Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 99206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“Is there a problem with Justin?”
“Nay.”
“What did he want?”
“A small favor, nothing of importance,” she said, wondering why he sounded irritated and thinking it wise to change the subject. After all, she had promised not to betray Justin’s trust. “It is time for me to go in search of feathers for new quills.”
For a moment she thought he intended to pursue his concern with Justin, then he asked, “Where will you hunt for feathers?”
She pointed past him. “Beyond Brigid’s cottage in the woods.”
“Your cider grows cold,” Brigid called out from the cottage.
“Warm yourself with hot cider and enjoy more of Brigid’s cinnamon cakes before you go to the woods,” Magnus said and stepped aside for her to enter.
“Nay, I think it is wiser for me to go now when the sun is strong.”
Magnus reached out to take her arm, but she hurried past him into the cottage, grabbed her cloak, gave Horace a pat on the head where he lay curled contentedly before the hearth, and was out the door.
“Wait,” Brigid said, rushing after her friend, basket in hand. “You forgot this.”
“I will not be long.” Reena took the basket, smiled at Magnus as she rushed past him, and waved to Thomas, who was repairing the front gate. She brushed her long dark hair away from her face and hurried around the side of the cottage, only to have a gust of wind slip beneath her cloak and send it billowing out behind her. She laughed like a child at play, spread her arms as if she intended to fly, and hurried off, disappearing into the woods.
Magnus watched her as he walked over to Thomas, who kept his laughter low.
“You find this amusing?”
“Aye,” Thomas said with a good nod of his head. “I have never known a woman who did not find you appealing and make her feelings known. Now I know not only one.” He held up two fingers. “But two.”
“I admire Brigid, for she loved her husband, but I do not interest her, nor does she interest me. While she is a good woman—”
“A very good woman,” Thomas said firmly.
“Aye, a very good woman,” Magnus agreed with a nod. “She is not what I look for, though”—with a purposeful pause he stared at his friend—“she would be good for you.”
Thomas grew flustered, shook his head, and dismissed Magnus’s words with a curt wave. “Nay, I am but a friend to her; she has no other interest in me.”
Magnus placed a hand on Thomas’s large shoulder. “You say yourself she is a very good woman.”
“And what of you and Reena?” Thomas asked. “I see how you look at her and want to know her whereabouts, and how you provided her with large quarters in the keep. I know that you have sent for special drawing and writing materials for her, and that you have ordered Mary the spinner to spin a fine cloth for garments specially to be made for Reena.”
“She is my mapmaker and therefore I provide for her.”
“Really? Then why do I find you so often in her company and in conversation with her? And why did you grow so annoyed when she went off to speak with Justin?”
Magnus bristled. “I do not need to explain myself to you.”
Thomas laughed and placed a hand on Magnus’s shoulder. “Nay, my friend, you do not, but some advice. I would suggest you not harm that young lad Justin, who you obviously feel is interested in Reena.”
“They hugged,” Magnus said, his own irritation surprising him.
Thomas kept a restraint on his chuckle.
“You find this humorous?” Magnus asked, not at all amused.
“I find it humorous that you have denied your attraction to Reena.”
Magnus shook his head. “I have been trying to understand why I found her interesting ever since I first saw her. She is too thin—”
“She has gained some weight,” Thomas said in her defense.
“Not much, and her features are plain, though her smile is pleasant and she has no interest in womanly matters. She maps, draws and helps many in the village, and she does what she pleases without thought of seeking my permission.”
“And still you find her attractive.”
“Why?” Magnus threw his hands to the heavens.
“Why not find out why?” Thomas asked.
“A simple solution, you would think,” Magnus said with a shake of his head. “I need to clear my thoughts.”
“A walk in the woods,” Thomas suggested with a smile.
Magnus ignored him, since a walk in the woods had been his intentions, and he entered the woods deep in thought.
He had much on his mind of late, securing land being the most important. Then he had to find a good woman to make his wife and see to a debt owed to him.
He had been granted lands for his allegiance and service to the king. He had learned early on that a king’s wealth was more in land than in coin, so he’d made certain to gain his own wealth in more than just land. He’d made his wealth on foreign soil, and it far exceeded those in power, though he’d let no one know, for it would make him vulnerable for attack from the monarchy.