Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 99325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“This will have to wait,” Magnus said and joined Reena.
She had thought the same herself and hastily saw to the safety of her drawings by tucking them away in the inside pocket of her cloak.
Magnus took her arm. “The snow will completely cover the land by nightfall.”
“Aye,” she said and smiled. “But look at how the snow touches the land with beauty. Nothing stirs in the woods. The sky is still of birds and no footprints mar the freshly fallen snow. Everything is at peace.”
She looked up at him. “Do you feel the peace?”
A warmth filled him, a gentleness touched him, and contentment filled his soul, though it was not the snow—it was Reena being there beside him. And he did not stop himself from raising his hand to stroke her cheek and run a finger across her lips.
“You shiver.”
“I am cold.” Though a lie, she could not admit that his touch filled her with a strange sense of pleasure.
His hand trailed down her arm to slip over her hand, and he laced his fingers with hers. “Let us go seek the heat of the hearth.”
“Aye.” A single word was all she could manage, the warmth that flooded her having turned to a deeper heat that tingled her senses.
They entered the keep. The stairs being too narrow for two to walk, he released her hand slowly, his fingers whispering across her palm and sending a series of shivers through her that set her legs to trembling.
“Tomorrow we will begin at the top of the keep and work our way down.”
Reena remained silent until they reached her bedchamber, where they stopped outside the door. “I will set to work on mapping the view from the battlements.”
He stood in silent contemplation, and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her.
He appeared as if he was about to speak, then Magnus suddenly shook his head and walked off without a word.
Reena hurried into her room, shut the door behind her, and collapsed against it.
Heaven help her, whatever was she to do?
Chapter 12
Thomas entered Magnus’s solar shortly after he did. “Kilkern has men watching.”
Magnus did not seem concerned by the news, though he was concerned that he had hesitated when he had desperately wanteded to kiss Reena. “I expected nothing less of him. He does not like being robbed of what is his, though he thinks nothing of doing the same to another.” He walked to the stone hearth and added another log to the fire, a sudden chill filling the room. Perhaps it was the memories the name Kilkern invoked in him.
“Our response?”
Magnus watched the flames stretch high and the smoke curl up the chimney, and he allowed his troubled memories to drift away with the smoke. “We do nothing more than what we have been doing. We watch and keep alert to Kilkern’s every move. I doubt he plans anything just yet. He probably continues to sulk over being conquered on his own property.”
“A sulking man plots.”
“As does a wise warrior,” Magnus said. “My plans are laid, and he does as I expected. He is predictable.”
“How so?”
“He allows his self-importance to interfere with his own strategy, and that, my friend, allows for me to make him all the more predictable.”
“Traps,” Thomas said with glee and rubbed his beefy hands together. “We are setting traps.”
“When a prey is cornered he is the most dangerous, and it is the time a warrior must be the most alert. Make certain the men remain vigilant—have them take nothing for granted, not even this storm. There are enemies who strike when least expected, though I doubt Kilkern presently poses any threat. He is a coward at heart and will probably seek outside assistance in this matter.”
“Do you think he will seek the king’s help even though he knows the king favors you?”
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.”