Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“A friend, please trust that I am a friend,” he said and suddenly dropped the bowl, yanked her to her feet and with a strong hold on her pulled her along with him toward the garden.
Sky did not waste a minute. She screamed out for her husband, “SLAYER!”
The two warriors were rushing toward them and when they got close, Lester shoved her at them, sending her crashing into them and tumbling to the ground.
Fane came running around the corner of the keep moments before Slayer. The hound rushed to Sky, snarling and snapping, ready to attack the stranger. Fury sparked in Slayer’s eyes when he saw one of his warriors helping Sky to her feet and the other one chasing Lester who had managed to climb the large tree on the other side of the vegetable garden and was disappearing up in its branches.
“Silent, Fane,” he ordered when he reached the tree and the hound stopped barking and stood beside him, his eyes, like Slayer’s, looking up from where they stood under the tree branches.
“You won’t get away,” Slayer yelled.
“You will not find me,” Lester called back, sounding a distance away.
Slayer’s face turned red with fury. “I will find you and make you pay.”
“Save your strength, Slayer. He will come for her. Save her.”
CHAPTER 21
“Ready a troop, Reed, we hunt him,” Slayer ordered.
“Aye, sir, with his wound he should not get far,” Reed said with a bob of his head and hurried off.
“My lord.”
Slayer turned at the sound of his wife’s voice and he took hasty steps to her, seeing her limp toward him. Without thought, he swung her up into his arms as soon as he reached her.
Fane stuck close to his side as Slayer hurried her to his solar., yelling as he walked through the kitchen, “A bucket of water and cloths, Euniss.”
Sky saw Angel run toward them and before she could warn her husband not to step on the kitten, Fane’s mouth scooped her up with his mouth for her to join them.
Slayer sat Sky in a chair near the hearth and went to grab a nearby bench while Fane deposited Angel in Sky’s lap then sat beside the chair.
“Which leg?” Slayer demanded, after placing the bench in front of her.
She pointed. “The right ankle.”
He crouched down and lifted her right leg gently and placed her foot on the bench. He pushed her garments out of the way and slipped off her shoe.
“There is no swelling,” he said as he caressed her ankle with a tender hand. “Does it pain you?”
Euniss entered then to Sky’s relief since she did not want to lie to her husband.
“Keep everyone away from here, Euniss,” Slayer ordered.
“I have taken care of that already. Everyone believes you are admonishing her for speaking to the prisoner. They will avoid you not wanting to catch the tail end of your anger.”
“Wise of them,” Slayer said.
“They know you well, my lord,” Euniss said and left them alone.
Slayer dropped a cloth from the small stack into the water-filled bucket and looked at his wife. “You need admonishing for putting yourself in danger as you did.”
“I thought I might learn more from him and I did. He said he would not hurt me. That he was a friend I should trust.”
“Friend? Trust?” he asked incredulously and twisted the soaked cloth tight until not a drop of water fell from it. Then he shook it out and placed it on Sky’s ankle. “How do you trust a liar to be a friend? The other prisoners say that Lester only recently joined them and that none of them trusted him. He would disappear at times and suddenly return with a poor excuse of where he had gone. The mercenary leader didn’t care since Lester was a skilled swordsman, and he didn’t want to lose him. Just learning that, I was on my way to question him some more when I heard you scream for me.”
“He told me that he had hoped to have more time to talk with me—”
“Bloody hell,” Slayer grumbled. “He knew his time here was limited and that when I found out more about him, he would once again be a prisoner.”
“That was why he ate before having his wound tended to. His stomach would be full, and he would not need to worry about food, only his escape.” Sky shook her head. “Seeing how fast he climbed that tree, I suspect he never suffered a wound.”
“I believe you’re right,” Slayer agreed. “What else did he say to you?”
“He told me that I was in more danger than I knew—” She stopped talking suddenly.
“What is it, Sky? Tell me,” he urged.
Her brow wrinkled, recalling Lester’s words, and she shook her head slowly as if not believing what she was about to say. “He told me I was not who I thought I was but that the truth would reveal itself soon. He must know who my parents are.”