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Chapter 31
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2022-09-18 03:24:22Related chapters
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 32
“I’ve been trying not to tell you from the moment I first spied you in that cave. Perhaps I should have from the start, but it didn’t feel like the right time. It still doesn’t but I must tell you before someone else does for surely you will learn it once we arrive home, perhaps even along the way.” She sat still, waiting.“I wasn’t sent to find some random Laird’s daughter. I was sent to rescue my wife.”“Your...what? How? Why?” Eleanor couldn’t decide which question she needed answered first.“I told you the king had promised me a wife and title. I had been shown her portrait and I was told the woman in the portrait would be in London court when I returned from the mainland, but when I got back no woman awaited. The king’s cousin, Harold, told me the king had wed me to someone else by proxy. I knew not even your name or likeness until that day. But when I went to get you, it was my wife I was retrieving.”She was silent, staring out at the road in front of them. Fann waited for her r
Last Updated : 2022-09-18Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 33
To Eleanor, the days seemed to all be running into one another. There were days of sunny riding, days of rain soaked clothing, or the nicest days with a grey sky and a cool breeze. Today the sun was hot, with no breeze nor even a cloud for a brief reprieve from the sun. Even the horses were beginning to tire of it. She and Fann had stopped talking long ago. They were all anxious to get to the end of this day. Hopefully tonight they could bathe. Perhaps even wash their clothing and have it dry for morning.The nights were a blur of inns or homes of men who knew Fann. The further they got from London, the more Eleanor liked the wives. Better still, none of them knew her husband as the wicked warrior. They saw him as strong and fierce of course, but undeniably hers. Not a coveted play thing that they hoped to take a turn with. Little did they know, Fann had not touched her since their wedding night. Wouldn’t the courtesans find that funny? All this time with their wicked warrior, and she
Last Updated : 2022-09-18Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 34
Only three days left. Two more nights on the road, three more days of riding, and she’d be back on MacDonald lands. Eleanor didn’t know how she felt about that. Fann agreed that it was likely her sister would be gone to live with her new husband. That left only her mother and father. What would she say to them exactly? The only thing that came to mind was to ask her mom why she’d stopped writing. She wasn’t sure how she’d feel seeing them again. It had been so long. The thought that they might not be at all happy to see her was even more chilling than the early morning breeze. Eleanor shivered and pulled her shawl more snugly around her shoulders. She felt tears prickling her eyes and blinked them back. Returning to her family home should be a happy time, but she felt anything but.“Would you like to come sit with me mo Leannan? I can help warm you.” Silently she maneuvered Beck as close as she could get and leaned over with her arms outstretched. The horses had become so used to thi
Last Updated : 2022-09-18Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 35
There was a soft pink glow in the west as the safe house tower came into view. If the sky was any indication, tomorrow’s weather would be good for riding. It would be a shorter ride than they had become accustomed too, but he’d decided it would be best to stay near the keep and arrive at daybreak. Eleanor was right about one thing, they didn’t have a clue what awaited them. He hoped to collect a few good warriors from the safe house to accompany them. He’d need some men he could trust until he discovered the way of things in his new clan.Storm nickered again and sidestepped nervously. The other two chuffed back and bobbed their heads. The horses weren’t the only ones who had noticed that they were being followed today. Whoever it was didn’t want to be seen. They were keeping to the trees, far enough in the bush to stay hidden in the shadows. Fan checked the placement of his sword and daggers. He masked the movement by offering Eleanor the flask. He didn’t want to worry her, given her
Last Updated : 2022-09-19Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 36
It didn’t take Eleanor long to realize that the drink was having much more effect on her than she had thought. The walls seemed to move, waving back and forth in front of her. Sometimes she would bump into them! She was certain the hallway had been straight. How were the stones moving? They weren’t she tried to reason with herself. She had read about this. This was the altered perceptions that happened when people consumed too much drink. Were two glasses too much? She was sure the floor that had been smooth and well worn on their way to the meal. Now it seemed to have random stones popped up slightly to make her stumble. Was that altered perception too, or had she taken the wrong hallway? Or maybe the stones hadn’t been flat and only seemed that way when she was walking normally. Lack of coordination. With one hand on the wall to keep herself steady, Eleanor continued down the hall. Their room was the fifth door and she’d passed two. Nearly there. She was concentrating so much on st
Last Updated : 2022-09-19Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 37
