Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Bella hesitated, as if fearing her response. “Honestly, sir, I don’t know.”
Dar held her gaze a moment longer, weighing truth from fear. Then he nodded once.
Without another word, Dar turned away from the counter and crossed back toward Elara, his presence leaving a trail of unease behind him. Conversations did not resume. They waited.
“I’ll go speak with Dea,” Elara said quietly, before he could say anything. “While you see to your business.”
He studied her for a moment, his gaze flicked briefly toward the windows, to where the Hunters’ shapes shifted beyond the glass.
“Aye,” he said at last.
Dar stepped outside with her, the inn door shutting behind them. The village felt tight, watchful, the presence of Hunters pressing against the edges. He did not let her walk off immediately.
His hand closed around hers, bold and firm. “I will talk with Adelar. If he is the official welcomer, then he had to have spoken to all who entered Wedderlie.”
She nodded, her fingers tightening in his briefly, then letting go, though he held firm not willing to release her hand just yet.
“I will see you safely to Dea’s cottage.”
There was no arguing with him and she didn’t want to. They shared a strange connection. She didn’t understand, couldn’t say what it was, but it was there between them, she could feel it. It was possible she felt it from when they first met, since she had trusted him so easily, a certainness of sorts that he meant her no harm.
How odd it was that she so easily accepted, knew without a doubt, that she loved him. It was impossible to deny it. It was there deep inside her. To fight against it was foolish. Besides, she didn’t want to. They had been joined in marriage, and nothing would change that. But she could not help but think what it was that seemed to connect them, make their marriage seem as if it was meant to be. Or was she reaching to make sense of the nonsensical?
“Return to the inn as soon as you are done and wait for me there,” Dar said when they reached Dea’s cottage. “And do not dare wander near the forbidden land border.”
“I would not be so foolish,” she said, though the draw of such a strange forest did entice. She could only imagine what knowledge it might hold.
He pressed his brow to hers. “I would travel the nine circles of hell to get to you if necessary. So, stay wise and keep your distance from danger.”
That he would take on the nine circles of hell to find her caught her by surprise and said more than he ever had to her.
“Aye, husband,” she said and leaned up to kiss him gently.
It wasn’t enough for Dar. He desired more and he took it without resistance.
It was a kiss that claimed, demanded, ached, tempted, and that promised more, and Elara’s desire spiked with the same.
He took a heavy breath when his lips left hers. “I have never wanted anything as much as I want you.”
He shook his head as if chasing his thoughts and ordered once again, “Return to the inn when you are done and don’t dally.”
He turned away from her, his jaw set tight, his shoulders drawn back, and his eyes scanning the area as he walked. The Hunter had come fully awake and he strode away ready to hunt.
Elara turned to see Dea standing in the open doorway. The woman smiled and waved her in.
“Honeyed oatcakes and a chamomile brew,” Dea said, taking a seat at the table. “Hang your cloak on the peg and join me. I am eager to hear what news you bring.”
Elara shut the door, placed her cloak on the peg, and took a seat at the table, just as eager to speak to the woman and see what more Dea might know about the healer or even about the man who supposedly disappeared into Driochmor.
However, Dea took charge of the conversation before Elara could speak.
Dea filled both their tankards with the hot brew as she spoke. “I see that your husband is a Hunter and a powerful one, since he leads a troop. If you opened yourself to your visions, you would have seen what he hid.”
“Sorcery is forbidden,” Elara reminded.
“My dear child,” Dea said softly, “Sorcery, magic, witchcraft, whatever name you wish to give it is a natural part of us all, an intrinsic knowledge. It is just stronger in some than others.”
“What you say is heresy,” Elara warned.
“How can what is innate in us be heresy? Why do you think healers are able to heal as they do? Knowledge and instinct. It is why some are drawn to it while others, like yourself, have the ability to see beyond. You have been taught sorcery is evil, so you fear your visions. Yet what harm have they done you? Have they not alerted you to danger, shown you what to expect? They are there to help not hinder, as is your ability to connect with the natural world, the forest, the plants, the animals—the fae folk.”