Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 98745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“Not knowing who was responsible for me and my sisters being imprisoned in the abbey, I worried someone might be sent to track me, so when an opportunity presented itself, I took advantage of it. You must have picked up on the cart tracks that intersected mine.”
“Aye, I did and followed those tracks until I picked yours up again. I figured you hitched a ride with a merchant and then left him to go on your own. I lost you again after that. Your tracks were there one minute and gone the next.
“Those tracks you followed from there were not mine,” Leora said.
“You have a distinct track from the shoes you wore, and the weight of the footfall was the same. They were your tracks.”
She shook her head. “I came upon a camp of traveling performers. I was starving and they had food. They were kind. I was foolish.”
“They were thieves,” Noble said, knowing full well that most traveling bands of performers were thieves.
“Aye, they were that and told me I had to repay them for the food they gave me before they would let me leave.”
“What did they do to you to make you comply?” Noble asked, fearing the worst.
“There were two men and three women. The one man—” Leora stopped, recalling the pain, and cringed. “He landed several good punches at my stomach and several stinging slaps to my face, and he yanked my hair so hard, far too many times, that he nearly pulled some out of my head.”
Noble intended to cross paths with the man one day and when he yanked his hair, he most definitely would lose more than some.
She continued. “I heard the men talking when they thought I was asleep. They planned on using me to collect coins either from whoever I was running away from or selling me to a man who paid them for any women they brought to him, whoever offered them more.” She shivered. “I never realized what happened to some women who were taken against their will, and I feared such a horrible fate, which made me more aware of the dangers of traveling on my own and the necessity to escape.”
“How did that come about?”
“Too much ale provided by traveling monks who lost a barrel of ale for safe passage. They all drank themselves drunk and forgot to tie me up for the night. I fled as soon as they all were snoring. After that I kept to the woods, not venturing near the well-worn paths.”
“You were lucky, Leora,” Noble said, trying not to think of what her fate could have been and relieved she was now safe in his arms. “Who copied your tracks?”
“The one woman in the group was my size and she liked my shoes. I had no choice but to give them to her. It was the man in charge who warned her that I probably ran away from a husband who no doubt would search for me. He told her to make certain no one tracked them. She was quite talented, spry, and quick. She was able to leap high and hide in the higher tree branches before dropping down on unsuspecting travelers.”
“She led me on a merry chase,” Noble said, then asked a question that had him worried. “The men did not harm you, did they?”
She shook her head. “Nay, though if I stayed much longer the outcome may have been different.”
He hugged her tight and kissed her brow. “That was of great help, wife.”
“You are a wise warrior. You must have confronted enemies who dropped down from trees in a surprise attack.”
“Aye, but it is the trees that have low-hanging branches that we watch out for, making it easier to pull themselves up and hide among the branches. That was not so when I searched for you, and it was the reason I never gave the trees thought. It might, however, be how Lance was discovered and tracked.”
“You will be careful, husband,” Leora said with worry. “You will not think about me. You will keep your mind clear and make certain to return home to me unharmed.”
To Noble, there had been only one person who truly cared if he returned home… his grandfather. After he had passed, home hadn’t mattered. There was no one there any longer who worried about his return, but now that Leora had expressed her concern, he was beginning to feel that he just might have a home after all.
“You can count on it, wife, since I am looking forward to finishing that kiss,” he said and was about to kiss her when he was interrupted by news that a message had arrived from Lord Slayer.
Slayer’s message was exactly what he expected since how Noble handled the situation would also reflect on Slayer.
Finley delivered the blunt message. “Finish him.”