The wooden chair creaked beneath him as he leaned it back against the walls and put his feet up on the table trying to make it look as though he were at ease. His former comrades were all enjoying a good meal and a relaxing evening, but Fann didn’t feel nearly as content here as he once had. It bothered him to feel the outsider in a place that he had helped to build. On top of that, he was angry with his new wife and didn’t know what to do about it.Eleanor refused to leave their room. She would not even come out with him at her side for protection! He had expected her to have stories and songs to share in the evenings, just as she had at previous stops, but she would not even try to be friendly here. Naturally with her injury she couldn’t be the one telling the stories, but she could have come to sit with him and listen. If he didn’t take food to her she went without and didn’t even complain about it. The first day he had humoured her, thinking perhaps her head or throat were too sor
Last Updated : 2022-09-19Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 38
Eleanor stood by the horses, feeding them kitchen scraps and waiting for Fann. He had gone off to help the young woman collect additional food from the kitchen. The other men who would travel with them were milling about, glancing at her occasionally but obviously trying to be caught staring. She expected Fann must have told them she was not comfortable with men looking at her. She wasn’t sure if she liked that because they did appear to be making an effort not to, or if she felt it was something he should have kept between them. “Eleanor,” Fann said as he took her arm, “This is Braegha she will be riding on Beck with you.” Eleanor stepped back and looked at the group. Everyone had their own horse, but she was expected to share? Storm wasn’t being used as a pack mule anymore she noticed. Everyone’s bags and crates of food were piled together in a cart.“I will ride on Storm,” she said walking towards the grey Drestier who was tied to Fann’s horse. “He has been calm enough during our
Last Updated : 2022-09-19Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 39
“How old are you Breagha?”“I have six and ten summers. I ken I look young any willowy. I was late coming into my womanhood or f-father would have seen me m-married sooner.”“He would have married you as soon as you got your courses?”“Aye. He did my sister, she had only two and ten summers.” Eleanor swallowed. Married at the same age she was sent to the abbey? Could one so small couple with a grown man not be injured? It seemed unlikely. No wonder her mother had been so adamant that her father agree before marriage that any daughters would not be wed until they were at least eight and ten.“How long had you known Ian?”“Eight months to the day that he died. He handfasted with me even before I had my courses! He said he would love to have bairns, but if I could no that was f-fine too. He loved me for me.” Eleanor thought on that for a moment. The Duke had preferred men. Were there also men who preferred very young girls? Perhaps this Ian had liked that Breagha resembled a young girl m
Last Updated : 2022-09-20
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“You were going to be gone without saying goodbye.” Fann froze, dropping his head. “I thought it would be easier.”“You thought wrong. Anything can happen, husband. Anytime. Especially given what you are going to do.”“I’m sure it is not as grave as that.”“Never leave me without letting me tell you one last time how much I love you.” Guilt prickled at him. He knew how much she wished she had been given a chance to say goodbye to her mother and sister when she went to the abbey. And to some of the nuns when she’d left there. He should not have considered leaving her this way.“I’m sorry. Clearly, I wasn’t thinking.”“Since I am a good, kind wife, and I love you, I will forgive you. I think you’re going to want to punish me though.” Fann wrinkled his brow. What on earth was she talking about?“Punish you?”“Well, it isn’t very safe for me to go riding at night. Alone. On Storm. Is it?” His head snapped up to look at her for the first time. She was standing by the gate of an empty stall
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 86
The doors to the great hall closed with a loud bang and Eleanor spun around to see an older woman in an elegant gown standing in the doorway, surrounded by guards dressed in the same uniform that the King’s men wore. “Those are complicated questions to answer young one,” the woman said, “but also very simple if you know the story of how you came to be.”“Sister Grace!”Oblivious to the gasps of the others in the room, Eleanor ran and launched herself into the open arms of the woman. It was only when she let go that she noticed everyone else was silent and bowing low. Stepping out of the woman’s arms she looked around nervously, then back at the woman who had cared for her for the past eight years. “Sister Grace? Why are you dressed like that?”“This is who I am.”“Who?”“The name you know me by was a fabrication. The word sister was used to make me seem more like a nun, and Grace was from the title ‘your grace’ as a noble would sometimes be addressed in an abbey. This is why you know
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 85
The cold, dreary weather had put an unfortunate damper on the mood in the Great Hall. Fann had brought Eleanor down for dinner, hoping the company of some of the children and women folk would cheer her, but nobody was in a very cheery mood. Even little Siofra couldn’t seem to come up with a happy ending to any of her fairy tales. The dinner had been good and the company was welcome, but all were quieter than normal and seemed to just be waiting for Eleanor to retire so they could go home to bed.Eleanor swirled the steaming tankard under her nose, then put it on the table and pushed it away. It didn’t smell bad, it just didn’t smell quite right. She waved her hand over it and the serving boy jumped up to grab it. She’d have to go back to brewing the tea herself. Yarrow flowers seemed to be particularly difficult for the kitchen staff.“You are still an overly picky my wee little harlot. Drink your brew, daughter, and quit giving my staff extra work.” Fann leaped to his feet and knock
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 84
