Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Cavell caught his wife in a tight embrace, worried something was terribly wrong with the way she buried her face against his chest and how her arms wrapped snug around him.
“What’s wrong, Elsie?” he asked again.
Elsie did not want to voice her thoughts for fear she would bring them to life. She preferred to remain locked safely in her husband’s strong, warm arms.
This time he questioned her simply by saying her name. “Elsie?”
He was worried, she could hear it in his voice, as she would be if he did not respond to her if in a similar situation.
“My da,” she said, looking up at him. “I fear he is going to die. I don’t want to lose him, not yet.”
Cavell said the only thing he could think to say. “Then tell him how much you need him. Your sisters need him. His future grandchildren need him. Maybe then he will fight to live as he did when his clan was under attack. I know he misses your mum, but I don’t think your mum would be happy if he left you and your sisters at a time you all need him the most.”
Elsie felt as if her husband had lifted a burdensome weight off her shoulders. “You are right. I must remind him of how much he is needed here and how my mum would expect him to help us through this difficult time.” She kissed him. “You are a wise chieftain who gives wise advice.”
“I am more a husband who loves his wife and does not like seeing her upset.” He grinned. “Though you are right about me giving wise advice and you should remember that when next you disagree with me.”
She chuckled and before she could respond, a Gallowglass warrior approached them.
“Your father and a troop of his warriors approach.”
“Escort him to the keep. His troop waits on the outskirts of the village, and when he leaves see that he is followed unseen to our border,” Cavell ordered and took his wife’s hand to walk to the keep. “This is one of those times you should accept your chieftain’s wisdom and—”
“I am not leaving you alone with your father,” Elsie said, clutching tightly to his hand to demonstrate her intentions.
Cavell should have been annoyed that his wife argued the point with him, but instead he was pleased. She stood by his side no matter what and would let no one, not even him, make her do otherwise.
“It is working well with the Gallowglass warriors Eldon left here,” Elsie said, letting him know there would be no more discussion of her leaving his side. “They guard the village well.”
“And they soon will be showing the men how to improve their fighting skills so they will feel more confident if faced with battle. That is just the beginning of my plans for Clan Murdock. I am going to talk with Slayer about a trade route we can establish since he trades with the Northmen.”
“We have nothing to trade.”
“There is always something to trade,” Cavell said. “We will talk more about it another time.”
“Maybe you should talk with my da about it,” she suggested, thinking it might help for her husband to include her da in such a plan and give him more of a reason to grow strong.
“I will do that,” he agreed, thinking that perhaps it might give him an opportunity to somehow learn more about where Norris and his wife got the unwanted bairns. It was imperative they find out all they could so they could determine who meant them harm.
“Why is it that my men are made to wait outside the village?” Cavell’s father bellowed before he even brought his horse to a halt in front of the keep. “And how dare you pledge allegiance to Slayer when it was part of the marriage agreement that you pledge the Clan Murdock’s fealty to Clan McCabe.”
Cavell’s eyes pinned his father with a heated glare when he dismounted. “That is the chieftain’s decision to make and now that I am chieftain of Clan Murdock, I decide on who the clan’s allegiance will go to and it is not Clan McCabe.”
Anger spewed with his father’s every word. “If it were not for me, you would not be chieftain of this clan.”
“One good thing you did for me in my life, and I am grateful for it. But I rule here now, Father, and I decide what is best for my clan, not you.”
“You will regret this decision,” his father said, shaking his fist at him.
Cavell released his wife’s hand before taking a sudden step toward his father. “Are you threatening me, Father?”
“I should have known better than to entrust you to accept the agreed upon marriage conditions. You were never an obedient son,” his father accused.
“And you were never a good father,” Cavell shot back. “I would say that evens things out between us.”