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)
However, what he had not expected was the rush of concern and even more so the spark of fright that had gripped him when he discovered Sky missing. He had steeled himself, voided his feelings so that nothing would stand in the way of victory. Where had the stab of concern for this woman, most people deemed evil, come from and how had he not been able to stop it?
“We take a different path to your home?” Sky asked.
“We are not going directly home.”
“Where do you take me?” she asked anxiously, fearing he might place her in another abbey.
Slayer spotted the fear in her eyes, and it was easy to understand what caused it. He was quick to assuage her worry. “You go to a safe place and the only place I know for sure you are safe… is beside me.”
Sky had a restless night of sleep on the cold ground and was not looking forward to another day of endless travel. She also worried over the distance growing between her and her family. No matter what Slayer said about her remaining at Clan Ravinsher, she intended to find a way home sooner or later, though sooner was preferable. The growing distance would only make it that more difficult.
Sky stood with her hands braced on her hips as she arched her back to work the ache out of it. She looked around for Slayer and fear ripped through her when she saw his face filled with rage as he rushed toward her. Instinct told her to run not from him but toward him and she did not hesitate. When she got close, his hand shot out, gripped her arm, and flung her to the ground, vaulting over her. She hit the ground so hard that it dazed her, and she lay there gathering her wits about her. It was not long before she was being swept up off the ground.
“Bloody hell,” Slayer said and brushed her hand away when she went to reach for her nose. “Don’t touch it.”
She did not need to be told her nose was bleeding profusely, she felt the blood pouring from it and tasted it on her lips. She needed something to stem the flow of blood and was surprised when Slayer tore his sleeve off from the top of his shoulder, scrunched it, and pressed it to her nose.
“Hold it there,” he said and took hold of her arm to walk her over to sit by a campfire that was nearly extinguished. He crouched down beside her. “I need to look at your nose. If it is crooked, broken from the fall, it is better I try to straighten it now before any bones can mend.”
Sky nodded, having seen it done to men who had the misfortune to break their nose. It was painful though some looked better for it, others worse. And all she needed was a crooked nose to go along with her mismatched eyes for people to deem her evil, since tales persisted about witches having deformed faces.
Slayer turned away from her a moment to call out to his two warriors who held the man who had foolishly attempted to kill Sky in front of them but failed.
“Keep him secured,” Slayer ordered, though that wouldn’t prove difficult since he was still reeling from the powerful blow he had delivered to the man’s jaw.
“He’s not going anywhere, my lord,” one warrior assured Slayer.
Slayer knew his men would not fail him, but he was impatient, his anger still seething, anxious to see what he could learn from the man. However, Sky came first. He had to tend to her nose, an injury he was responsible for while attempting to keep her safe.
He eased the cloth, nearly soaked through with blood, away from her nose, pleased to see the bleeding was no more than a dribble. It did not take long for him to see that her nose had suffered no break, an image of her beauty having been burned into his mind since first meeting her. Though it did surprise him how relieved he felt. It disturbed him to think that it might have been necessary to cause her such pain and that troubled him as well. He always did what was necessary without any concern for anyone. It was the only way he could lead. If he allowed himself to feel, decisions would be that more difficult to make.
“It isn’t broken,” he said, and without giving thought to it, he tore off his other sleeve, folded it, eased it against her nose, then took the soaked cloth from her and tossed it on the campfire. The cloth sparked the embers to life, and they quickly fed on it.
Sky sighed. “That is good to hear.”
“Sit here and rest until I return for you,” he said as he stood.