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)
“A practical plan and one a man would think of, but I do not think a man was imprisoned here. I think a woman was held here.”
“Why a woman?” Brigid asked.
“A man would think of escape, overpowering the guards once he freed himself from the confines of this cell. A woman would not have the strength to overpower guards, so she would free herself in a different way.”
“By writing?” Thomas asked. “Writing would not free her.”
“Aye, but it would,” Reena said. “It would keep her mind free.”
“What does she write of?” Brigid asked.
“She writes in Latin of love and hope: ‘Remembrance of love keeps hope in my heart. Will not forget. Never.’ ”
“She must have been a woman of wealth to speak the Latin tongue. Few if any women know the language, it is meant for the tongues of the clergy. How did you learn it?” Thomas asked.
“My mother taught me. She has a thirst for knowledge and taught herself many tongues.”
“How sad it must have been for her, being locked away and writing of love and hope,” Brigid said. “I do hope she escaped and found love.”
“Enough,” Magnus said, annoyed. “Thomas, go and bring enough men to dismantle the door. This room remains locked away no more. Brigid, go with him and see that drink and food is readied and brought here for the men to enjoy.”
The couple left, and no sooner had the door to the room closed behind them than the stone door began to shut, the heavy strength of it shoving the wooden chest that attempted to brace it out of the way. Magnus grabbed Reena by the arm and hurried her out.
It was not until the door was fully closed that Reena turned to Magnus. “It was your mother who was imprisoned there, was it not?”
Chapter 20
Magnus stood silent for several minutes, staring at Reena. He needed the few moments to form his answer and to keep remembrances at bay. His return to Dunhurnal had not been easy for him. Memories had flooded his mind with each step he had taken inside the keep, bitter memories mixed with tender ones. No one knew of them, and he chose to keep them locked away. One day he planned on releasing the hurt and pain of the past, but Reena’s discovery now forced that day upon him sooner than he had planned.
“How did you know my mother was imprisoned here? Did she engrave her name in the stones?”
“I read one of the journals in the chest when you first showed me the room,” she confessed. “The entry spoke of giving birth to a son and naming him Magnus. I simply made an assumption.”
A commotion outside the door prevented Magnus from answering, and the door soon opened. Thomas entered in a rush, followed by several men.
He stopped abruptly when he saw Magnus and Reena standing in the middle of the room. “I thought you may be trapped in the room, so I rushed.”
“We made certain to exit the room before it imprisoned us,” Magnus said, then turned to Reena. “Wait for me in my solar. I wish to talk with you.”
She nodded and left, hoping Magnus would share his childhood days with her. She could only imagine the pain he must have suffered over his mother’s imprisonment and what the woman herself had been forced to endure. She prayed that his mother was safe and free from harm; but then, the Legend was her son, and by now she must be free. How long had his mother actually been imprisoned there? This was only one of many questions she hoped Magnus would answer.
Her curiosity also had her wondering about his connection with Dunhurnal land. He had known all along it sat adjacent to Kilkern land, yet he’d made no mention of it to her when she had approached him about protecting her village.
And why then did the king grant him the land? Was it a favor? Or did the land actually belong to Magnus by birthright?
Reena ran into Brigid, who was rushing up the steps, as she turned the spiral staircase to go down a few levels to Magnus’s solar.
“You are all right?” Brigid asked through labored breaths.
“I am fine,” she said and wished she could tell Brigid of her discovery, but that would not be fair to Magnus. He had kept the secret of the keep to himself, and perhaps for a good reason. She would not betray his trust and share his secret.
“You were not fearful of the dark and being trapped?”
“Nay, I knew you would return with Magnus and, of course, Thomas.”
“Was it not completely dark in the room?”
“The darkness was more thick than I thought possible,” Reena said.
“And this did not frighten you?”
Reena gave her question a quick thought. Recalling the door closing, the light flickering out, and the glint of metal made her realize she had been too curious about the mysterious object to worry about her predicament. “My thoughts were elsewhere—besides, I knew you would be returning in a short time.”