Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“You willingly suffered another torturous dunking so you could attempt an escape?” he asked, a bite of anger in his voice at what she had been made to suffer. Insane or not, he could not allow her to suffer that agony again. But what would he do with her if she was insane?
“It was not an attempt. I intended to succeed. I had to. My sisters’ fate rested with me, and I would not fail them.”
“Did you not consider the water might scald you?” he asked, almost cringing at what might have happened to her, and the thought fed his annoyance.
“I did consider that, which was why I did it later in the day when I knew the water would be cool. This way I would be left forgotten in the chapel until near dusk, or possibly the entire night, which would not only make my escape that much easier, but it would give me a better chance of succeeding, and it did.”
“Did you even once consider the dangers you would face once free, a lone woman traveler?”
“You mean a monk traveling alone,” she reminded. “You gave no thought that I was anything other than a pious monk when I joined you at the table.”
“Bloody hell! That was you at the market?” he asked but already had his answer. He had been so consumed with the possibility that his wife might have been found that he allowed good judgment to elude him. His wife had robbed him of his common sense and warrior ways before he had even met her.
“I had no choice. I had to do something, or I feared what my sisters’ and my fate might be,” she said, dusting off her hands.
“You took a dangerous chance,” he scolded, annoyed at himself for not paying more heed to the situation that was more complex than he had first thought.
She had not only finished the bread and cheese he had given her but a second piece as well and he broke off more to hand to her. He was not surprised that she took it since hunger still showed in her blue eyes that he found so appealing. Somehow there was a comfort in their soft blue color, and he enjoyed getting lost in it.
Elsie raised the bread to her lips then stopped. “I should not eat so much of what little we have. We will need it.”
We. That she thought of him, cared that there would not be enough food for him when she was still hungry, told him that she was thoughtful. Or was she being deceitful, trying to win his favor?
“If there is time, I will hunt for food tonight. If not, there is sufficient food left to feed us later. Once at the shelter, I can hunt for fish or meat.”
A smile hurried across her face. “That would be wonderful.”
Her smile did not change her plain features substantially, yet there was something about it that captivated.
Genuine.
Her smile was honest, not forced, not trying to win favor with him, but then she was hungry, so such news would please her, and yet… her smile pleased him.
“Where do you take me?”
“There is a shelter that sits on a small area that borders McCabe and Murdock land. It is ignored by all but me, which keeps people away from it, never knowing when I will occupy it. I think my father prefers that I reside there when I return home. So, no one will disturb us there.”
“That will give us a chance to see what goes on with my da.”
She glanced away for a few moments and Cavell began to understand that was her way when contemplating an issue.
“Once we can confirm that my da did not send my sisters and me to the abbey, then we can have him get them released from that horrible place.” Her brow suddenly wrinkled with concern. “When seeing the cell where I was kept, did you and the monk speak my name?”
“Aye, we spoke freely about you.” That her brow wrinkled more with concern had him asking, “Something troubles you about that?”
“If Leora heard my name, she would have attempted to speak with you if she was there. It worries me that she may have been suffering one of their painful tortures that were meant to drive the madness from us.”
Cavell recalled the agonizing scream he had heard upon entering the building but thought better than to mention it and cause her more worry. The more she told him, the more he began to wonder over the strange situation and possibly his father’s part in it. Why had he suddenly arranged a marriage for him when his father’s only concern had been that he join the Gallowglass?
“We will see your sisters freed,” he said, knowing too well the feeling of being imprisoned, though his prison had no true walls, only endless battles.