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)
“Decimus will make her suffer if he finds her.”
“Then I will make certain he does not find her.”
“You should waste not a moment,” Reena said. “If you fear for her safety, then go now. See that she is kept well.”
“Tell her that her father sent you to her,” Magnus said. “When I first hid her away I explained that she must stay where she was until I came for her. And if I could not come myself then I would send someone and he would say, ‘Your father sent me to you.’ Say those words or she will go nowhere with you.”
“I will do as you say and you, my friend, take care. Kilkern will stop at nothing to take your land.”
His warning brought a smile to Magnus’s face. “He is a fool who will meet a foolish end.”
“Take care, mapmaker, and I will send word when Mary is safe.”
“Godspeed,” Magnus said and heard the door close, though he never heard the latch being lifted.
Magnus turned to Reena and took her into his arms, holding her to him while his hands stroked her back. She was safe here with him and he would make certain she remained safe. He would see to Kilkern on his own terms and settle a long-owed debt when he took Kilkern’s life. Then it would be done, and then he and Reena would wed and he would worry no more on the Kilkerns.
For now he would trust the Dark One to protect Mary and know that she was in safe hands. But he would not wait long to hear from the Dark One. Mary was his responsibility: he had given his word to his teacher to protect her, and his honor would allow him to do nothing less than to protect her with his life.
Reena rested her head on his chest. “Who is Decimus?”
“You do not want to know.”
“Is it safer that I do not know?”
Magnus took her by the shoulders and held her away from him. “It annoys you that I wish to protect you?”
“It annoys me that you do not let me help protect you.”
Magnus almost grinned, but a warning look from her blue eyes, which looked ready to storm, brought his grin to a sudden halt.
“You think to have your vengeance at any cost, you have planned for it, counted on it, and now the time is here and you can almost taste the victory. But you failed to realize one thing.”
Magnus waited in silence, curious as to what she thought he failed to consider.
“You failed to realize that falling in love changes everything. Now there is a reason for concern, for there is a person who loves you with all her heart and worries over your safety, praying every day that you remain well and alive, praying that she will share a long life with you. And when that is considered, then vengeance can be more costly than you thought possible and victory bitter in its futility.”
She pushed his hands off her and took a step closer. “I love you and will do whatever is necessary not to lose you, so do not tell me that keeping me ignorant to your plans is better for my safety, for there is no safety in ignorance.”
With a brief shake of his head and a slow smile surfacing, Magnus stared at the strong-willed woman he loved with an intensity that sometimes frightened him. “You are a rare woman.”
“Nay, I but speak my mind more often than most women.”
“And why do you think that is?” he asked, wanting to understand what made her different and thus all the more appealing to him.
She rested a hand over his heart and he covered her hand with his, sending a warmth of emotions racing through them.
After a brief moment of considering his question, Reena answered. “I think it is because I thought little of wedding and pleasing a man. I thought more about myself and what I wished to do, wished to accomplish, so therefore I could speak my mind without thought of offending a possible husband. I lived more for myself.”
“How can you say that when you placed yourself in danger, traveling to my land for the sake of all the tenants?”
“That was for the good of the whole, not one person. I had the foresight to see that there was a way that could possibly rectify a horrible situation. It would have been wrong of me not to at least attempt to try.” She shrugged. “Besides, I wished a bit of my own adventure. My mapping trips had been solely with my father, and my trip to your land was solely on my own, the beginning of my own mapping quests.”
“And that is the life you envisioned for yourself? A dangerous one?”
“Not if I mapped for the Legend.” She was fast to correct with a smile.