Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Tarr pointed to Raynor’s head. “That wound to your head has done damage.”
Raynor patted the spot. “It has healed miraculously due to Aliss’s skills.”
“What do you mean what you imagined I would be?” Fiona asked.
“Your look, your strength, your stubbornness.” Raynor smiled. “You are so much like her.”
Aliss and Fiona glanced at each other.
“Like who?” Aliss asked cautiously.
Raynor walked over to the twins. “Do you remember that night I grew impatient to see again and forced my eyes open?”
“You screamed out in pain,” Aliss said.
“It was not only the pain that caused my reaction. It was seeing your face that shocked me.” He placed his hand on her arm. “I mean no insult. You are as beautiful as I knew you would be.”
“There you go again,” Fiona said. “Can you finally explain this so we know what you are talking about?”
Raynor took each of their hands. “I have waited long for this moment. This day when I am finally reunited with my twin sisters.”
Chapter 18
“Brother?” Fiona questioned, and looked to Aliss.
Aliss reached out to her sister and Fiona grabbed her hand.
“I know how shocking this is for you both, but believe me when I say I am thrilled to have found you,” Raynor said. “Please take a seat at the dais and give yourself a chance to consider the startling news.” He turned to Tarr. “Let your men know all is well and invite them to feast at my tables.”
“Half my men will join me here and the other half will make camp.”
“Then I will see that food is sent to them.” Raynor left, promising a swift return.
Tarr went to Fiona’s side. “Discuss nothing until my return.”
“You doubt his claim?” Fiona whispered.
“Is there reason he could speak the truth?”
“Aye, there is.”
“Then I wish to hear all, so that this can be settled reasonably.” With swift strides he was gone.
Aliss moved closer to her sister’s side as they rounded the dais to sit.
“Mother warned us about trusting,” she whispered, taking a seat as Fiona took the one next to her.
“We have Tarr’s protection and I am curious, are you not?”
“Of course I am. Can you imagine meeting our true parents and having a brother? It is almost as if we are dreaming.”
“It was no dream but a nightmare when I discovered you gone,” Fiona said, annoyed. “If Raynor is our brother, he could have found a better way of letting us know.”
“My absence forced you to divulge your identity,” Aliss said regretfully.
“Your kidnapping left me no choice.”
“Perhaps it is for the best,” Aliss suggested. “I see in your eyes how you feel about Tarr.”
Fiona cast a heavy sigh and rested back against the chair. “Is it that obvious?”
“To me, because I know you so well.”
“I think I am falling in love with the stubborn man,” Fiona grudgingly admitted. “But do not ask me why, for I cannot tell you. It simply makes no sense.”
“Love never does, or so I have heard.”
“Falling in love is downright agonizing. One minute he is the most wonderful man in the world, the next minute he makes me mad as hell.”
Aliss smiled. “But the question is, can you live without him?”
“Of course I can,” Fiona snapped. “But do I want to?” Her sigh was even heavier than before. “No, I do not. Oh, how pitiful I sound.”
“I think it is remarkable.” Aliss smiled. “And I am so very happy for you. It is what you wanted.”
“To be loved, but does he love me?” Fiona shot forward in the chair. “Or does he simply want a brood mare.”
“I think you have grown on him.”
“Like a boil that blisters.”
The twins laughed.
“Think how wonderful this all really is, Fiona. You are falling in love and I believe Tarr is falling in love with you, though he is probably as bullheaded about it as you are and”—Aliss’s smile grew—“and we may have found our true parents.”
“You really think Tarr loves me?”
“How could he not? You have overwhelmed him.”
“I truly have,” Fiona said with pride. “Sometimes he does not know what to make of me.”
“Which probably makes him all the more interested in you.”
Fiona suddenly glared at Aliss. “Here I am babbling like a fool about Tarr when I should be focusing on the news of our parents.”
“That is all right, love interferes with everything. It cannot be helped.”
“I should be more concerned with the matter of our parents than loving Tarr.”
“Why?” Aliss asked softly. “Love rules the mind, heart, and soul—and, presently, Tarr is first in all of them, as it should be. The issue of our parents will be addressed and settled with Tarr by your side.”
“Your side too,” Fiona insisted. “He had all intentions of rescuing you whether I threatened him or not.”
“I never doubted that Tarr would not rescue me.”
Fiona stared at her perplexed.
“Tarr is a chieftain, a man of considerable honor. Many believe him hungry for land and power, but is it not that very hunger that actually provides and protects his clan? He could not allow me to be abducted and do nothing, even if I was not the twin he would marry; his home offered me protection and his home had been violated. Honor would have him seeking revenge.”