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)
Magnus shrugged. “The king is much like Kil-kern; whoever can provide him with what he wants he favors. I trust the king as much as I trust Kilkern. Tell the guards to keep alert and trust no one, and make certain that I am informed of any strangers who enter the village.”
“The men keep watchful eyes and know of everyone who leaves or enters the area. Kilkern’s men are not discreet and were easily spotted.”
“It is the areas I am not fully aware of that concern me,” Magnus said and walked over to the table to fill two goblets with ale, handing one to Thomas. “Reena is mapping the view from the battlements, which will help. When this storm passes I intend to investigate the land further with Reena. I want to know every possible avenue of approach. Now tell me if there is anything else that warrants my attention.”
“All goes well. Most of the cottages have been adequately repaired to survive the winter, though more extensive repairs will be needed in the spring. The winter food preparation goes well, and the surrounding forest is full of game, so we will not starve.”
“How goes Brigid’s cottage? I see that you spend much time there.” Magnus watched his friend blush.
“She has no one to help her and she is a stubborn one in asking for help,” Thomas said and shook his head.
“But you give her no chance to refuse.”
Thomas shrugged. “I do what I can for her. I want to be a helpful friend to her.”
“No more? Just a friend?”
Thomas looked at him oddly. “What more could I be to her? A woman as beautiful as Brigid could never love a man as ugly as me.”
“You love with your heart, not your eyes.”
“Brigid’s heart belongs to her dead husband, she will love no other ever again,” Thomas said with a distinct sadness.
“Her heart needs time to heal.”
Thomas shook his head. “She looks for no other man.”
“It does not matter, when the time is right she will discover love again.”
Reena lost herself in her mapmaking. The evening meal came and went and she gave it no thought. After having gathered her senses, she’d had a logical discussion with herself.
She reminded herself that she was not at all suited for Magnus, and that he did not in the least favor her. His touch had been nothing more than him brushing off the falling snow on her face. And taking her hand? She had laughed at that, realizing the battlement’s walkway was slippery due to the snow, and holding her hand was a precautionary measure; in case she lost her footing, he would already have hold of her.
He was her lord and she his mapmaker. Though she wished to regard him as a friend, she would be wise to realize her place in his service. And she would do well to see that he and Brigid spent more time in each other’s company.
She thought to enlist Thomas’s help. He’d seemed to think her idea of bringing Magnus and Brigid together a good one when she had mentioned Brigid to Magnus on their journey home.
With her thoughts in more sensible order she had set to work on mapping the view from the battlement. Other maps would be necessary to complete the entire view, but for now she concentrated on the area she had hastily outlined before the snow began to fall in earnest.
She knew the land well, having traveled to the area on more than one occasion with her father, but one particular area troubled her. The slope of the land and the density of the trees did not give a true picture of the terrain, and she knew closer inspection was necessary if she was to map the area correctly.
If the snowfall was light she would request permission to investigate the area tomorrow; for now, however, she painstakingly detailed the view as accurately as possible, knowing more detail would follow later.
In between her mapping she had seen to the preparation of her new quills, the ones she had gathered just today. She had placed them near the hearth so that they would dry slowly. She did not want them to become brittle and thus unusable, especially with so much mapping to do. She would need extra quills.
She stretched her arms and drew back her shoulders to ease the ache in her neck and back. She often spent long hours at the table creating her maps or simply drawing, detailing an area, a face, a scene, and she loved every minute she spent with quill in hand.
Time being of no importance to her, she remained lost in her work. The knock at her door did not disturb her, and it was not until a solid fist hit her door twice that she jumped and in haste bid entrance to her visitor.