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)
“Aye, my lord,” Flora said.
“Anwen!” Torin called out and the woman hurried to him. “Go with my wife.”
“Aye, my lord,” Anwen said and fetched both their cloaks.
Torin worried that his wife had suffered an injury from the fall that only now made itself known. Then again, it could have been an excuse to leave him with Walsh to ask questions the man would not answer in front of her. He would ask his questions and be done and find out for sure.
“Iona’s cottage is that way, my lady,” Anwen said, pointing in the opposite direction of where Flora was headed.
“I know and we will go there as soon as we are done elsewhere,” Flora said.
People called out to her as she and Anwen made their way through the village.
“Blessings on you, my lady.”
“Pleased to see you are well, my lady.”
Flora smiled and waved and called out her thanks as she kept a brisk pace leaving no one to question if she had been harmed in the fall.
“My lady, I do not believe Lord Torin would want you leaving the village,” Anwen said as they approached the entrance.
“Then I suppose he will be upset when he discovers I left the isle,” Flora said matter-of-factly. “Hurry, Anwen. It will not take long.”
When they reached the guard post by the bridge two warriors stopped her.
“I wish to see where the dead man was found,” Flora said.
Both warriors glanced at each other not sure what to do.
“It is a simple and easy request. Just escort me over the bridge to where Walsh took you to the dead man,” Flora instructed. “I will not be long.” When the two did not move, she raised her voice with authority. “Now!”
The two warriors jumped and hurried to do as she ordered, Anwen shaking her head as she followed behind her.
Flora glanced around once at the spot. Blood, footfalls, and drag marks covered much of the area. She tilted her head back to look up at the large pine tree.
“Do you climb trees, Anwen?” Flora asked.
“Never, my lady,” Anwen said.
“My cousin, Tavia, did at one time, though no more due to an injury, but I was told it came natural to her. I wonder if it was the same for the dead man… a natural skill.”
“It is starting to snow, my lady, we should return now. The bridge becomes slippery when it snows,” the one warrior said.
Flora was surprised to see large snowflakes falling. She had been so engrossed in looking around that she had not even noticed.
“A moment more,” Flora said. “Was a single arrow found anywhere on the ground?”
“Nay, my lady,” a warrior said.
“Spread out and search around and see if you spot one before the snow can hide it from us,” Flora ordered.
Anwen joined in with the warriors, their heads bent searching.
Flora was just about to give up when Anwen shouted.
“I found it.”
Flora looked to see her holding a single arrow and smiled. “Wonderful! Now we can return to the village.”
“You should have never left the village in the first place, wife!”
CHAPTER 12
Flora waved the arrow in the air as she approached her husband. “We found the arrow Walsh mentioned. It tells us that at least part of the man’s story is true.”
Torin stood in the middle of the bridge, his arms folded across his chest and his face puckered with anger. “You lied to me. You told me you were going to see Iona.”
“I did not lie,” she said as she approached him. “I planned to see Iona, but first I wanted to see where Walsh killed the man and also to see if an arrow could be found to confirm his tale.”
“And what if he simply dropped an arrow on the ground himself to make his tale appear true?” Torin challenged.
“I thought the same but why concoct such a tale when Walsh simply could have said that he came upon the man, and they fought?”
As usual his wife gave a reasonable explanation. “I suppose you have a valid point.”
Flora smiled and hurried her step to him, and her foot caught on an icy patch and her feet went out from under her.
Torin had no intention of being too late to prevent his wife from toppling to the ground for a second time today. He sped toward her, and his arm made it around her waist just in time to yank her up and stop her from hitting the stone pathway.
Flora winced, a pain stabbing at her back.
Torin mumbled several oaths. “I’ve hurt you.”
“Nay,” she assured him. “I felt the pain when I stood before in the keep. I think something poked me in the back when I fell and left me bruised.”
“We go see Iona now!” he ordered, annoyed that he had not made her do so immediately after the fall.
She held up the arrow. “If the man who shot the arrow was a skilled marksman, then I am sure he would be particular about his arrows. This should match the arrows in his quiver and help to confirm Walsh’s tale.”