As the days passed Fann grew tired of sitting in the library watching his wife. Sometimes, with Uilleam at the door, he would leave her in the room by herself, but she got lonely that way. He didn’t want her to grow sad again, so much of the day he was the one locked in her library with her. He hoped the murder of crows would arrive soon for there was nothing in this room full of books and gadgets that held his attention for any length of time. The first few days they had spent arranging the room. A little bit of time every day was spent helping him improve his reading, but mostly he just watched her work and listened to her talk about it. He had considered asking her to do her work naked so at least he’d have something he enjoyed looking at, but if she did that he probably wouldn’t be able to let her get much work done. He interrupted her for his pleasure often enough as it was. They had just enjoyed a bit of coupling and he had fallen asleep. He thought she had too, but when he op
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 83
The bells rang out from the top of the keep, pulling Eleanor from her slumber. She reached over to find Fann gone, his side of the bed already cold. She sat up scowling. The fur over the window kept out the chill autumn air, but also the daylight. Had she overslept? It was so easy to do when the room stayed dark. Fann, on the other hand, always seemed to wake and have nearly a day’s full of work done before she could break her fast. She padded over to the window and pulled back the fur so she could see up the hill. The rider certainly wasn’t in any hurry, and being alone it was likely he was a threat. There were a few satchels on his horse, perhaps he was looking for a home. Movement at the stables caught her eye and she saw Fann and Uilleam looking up the hill. No doubt discussing if they let the man come or head out to meet him. When no horses were called for Eleanor turned back into the room. If she dressed quickly, she could make it outside to see who it was.Fann stood in front o
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 82
With fur wrapped around her, Eleanor sat near the fire brushing her hair dry. She had eaten, bathed, and the tub had been emptied but still, Fann had not joined her. He had said that he wouldn’t be long, but it must have been at least an hour since he’d left her.The clan had been busy in the past fortnight. The new furniture Fann had commissioned was already in their rooms. A new bed with a pair of chests at the foot of it, and the woodwork matched that of the new settee, chairs, and table. There was a small bookshelf beside the fire, empty still, but she could unpack some books in the morning. Another chair with very odd legs that would rock when you sat in it was only a short distance from the fire. The washstand was new too, detailed with both wood and iron to match a rather odd table. Those two pieces they had picked up on MacInnis lands just that morning. Leaving her brush on the mantle Eleanor walked over to take a better look at the table. It was very sturdy! A combination of
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 81
Fann looked to the sky, glad the rain had held off so far. He had sent the carts of seed and furniture on ahead down the road with half the men. The other half had come with him to distribute the livestock to the crofters. Eleanor had insisted on coming so she could be sure to meet everyone. It was probably better that she kept busy anyways, even if the wind was a bit cool and the air came.The gratitude of all the crofters astounded him! At first, their reactions had him feeling proud to be able to improve their lot so much with such small additions. Then it had him furious that Donald had made them go without for so long that the younger children did not even know what goats were! The king had given them many cows, goats, and sheep as part of his deal with Fann. Most had been bred by Paddy’s animals and would have young in the spring. Fann had used his own funds to add to the tally of livestock, buying several young pigs that had been cheap because they were born too late in the ye
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 80
“You will ride Beck, Eleanor. Storm is staying here.” She glanced around to be sure they were alone before she said, “but Fann-”“No. It is not up for debate. We will be travelling in a large group so there is little chance of attack and no need for his speed. I don’t know how he will react with all those other animals around, not to mention the men and dogs corralling them. I don’t want to put anyone at greater risk in what could very well already be a bit chaotic. Not you, not our clansmen, not even this blasted beast. Beck is sure-footed, calm and used to a wide assortment of creatures. Storm is going to stay here and we will return for him on another trip or Paddy can bring him when he and Lia come to visit.” She sighed and dug a few more carrots from her satchel to feed to him. “Do not try to disobey me on this.”“I won’t,” she said as she stroked the horse and stepped out of his stall, “you are right. He will not be happy with all the men shouting and cracking whips. He will be
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 79
The bonfire glowed brightly, casting light and heat over everyone in the yard. Lively music was being played and everyone, young and old, was dancing around. She grinned as Fann spun her around, her feet lifting off the ground. They were both laughing by the time her feet hit the ground again. Eleanor couldn’t remember ever having so much fun! Did MacDonald clan never have these parties? There were certainly plenty of children about, so if they had partied like this when she was small surely she would remember it. If it wasn’t something they did, she and Fann would have to start the tradition. It was too good a celebration not to! Their new clan would need to have fairs like the Stuart clan, but the girls could compete just the same as the boys, though perhaps not against them. Different events for lads and lasses as well as for women and men! And then a feast and a party with a big fire, music, dancing... Perhaps they could even do this often! The solstice, maybe another for Christm
