Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 99593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
He shook his head. “Nay, I don’t recall seeing such a woman.”
Esme continued. “She said something strange. That you’re searching for answers long buried in blood and vengeance. And that what you seek lies two days’ ride from Clan Glencairn. But she said that you cannot go alone. I must go with you.”
Torrance stared at her, unmoving. “And only now does this come to mind?”
“Forgive me, my lord, I forgot,” she said, reverting to her usual apologetic way when speaking with him. “Everything happened so fast. It only came back to me when I was lying in bed.”
Torrance sat up. “And that was all she said?”
“Aye,” she said, rubbing her arms, the stone floor chilling her bare feet and sending the cold seeping through her body.
He tossed the covers back some. “Get under the blankets, you’re shivering.”
Esme didn’t hesitate, the chill crawling deeper inside her. She got in bed, sitting up beside him.
He threw the blankets over her. “Do you think I search for something, Esme?”
If you’re Ryland, you might.
She let that thought linger in her mind as she said, “I don’t know, though I believe that something weighs heavily upon you since you returned from warring with Clan MacLeish.”
He kept his eyes focused on her. “Battle can do that.”
“Can battle change a man?”
“Aye,” he said, without hesitation. “Some men carry it like a second skin. Some grow quiet. Others hungrier for blood. Some don’t make it home at all… not truly.”
“Did it change you?” she probed, hoping to find out more that proved it wasn’t Torrance who returned home to her.
His eyes narrowed and he reached out and grabbed hold of her chin. “You tell me, wife. Have I changed?”
The way he squeezed her chin, the familiar challenge in his tone when he set her up to fail no matter how she responded to him, sent a fright through her. This was the Torrance she knew, and her response came easily.
“Nay, my lord, you are who you have always been.”
“And what have I always been?”
The glint in his eyes was familiar and she couldn’t believe what a fool she had been believing him other than who he was, an evil man who spun his web and captured the innocent and foolish in it so he could devour them.
“You hesitate?” he snapped.
“Nay, my lord, you have always been a good husband, a wise leader, and the bravest of warriors.”
“If that is so, then why did one of my own men betray me, try to kill me, and told me that he may have failed but the next one wouldn’t?”
CHAPTER 11
Torrance detangled himself from his wife, knowing how dangerous it would be for him to remain wrapped around her. The scent of her alone tempted him. A scent he had begun to grow familiar with and found far too intoxicating. There was a touch of the woods to her, pine and earth, and a flowery scent, but it was her own unique womanly scent that tempted him the most.
After hurrying to dress, he left the room before temptation won out. It was early, the keep quiet, though the kitchen fires were probably being lit. The day would start soon enough, demand on his time and decisions to be made would follow him throughout the day. He needed this time alone to clear his head, to think. He reminded himself that time was not on his side, but then his task was not an easy one to accomplish.
He swung his cloak over his shoulders and stepped outside. A light snow had fallen, coating the ground, and left a dusting on the tree branches and thatched roofs. Early snowfalls warned of a cold winter and days on end stuck in the keep. An image of Esme naked in his arms in bed was the first thing that came to mind.
Quick steps took him down the keep’s stairs as he shook his head at his straying thoughts. The day was just breaking, cloudy, not a speck of the sun to be seen. The moody weather reflexed his own temperament. He was annoyed with himself for ordering her into his bed last night, but how could he leave her standing barefoot on the cold floor, shivering.
That wasn’t the true reason for his annoyance. It was that he had confided in her about the attempt on his life. He hadn’t planned on involving her in it, but there was kindness to Esme, a true kindness that made it easy to trust her—and far too easy to talk with her. So, he had shared the betrayal with her, and it had started an interesting and unexpectedly helpful conversation that lasted well into the night and had her falling asleep beside him.
He thought back on their conversation as he walked through the quiet village.
“When was this?” she asked.
“During the battle with Clan MacLeish.”