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)
“Do not take long. My patience wanes,” Cavell warned, wanting an answer today.
He stood and almost reached out to help his wife to stand, but caught himself, then followed the healer up the stone staircase to wait with Elsie outside her da’s bedchamber. He watched her move from foot to foot, anxious to enter the room, to see her da and learn the truth.
Cavell was growing more impatient, May taking too long, and was about to enter the room when she finally returned.
“He is far too weak to speak to anyone. I am hoping with more sleep and the new brew he will be rested enough to speak with you tomorrow. There is no rush for you to leave is there?” May asked.
Cavell stared at the woman. Why would she say that? He realized why fast enough.
“You know,” he said and turned to his wife.
“It isn’t Elsie’s fault,” May said quickly. “I recognized her walk and the familiar movement of her hands when she speaks.”
Elsie drew her hood back relieved to be recognized.
“It is good to have you home, Mistress Elsie,” May said with a welcoming smile.
“I am so happy to be home and eager to see my da.”
Cavell would have preferred to keep her identity a secret until he got a chance to find out who was responsible for her and her sisters being sent to the abbey and why they were sent there. At least then he would know the name of his enemy. He also could not delay in providing Slayer with information that might prove helpful to him. And after talking with the clan members and finding them accepting of his appearance, even if it was out of need, he found it a relief that while here it was not necessary to conceal his face.
“Your da will be happy to see you as will others, knowing you have secured the safety of the clan with your marriage,” May said. “But how will you hiding beneath a monk’s robe be explained?”
Cavell did not hesitate to take command of how that would be handled. “The monk will retire to a bedchamber to seek solitude and prayer for the night, when actually Elsie will be in my bedchamber. I will take my supper there and retire early. The next morning Elsie will be here, and the monk will be gone. All would be told that she arrived before dawn, earlier than expected, and the monk returned with the monks who saw her safely here.”
“A plausible explanation that no one will question,” May said and returned to Chieftain Norris’s bedchamber to leave the couple to make ready for tomorrow.
Elsie sighed with relief. She was finally home and would remain so, though her relief was short-lived when thoughts of her sisters’ suffering rushed into her mind. Her first words were of them after being left alone with her husband in a small bedchamber while her bedchamber was made ready for him.
“Right after we speak with my da, we must immediately go and rescue my sisters.”
“I will see it done,” Cavell assured her.
“We will see it done. I am going with you.” Elsie had no intention of being left behind. She would see with her own eyes, that her sisters were freed, safe, brought home.
“I will not argue over it, wife. You will do as I tell you,” Cavell ordered sternly. “It could prove dangerous, and I will not take a chance with your safety.”
Elsie placed her hand on his arm. “I understand the danger, but they will need me there to help them. I must be there for them. Please, at least consider it.”
He had only known the touch of a woman when she was plying her trade or when coupling. It was different when his wife touched him with ease and no thought of pleasure simply to connect, be close, rely on him, and he favored it.
“I will think on it,” he said, and she smiled with appreciation. “You will remain here until I come for you.”
Elsie cast a hasty glance around the small room and gave his arm a squeeze as she said, “Please do not leave me here alone for long.”
Cavell saw the fright in her eyes and realized the cell-like room was a reminder of the cell in the abbey where she had been kept and where her sisters now languished.
“You have my word,” he said and without thought, he lowered his head and kissed her lips gently and she returned his kiss just as gently.
His arm went around her waist to hold her close as they both lingered in the delicate kiss that neither turned demanding. He enjoyed the soft play of their lips, the tenderness they shared, the lightness of their touch that it somehow tempted so much more than a kiss filled with hunger.
Footfalls broke them apart, though their eyes locked as they did.