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)
Elsie’s heart pounded in her chest at what that news might mean.
“I always believed you a trustworthy man, Wadely,” Elsie said, keeping her voice calm, though her insides churned, and her heart continued to pound. “It is why you were generously offered shelter here whenever necessary and now a permanent home if you so choose. So, I will ask you for the truth and trust that you will speak it.”
“I would like to hear that myself.”
“Harcus?” Elsie’s brow narrowed, surprised yet suspicious to see Cavell’s brother appear from behind the stable.
“Aye, and we are all going to talk but not here.”
Elsie saw the dagger then, though realized he intended her to see it and Wadely to feel it since he poked the point of the blade at his back.
“The three of you are going to casually step behind the stable and do not be foolish and think to draw attention for I will see at least two of you dead before anyone can reach here and one of those will be Elsie.”
Ann reached out to take Elsie’s hand as if she could somehow protect her.
“Move!” Harcus commanded low and harshly.
The three did as he ordered, Elsie casting a quick glance at the village to see if anyone spotted them, but no one glanced their way, all too chaotically busy for anyone to notice.
“You all are going to walk quietly into the woods and go where I tell you,” Harcus continued to command.
Elsie’s heart continued to hammer in her chest, but it was from fear this time. Fear she would never see her husband again and never live to bear the bairn she suspected she carried but had not wanted to say until she was certain.
Harcus grabbed hold of her arm once in the woods, keeping the dagger planted near her side. “If either of you try anything, she’s dead, though it will not be a slow death.”
Elsie realized fear would do her little good in this situation. She needed to keep a clear head and bide her time as best she could. Once her husband discovered her missing, he would search for her and he would find her, of that she had no doubt. She only hoped he discovered her absence soon.
“Why do you do this, Harcus?” Elsie asked, curious for answers.
“Why does any man do anything?” he asked with a laugh.
Elsie did not have to think of a response, it came easily. “Wealth and power.”
“Something my da craves but he takes too long to achieve, and his craving does not come close to the wealth and power that I crave. He thinks by having small, insignificant clans pay allegiance to Clan McCabe that we grow in strength and power. It takes wealth to grow power, and do you know what brings great wealth?”
“Information,” Wadely said, helping Ann maneuver through the forest.
“I discovered just how dearly noble men and women would pay for information and how the information could be used to gain even more wealth.”
Elsie understood what he meant. “You sell the information to whoever will pay the most for it, increasing your wealth substantially.”
“My da never looked past your plain features but the few times I visited your da, I saw who was responsible for the daily running of your clan and the exceptional job you did. It is a shame my brother must lose such a good wife so soon after his marriage.”
Fear sent a chill running through her, though she kept herself from shivering. She would not let Harcus see her fear. She would stay strong no matter how frightened she felt.
“You joined forces with rogue mercenaries?” Elsie asked.
“A motley crew, but a necessary one that I secretly formed,” Harcus said.
Elsie kept him talking to learn all she could. “Then it was your crew who slaughtered the monks from Dundren Abbey?”
“A necessary evil,” Harcus confessed. “They failed to keep you and your sisters there and the old woman who could provide the proof needed as to your true parents. I could not let that information go to anyone else.”
“I am not Eudora. I know nothing,” Ann said.
Annoyed, Harcus snapped, “So, I discovered.”
Elsie was beginning to understand it all. “You and your crew were hired to find a woman and kill her, but then you learned that the woman was potentially more valuable to someone else if kept alive.” She shook her head. “Which is what brought the Lowlanders here, the person you crossed found out and sent another crew to finish the task you started.”
“If I had been offered more money the task would have been completed, but the price was too hefty for the person to match or go beyond,” Harcus said. “After hearing the three of you talk, it seems like the merchant might know the whereabouts of Eudora.” Harcus gave Elsie’s arm a yank. “If I can confirm you are the woman the person searches for and wants returned, then I will see that you are delivered posthaste. If not,” —he shrugged— “I can’t have my brother discovering what I do. So unfortunately, I will need to kill you. The two with us die regardless of what I find, though if either one of them can tell me about the true parents of you and your sisters, I might reconsider since I could earn a good amount of wealth with that information.”