhaps it was that she did not want to hear his response.
The thought hurt her heart, thinking that she may have lost him before they even had a chance to find and accept the love she believed existed between them.
“I will cook another root soup for us,” she said, needing to focus on anything but the hurt in her heart.
Varrick said nothing. He turned away from her to extend his hands out to the heat once again, even though they were warm enough. His mind was in turmoil, and his heart… God, but his heart ached. Yet how with all the strange things that had been happening could he trust that what he felt for his wife was love? How could he not be cautious? He had a clan to protect and keep safe. He could not take the chance. Could he?
They ate in silence, listening to the crackle of the fire and the wind that whipped and whistled around the shelter. Once done, Fia went to bed and Varrick moved the bench by the wall to sit and sleep there.
Varrick tried not to focus on his wife in bed where he wished he was with her right now and not sleeping. She turned and twisted as if unable to find a comfortable spot, though he wondered if it was because he had left her aroused just as he was now. He could go to her and make it right, but what was the right thing to do?
Bloody hell, he had never been indecisive since that day he had left the man he had been sold to. He had been planning his escape, storing enough food to take with him. The man found the food and was furious. He began to beat Varrick more viciously than he ever had. Something had snapped in him that day and when he stumbled from a blow and fell nearly on top of a pitchfork, the tip tearing at his arm, he picked it up without thought, stood, turned, and drove it into the miserable excuse of a man as he came at him. The man’s eyes had looked as though they would explode with pain and anger as he reached for the handle, Varrick having not driven it far enough into him and that was when he had found the strength and courage he had not known he had. He gave it a shove driving it deeper into the man and as he stumbled, Varrick shoved the pitchfork harder and harder into him. After that day, he never hesitated in any decision he ever made and never regretted any of them. That was the day he had lost his soul.
So why hesitate now? Had he found his soul? Or had Fia found it for him?
He had no answer and seeing his wife had settled quietly in the bed, he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep as he did most nights.
Fia woke, her eyes springing open, and she glanced about half expecting to see her husband standing over her having shaken her awake, but he wasn’t there. He was asleep on the bench, though how he could sleep sitting puzzled her. So did the feeling of being shaken awake, but then everything puzzled her of late.
She turned her eyes away from her husband, not wanting to linger in thoughts on him, knowing it would only upset her. Seeing the fire had not dwindled much, she realized she had not slept long, so what had woken her?
Answers lie in what you see and know.
The voice left her asking herself… what did she know?