Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Dar did not interrupt.
“I watched you today,” Vanessa continued. “When Pratus laid hands on you. You did not cry out. You did not plead. You remained strong.” She smiled softly. “That takes courage and restraint.”
Elara felt heat rise in her cheeks at the unexpected praise but said nothing.
Vanessa went on. “If you can have such courage, then so can I.”
Dar saw the admiration in the older woman’s eyes that she had for Elara and was pleased she openly expressed it. His wife deserved it.
Vanessa lowered her voice. “For weeks now, things have been… unsettled. Signs, many never thought seeing again, have caused fear and uncertainty.”
“Such as?” Dar asked.
“Footprints where no feet should be,” she said. “Small ones. Light. Gone by morning, though the ground is soft enough to hold them. And lights—faint, like fireflies, but too steady. Too deliberate.”
Elara’s heart began to pound.
“Children hear singing,” Vanessa added, her voice tightening. “Near the tree line. When they tell their parents, they are hushed and sent inside.”
“And what do you believe this to be?” he asked, wanting her to not just imply but admit what most here thought.
Vanessa hesitated. “I believe it is something that knows the forest better than we do. Something that does not wish to be seen—but no longer hides as well as it once did.”
“And what is that?” Dar asked impatiently.
She hurried to answer, though it was a whisper. “Fae folk.”
“Has there been a sighting?” Dar pressed, needing more confirmation.
She glanced briefly toward Elara before turning back to Dar. “Aye, there was a sighting.”
When she didn’t continue, Dar snapped, “Don’t keep me waiting, woman.”
“A week or so ago,” Vanessa said. “Just beyond the old stream path. A woman gathering herbs swore she saw a small figure perched on a stone. Wings like glass. Light around her—not bright, but blue. Calm.” She shook her head. “The woman fled in fear.”
Dar snapped at her again. “And you kept this quiet.”
Vanessa nodded. “Aye, since to speak of such things can bring serious consequences.” Her voice softened as she finished, “Whatever is stirring, waking… it feels like the beginning of something that will not be stopped by silence.”
The words settled heavy in the room, waiting for what Dar would say next.
Elara sat very still, her hands folded in her lap, her thoughts racing ahead of her breath. What Vanessa had said—what she had not said aloud—left no room for doubt. Amelia had been seen. Not as a whisper. Not as a vision meant only for her. But by others.
The forest was no longer hiding her. Or had she purposely made herself known?
Whatever way it was, it meant Elara could no longer hide the truth from Dar. Not here. Not now. Not with fear still clinging to the room like smoke. But soon she would have to tell him about Amelia.
Dar’s attention remained on the table, his expression stern as he absorbed what had been said. He did not look to her, did not question her, did not seek her thoughts. That, somehow, made the weight settle heavier.
“That will be all, Vanessa,” he said, his voice firm. “You’ve done your village no harm by speaking tonight.”
The woman bobbed her head and with a light smile to Elara, she left, the Hunter standing by the door closing it firmly behind her.
Dar pushed back from the table and stood. “The hunt begins.”
His command brought grins to all the Hunters’ faces as they gathered around him.
“Tomorrow, two of you will track down the trail of the stranger. Follow it. I want to know where his curiosity truly led him.”
The two Hunters nodded at once.
“The rest of you,” Dar continued, “will ride with me at first light to Chieftain Pratus’s castle.”
Ayes of excitement for the hunt and eager nods followed.
The door opened slowly and Leith peeked his head around it. “No more villagers left to speak tonight, sir. Would you like me to show you to your cottage?”
“My men?” Dar asked.
“They will bed down here. Bedding will be brought to them.”
Dar nodded and took hold of Elara’s hand after a few last words to his men.
They left, the night closing in around them as the door shut behind them. The village lay quiet now, too quiet, as if Ancrum itself listened and weighed what had been spoken within those walls.
Dar walked at her side, eager to reach the cottage, eager to be alone with his wife, and eager to satisfy the ever-growing need he had for her. It tugged at him when he took her hand, when she stood close, when her breath whispered across his cheek, or his arms circled her waist. It was there all the time, haunting him, and he did not quite understand it.
It almost felt like the anticipation, the excitement of a hunt, but he had caught her… or had he?
Leith stopped in front of a cottage set apart from the others, a low stone dwelling with a single window aglow, lantern light spilling across the ground.