Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Rogan released her gently, stepped away from her, and not saying a word, he turned and walked away.
Aliss collapsed slowly to the ground, her chore forgotten, her mind ruled only by passion. How could she desire a man who had betrayed her? It made no sense. She should hate him, not want him.
He had used her for his own benefit then claimed to love her.
She shook her head. No matter how much she attempted to rationalize the situation it made no sense to her and she was exhausted by the thought of it. It occupied her mind to the point where she had barely considered anything else in the last two days, and that troubled her. She had made a bargain with him as she had done when they had first met and she had set to work healing his people.
Six months was their bargain this time and so be it. The time would serve a good purpose. She would use it to heal herself and build her future on the Isle of Non, no matter how difficult and painful a task it turned out to be.
“Aliss.”
She looked up and smiled. “Anna. What is wrong?” she asked, seeing the distress on the young girl’s face.
“I have tended the ill as best I could these last couple of days, but there are many who prefer to see you.”
Aliss stood in a flash. “You should have come to me sooner.”
“You have been preoccupied with all that is going on and neither I nor anyone in the village wished to disturb you.”
“Nonsense,” she declared. “I am a healer and that comes before anything. Tell anyone who wishes to see me to come right away. I am here for them.”
Aliss was glad to see a broad smile chase away the young woman’s worry.
“I will tell them right away.” She turned to leave. “Oh, Hellewyk warriors, too?”
“There are those in the Hellewyk clan who require a healer?”
Anna nodded vigorously. “One man told me he insisted on coming to rescue you just so that he could seek your help.”
Aliss dusted her hands off, reminded of her duties as a healer to both clans. Besides, busy hands kept a mind occupied, and right now, she needed a reprieve from her troubled thoughts. “I will clean up while you go tell them all that I am ready to see them.”
“I will help,” Anna said.
“If you are busy, I can tend some of them.”
After seeing over a dozen ailing people with a dozen more waiting for her, Aliss was grateful that Anna had remained to assist her. The ailments and complaints were mostly minor and could easily be remedied, but it took until just before the evening meal to finish treating them all.
Fiona had stopped by to help but looked annoyed when she saw Anna and left with a frown. Aliss realized her sister felt as if she had been replaced. She had often assisted her when necessary. Aliss laughed as she recalled how William, one of the Hellewyk warriors Fiona had treated before, had commented that Anna had a gentler touch than Fiona. He had whispered it as if afraid Fiona would hear, though she had been nowhere in sight.
Yet she had seen that same man show respect and admiration for Fiona’s courage in fighting beside Tarr and his men in battle.
When she finally finished, she went in search of her sister. They needed to talk before they parted.
“Where are you going?” Rogan asked, startling her as she rushed out of the cottage.
“To see my sister.”
“I will wait to sup until you return.”
She nodded and hurried off, wondering if she had agreed out of habit. At the moment, spending any time with him rankled her. Her hurt was too new, too painful, and yet so was the thought of not seeing him. Lord, but love was difficult.
Fiona sat by a small fire, a rabbit on a spit cooked almost black.
“It is too close to the flame,” Aliss said, sitting down beside her.
“You were the one good at cooking, not me.”
“You were the one good at defending, not me.”
Fiona shrugged. “We balance each other. The young woman Anna is a good helper.”
“Not as good as my sister.”
Fiona turned and smiled. “You seem to have made a life here, to my surprise.”
“To my surprise as well,” Aliss confessed. “At first I was so very frightened, but I could hear you in my head guiding me, encouraging me, insisting I could survive until you came for me.”
“You never doubted I would come for you?”
“Never!”
“I really helped you?” Fiona asked.
“Endless times. I would hear you in my head especially when I was most frightened or when I questioned my own decisions.” She smiled. “I could hear you tell me that I should kiss Rogan if I were ever to know how I felt about him.”