Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Suddenly, she heard stone after stone collapse, the light from the torch growing brighter until… a strong wind rushed from the room extinguishing the flame. Though with the room completely sealed, where it could have originated Flora could not fathom.
Curses flew from Henry’s mouth and Flora rushed to press herself back against the wall. Her fingertips brushed along a small bowl almost knocking it over. She gripped it tight, not sure how it would help, but not letting go of it. She braced herself against the wall and realized her only chance was to sneak past Henry as he ventured farther into the room and hurry out before he realized she was gone. But could she do it quietly enough for him not to hear her?
“FLORA! Torin’s roar echoed up the stairs.
“Damn!” Henry muttered. “I should have known better than to follow my idiot uncle’s scheme. Now we both die for I will not be taken alive.”
“FLORA!” Torin shouted, sounding closer.
A few moments were all she needed and when she heard Henry move, she threw the bowl. He lunged at the sound, and she remained tight against the wall as she made her way to the door. She stopped a moment hearing a gurgling sound then she spotted a weak light coming from what was left of the unsealed door and she rushed to it, screaming for her husband.
“TORIN!”
Light suddenly flashed in the room and Flora stopped where she was staring at the bed.
Henry lay atop the skeleton, his neck impaled by a bone, blood everywhere, and his eyes wide in death.
CHAPTER 29
Torin took his wife in his arms as soon as he entered the room, relieved he had not been too late. His wildly beating heart began to slow as he held her tight against him, assuring himself she was safe.
“I am well, husband, worry not,” Flora reassured him. “I knew you would come once Anwen told you I was alone here. I just needed to bide my time.”
He kissed her gently, then rested his brow against hers. “I love you, Flora, and never do I want to live without you.”
“We have already settled that, Torin. We will die within a brief time of each other just as my parents… She closed her eyes thinking what Henry had done to them.
“Flora?” Torin questioned when she suddenly grew quiet, and he eased his head back to see she had shut her eyes.
She opened her eyes and smiled faintly. “I have much to tell you, but first you must see this.”
Torin released her reluctantly and stepped aside to look at what she was eager for him to see.
He was not the only one who stared in bewilderment at the bed. Walsh stood holding the torch he carried high to cast better light. Kinnell did the same, having followed when he spotted Torin and Walsh rushing to the keep.
Flora approached the bed, glancing around as she did, seeing things that told her a story and left her with far too many questions.
“It is a woman in the bed, and she saved my life,” Flora said. She stepped closer to peer down at the skeleton and Henry. “I heard him trip. When he fell on her, her bones must have snapped at the wrist, sending her arm bone shooting up and into his neck.”
Kinnell shivered. “It looks more like she grabbed him and shoved the bone into him.”
“She is dead. That would not be possible,” Walsh said, continuing to stare at the strange scene.
“Maybe, but don’t tell me that it doesn’t look that way to you,” Kinnell argued.
Walsh ignored him, though his shudder responded for him.
“I wonder who she is and what she did to be sealed away,” Kinnell said.
“Whoever she is, she died here giving birth and this is her shrine,” Flora said.
“How do you know that?” Torin asked.
“Look around,” she said. “There is an empty cradle, the remnants of the wreath that once adorned her head crumbled and now mixed with what hair she has left on her head. Her arms have been folded over her chest and I would not be surprised to find remnants of flowers there once Henry’s body is removed. Whoever this woman was, she was well-loved, the man who loved her not letting her go even in death.”
“My great-grandda, Lord Dermid,” Torin said.
“It is time she is freed,” Flora said, “and properly buried.”
They all stood quiet a moment as if in respect to the woman in the bed.
Walsh was the first to speak. “So, Henry put the bounty on your head?”
“Nay,” Flora said, returning to her husband’s side. “It is quite a tale to tell… secrets, spies, poison, lies, and more.”
“I am eager to hear it all, wife,” Torin said, then looked to Walsh and Kinnell. “Can you both see that Henry is removed from here? I do not want anyone knowing what was found in this room just yet. “Lady Flora and I will await you both in my solar where we can hear the tale together.”