Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 92771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Corrine wiped away her tears and reached for a piece of meat and bread, but before she did, she smiled at Shade. “You are more than generous.”
Shade said what she had learned about the chieftain’s generosity from Ula. “Chieftain Ryland would have it no other way.”
Shade excused herself for a few moments to tend to Heath and learned that the men had come upon them as they got near the village. The big man had shouted out to him to stop but he thought for the safety of Corrine and her daughters he was better off getting as close to the village as possible before the men reached them. He stopped just before the village and hurried Corrine and her daughters out of the cart and cautioned them to run to the village. The big man showed him just how much he didn’t like that.
Shade was relieved when her eyes scanned his ribs and found none broken, only bruised which would still cause him pain and his facial bruises were minor and would heal. She had a brew prepared for him which he drank along with some ale as he ate.
Laughter was soon heard when Heath had them all laughing with a few tall tales.
Shade noticed how young Bethy tugged frequently at her ears and she suspected that an abundance of earwax impaired the little lass’ hearing. She was about to speak with Corrine about it when Bethy not only screeched but Anne did too. They scrambled off the bench and with wide smiles rushed to their da.
“Stay as you are!” Quint ordered, his powerful command halting the young lasses, then he turned a stern look on Rufus. “You have something to say to my wife?”
“Aye. Aye, sir,” Rufus said, bobbing his head and walked over to Shade. “I am truly sory for trying to harm you, my lady.”
“That’s all right, Rufus. You had no choice. You were thinking about your family. I understand.”
“Still, my lady, it wasn’t right of me to do and I truly apologize, and I will do whatever I can to attone for it.”
“I appreciate your apology. Now go be with your family,” Shade said.
Rufus looked to Quint and waited and only until he received a nod from him, did Rufus rush to his daughters and wife.
“You made him apologize,” Shade said when she came to stand beside her husband.
“I intended to but he apologized to me of his own accord and asked that he be able to offer you an apology as well. That he did so without being forced to made me think more highly of him.” He nodded toward Rufus. “And seeing that he spoke the truth about his family makes him even more of an honorable man.”
Shade watched with joy as the family cried and hugged, none letting go of the other as if they needed to hold onto each other to make sure they wouldn’t be separated again. She also watched the way Quint stared at them. Was he envious of what he saw? Did the loving scene confirm what she would never be able to give him… a true family?
She didn’t know for sure if she was too old to bear a child. She had attended births of women her age but not as frequently as younger women. The older women also presented with more problems than the younger women who gave birth. Her grandmother believed that women could go on giving birth until they no longer had their monthly bleed. Shade wondered why then more older women didn’t give birth. Her grandmother had laughed and told her that after giving birth most women did not fancy going through the pain again. So, women sought healers to help them prevent getting with child while some women told their husbands to find their pleasure elsewhere.
Never would she want Quint to find pleasure elsewhere but that was not a worry for her since her mum was only able to give birth to one child and never conceived again after that. But that had been when she was young. Shade feared she missed her opportunity and would not be given a second chance.
Quint said it hadn’t mattered to him, but did it?
She wished she knew for sure.
CHAPTER 21
“Did you learn anything from the captives?” Shade asked when she reached his side.
Quint glanced at his wife briefly, his eyes going back to the joyous scene of the family being reunited. “I learned that Asher keeps things to himself which means he trusts no one. Anything learned about him is overheard or whispered about which means it cannot be a reliable source of information. I am counting on Dru to return with the truth about Asher.”
“You sent Dru to get information for you?” Shade asked, shaking her head, not believing what she heard. “How could you, she is—”