Page 61 of The Fierce Highlander

“We need to find Calla,” Leora said.

It should no longer amaze him that they thought so much alike, but it did. He never felt such a strong connection to anyone as he did to Leora. It was as if a part of himself that he had not even realized had been missing had returned to him.

“There she is,” Leora said with a gentle poke of her elbow at her husband as they entered the Great Hall.

“Calla,” Noble called out and she turned and hurried toward them.

Noble intended to seat his wife and himself at the dais to speak with Calla, but his wife thought differently and followed Chief to the table by the hearth. She sat while the pup went and curled up in the bed kept there for him. He noticed she hugged herself as if chilled and realized that what had happened had finally taken its toll on her.

He tossed two logs into the hot embers left in the hearth and it did not take long for them to spark with flames.

“You are chilled, mistress,” Calla said when she reached the table. “I will bring you a hot brew.”

“Nay,” Noble said, stopping her from rushing off. “I wish to speak with you. Have another servant bring a brew for my wife.”

“Aye, sir,” Calla said and turned, calling out orders to a lass. When she turned back to see that Noble had remained standing, she quickly asked, “Is something wrong, sir?”

Noble had no patience left, he wanted answers. “Adele spoke with you about meeting Wendell today.”

Calla didn’t hide her surprise. “She hoped he would visit, sir, though she was not certain of it.”

“What made her think he would visit with her today?”

“He had not visited her in a while, and she believed he missed her as much she missed him and would find his way here today. It was probably why she volunteered to gather wild onions, a chore she doesn’t favor. It would take her into the woods, and she could go to the spot where they usually meet.”

“Do you know where that is?” Noble asked.

“Adele never said, sir, but she would tell you if asked.”

Hearing her husband’s impatience in his short, rapid questions, Leora spoke before he delivered the harsh news too bluntly. “Adele has suffered a heinous attack and fights for her life.”

Calla gasped.

“We are trying to find out all we can so we can catch the culprit and see that he pays for what he did,” Leora said.

“Adele was so happy when I spoke with her, so sure Wendell would come see her today. She was sure he loved her as much as she loved him.”

The servant returned with tears in her eyes and placed a tankard in front of Leora. A jug of ale and a tankard was carried in by another servant who was teary-eyed as well, the sad news beginning to spread.

Seeing that Calla was anxious to leave and go speak with the other servants, Leora dismissed her and was glad her husband didn’t object.

Noble sat beside his wife on the bench. “I do not like that the morning brought such sorrow after a night of pure happiness, though the memory will live long in my heart and mind, and I look forward to the memories we have yet to make.”

Leora kissed his lips gently. “Words I appreciate hearing from you, and I too will long cherish the memories we made last night, and I am eager for the ones we have yet to make. And as much as I want to dwell only on that, we have a duty to the clan and to Adele to discover what happened.”

“I agree and we will, but there is something I need to discover right now.”

“What is it? How can I help?’ Leora asked eagerly.

“You can tell me where you drifted off to when we were in the barn. You were seeing someone else when you gazed at Adele on the ground, and it has caused even more upset for you.”

She turned her head away from him.

Noble eased her head around, with his finger to her chin, to look at him. “Share what troubled you, wife, and free yourself of the disturbing memory.”

Leora gripped his forearm, eager to rid herself of the upsetting memory that returned too often. “On my journey home after my escape, not only from the abbey but from the performers as well, I came across three men dead in the woods. They were torn apart and there was blood everywhere. I stood frozen, staring at limbs strewn about. I couldn’t tell what happened to them. Had men done such horrible things to the three or had it been wild animals or a combination of both? I never felt so vulnerable, so frightened, so alone. I hid for almost a whole day fearing I would cross paths with the savages that had done that to those men, frightened to death of what my fate might be at their hands. It made me realize the evil that lives among us, and I was determined more than ever to return to the safety of my home. But seeing Adele like that and in her own home made me think that there is no place that is completely safe from evil. That if it wishes to touch you, it will find a way.”

“I give you my word that I will never let evil touch you, that I will see you kept safe,” Noble said, feeling her fear and knowing its strength since he had put such fear himself into men and women during and after battle.

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