Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“I—”
“Now!”
The young man scurried off, stopped near Sheila and with cautious steps approached the young woman. Within minutes, She began to smile while Robert’s swelling made his grin appear distorted. They walked off together.
Aliss and Rogan were left standing alone in the field.
She raised her hand to his swollen jaw, hoping her loving touch would help ease his pain. She didn’t want him to hurt, to suffer, but then hadn’t he wanted the same for her? The truth would set both of them free. Would it take long for her to be truthful with him and let him know her feelings? Hadn’t he finally been truthful with her?
He kissed her palm.
“I did not think before I spoke,” she said by way of apology.
“I noticed.”
“I became furious when I saw Peter hit you. How dare he strike my husband. I could only think of—”
“Coming to my rescue?”
She winced. “I usurped your authority.”
He kissed her palm again. “You did me a great honor.”
“I did?” she asked, doubtful.
He nodded. “As Peter and Robert fought for the woman they love, you defended the man you love. And in front of the whole clan. That certainly will be fodder for wagging tongues for at least a month.”
Aliss winced again. “I did not think. I did the very thing I accused Peter of doing, only I attacked with my tongue.”
“A strong weapon for you.”
“I am no better than the two men who battled over Shelia.”
Rogan took hold of both her hands. “Love is instinctive, which causes people to react, even irrationally.”
“Love is completely chaotic.”
He kissed her lips gently before whispering, “Drown with me in the chaos.”
“I must tend the injured men,” she murmured regretfully, and stepped away from him.
“Will you tend me afterward?”
“Only if we can get lost in the chaos and forget all else.”
“I will make it so,” he said.
“Then I will see you soon.” She hurried off, though she really didn’t want to leave him. They were healing, the two of them. He had finally been completely honest with her. Their love had been too new, too fresh, for him to ignore the debt he felt he owed to his mother. It had festered for a lifetime inside him. She could not expect him to toss it aside for a love he had newly discovered. He had a right to claim what was his and trust that his new love would survive.
Love certainly wasn’t simple.
It was complex and torturous and made you feel the fool more times than you cared to remember. Yet everyone wished to find love, claim it, hold on to it, and never let it go.
Peter and Robert certainly acted foolishly over love, but then so had she. She shook her head as she walked. She was not proud of her actions. She should have handled it differently, but at that moment when Peter connected with Rogan’s jaw, fury reared its ugly head and possessed her like the devil himself. All she could think of was attack.
Now she felt shameful for humiliating the young man.
“Stop beating yourself up,” Raynor said.
Aliss looked up. Raynor sat in front of her cottage on the bench, legs stretched out.
“The two are inside right now talking like old friends. Peter is probably glad you gave him a tongue-lashing. It was a lesser punishment than he would have received from Rogan.”
“I never thought of that,” she said, sitting down beside him. “What would Rogan have done?”
“A chieftain getting punched in the face, accident or not?” Raynor shook his head slowly. “It would not have been pretty. You are most likely everyone’s hero today.”
“I’m no hero.”
“Of course you are, and Rogan knows it and should be proud of you. You saved Peter, the idiot, from punishment, you spoke up in defense of a fearful young woman and helped her speak up for herself, and you helped Robert discover that there just might be a chance for him to win Sheila’s heart. But most of all, you defended your husband in front of the whole clan. You are certainly a hero.”
“I attacked—”
“You defended.”
“I spoke before—”
“Anyone else could, saving the day,” Raynor confirmed.
Aliss laughed. “I like your version better than mine. It makes me appear a powerful warrior fighting for justice.”
“That’s because you are.” He sat up. “I was proud of you today. You’ve changed. You need no one to defend you and no one to hide behind.”
“You insinuate that I hid behind my sister?” She needn’t ask the question; she knew it was true. She had depended on Fiona far too long. Her abduction had allowed her to grow into an independent woman and for that she was grateful.
“Let’s say that Fiona overpowered anyone in her presence.”
They both laughed.
“She has a demanding way about her, but a loving heart,” Aliss said.
“True, but time away from each other has given you a chance to discover your own strength, to become independent.”