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)
Esme stepped forward again, her voice steady despite the tremble that ran through her. “Though I wanted only to help, I will take my punishment, so no one thinks less of my husband.”
The room fell deathly silent. Torrance felt, though he didn’t show it, like she had just torn something out of him.
“She tries to secure her place as your wife while she betrays you behind your back,” Brack said to Torrance, eyes remaining fixed on Esme.
“And if she meant to help me?” Torrance growled, trying to contain his anger while trying to find a way out of this for Esme without causing her to suffer. “Then what, Brack? I punish her for helping me.”
“And what will your warriors and others think if you don’t act,” Brack asked bewildered that Torrance should question the obvious. “Will word spread that Torrance has grown weak, for if that should happen you leave your clan vulnerable.”
“Never would I do that,” Torrance snapped with a furious snarl.
Brack took a step back, surprised yet pleased by Torrance’s response. “What do you intend then, my lord?”
Torrance didn’t answer right away. His gaze locked on Esme, heart pounding with dread and admiration. Then he turned back to Brack.
“She’ll be confined to the cottage until I say otherwise. No walks. No visits. No speaking to anyone unless I permit it. And she will be given only bread and water to eat.”
Esme remained still, showing no hint of protest. She knew Ryland would never let her starve. He would somehow get food to her. But why confine her?
Brack nodded, pleased with his decision. “It will be done.”
“We have more pressing matters to see to, Brack,” Torrance said, grabbing his cloak off the peg.
Brack’s brow narrowed.
“If my wife speaks the truth, then it was someone else who helped Gavin escape, and we need to find out who.”
Brack was quick to accuse strangers. “Someone in the village.”
“Some in the village would have a key to the chains… unless the chains escaped with him,” Torrance said, his blue eyes intent while waiting for an answer.
“The chains were found on the ground in the hut,” Brack said, shaking his head.
“So, one of our own, yet again?” Torrance asked, his sneer showing his disapproval. “Wait outside for me. I will speak to the men and discover who truly betrayed me.”
“Aye, my lord,” Brack said.
As the door closed behind him, Ryland pulled Esme into his arms, his voice a strained whisper at her ear. “You didn’t have to do that.”
She looked up at him, fierce and unyielding. “Aye, I did. I needed to show myself I could be brave.”
“It takes true bravery to go through what you have gone through with Torrance and with me posing as him. You are a courageous woman, Esme. And you must be even more courageous and remain in the hut while I search for the truth.”
Her eyes turned wide, and she stepped out of his embrace. “That is why you confined me, so I could not go and talk with the Old Woman.”
“I must keep you safe whether you like it or not,” he insisted. “I have no time to discuss it with you now. We will talk when I return.”
She let him know how she felt. “I’m disappointed.”
“But you are safe and that is what matters. That is what keeps my heart steady and my stomach from twisting in fear of losing you.”
The truth in his voice, the concern in his eyes, and knowing how much he loved her softened her disappointment.
She smiled softly and in a way of accepting his punishment, said, “I’m hungry.”
Relief showed in his smile. “I will make sure you get food, and I will return as soon as I can if it is only to spend a short time with you. I am not leaving guards outside the door since I trust no one. So, keep the door latched and open it to no one.” He kissed her quickly and hurried out the door.
He was barely gone when the latch rattled, and she opened the door thinking he had forgotten something or had brought her much needed food.
“If you want to meet with the Old Woman, come with me now.”
Esme stared at Breann briefly and didn’t think twice. She grabbed her cloak and followed her into the woods.
The morning air bit sharp, the thin layer of snow crunching under heavy boots as Torrance stepped into the open area in front of the meeting house. The sky hung low, gray and brooding, and smoke from the cook fires drifted like ghosts across the hard-packed ground. Warriors gathered slowly at Brack’s summons, fanning out in a wary half-circle before Lord Torrance.
Silence reigned. Not a sound was heard from the gathered warriors, not even a murmur.
The cold crept into cloaks and stiffened hands, but it wasn’t the weather that made them uneasy… it was him. Torrance’s silence could cut deeper than any blade, and today, it hung over them like a drawn sword.