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“Aye, I will,” she said, and he was out the door before she could say anymore, and she wanted to. She wanted to ask him about the kiss and what had almost followed.
It had left her heart thumping rapidly and her passion was just now subsiding. They could not deny their attraction to each other or the passion they felt or that they actually might care for each other.
She shook her head. She could not clutter her head with endless thoughts of her husband. She needed her focus clear when she explored the woods. She made a brew of dried chamomile and drank only half of it, eager to begin her trek into the woods.
Her steps were light, as was her heart, when the cold kissed her face, and it was not long before she entered the area of the woods when she sensed something was amiss. She walked from tree to tree, placing her hand gently against each and felt the same as she did yesterday. The trees were in their winter slumber but more of a slumber than usual.
Were they hiding from something?
She walked around the various trees watching and listening. Animals would instinctively avoid areas in the woods when they sensed larger animals of prey. Had the hounds chased them away?
And why no bird plow? When one bird is seen suddenly taking flight, it is a warning to other birds that intruders are near, and suddenly a slew of birds would be seen flying off in the same direction as the first bird. Fia had been alerted to many a presence in the woods that way, and it had allowed her to avoid possible danger.
No birds. There was not a single bird here.
Forest animals and birds did not abandon their homes easily. Something must have frightened them away from this area.
Someone is here!
Fia turned at the sudden warning, her eyes searching the area. She thought she caught a flash of a dark cloth.
“Who goes there?’ she called out. “Show yourself!”
A man stepped from behind two trees, then another man showed himself.
Trouble.
She saw that for herself with the way the two men leered at her, their rotted and filthy teeth turning her stomach along with their sloven appearances. They were far from honorable men and that was a worry.
Varrick! Help!She called out silently and instinctively, hoping her husband could somehow hear or sense her distress. She recalled her mum telling her that she and Fia’s da had that skill, and she took the chance now, praying she and Varrick might possess the same.
“You shouldn’t be alone in the woods, my lady,” the one said, his grin anything but pleasant.
“I am not alone. My husband is near.”
“Of course he is,” the other one said with a laugh as he walked towards her, the other man keeping strides with him. “We will wait with you and keep you safe.”
Fia raised her chin. “You lie! You are evil men and mean me harm.”
They both stopped, and the one said, “If you are nice to us, maybe we will not harm you.”
“Again, you lie,” she accused, “and it is the reason your teeth rot out of your mouths… the lies rot them.” While they stared at her bewildered, she called out silently to her husband once again.
Varrick! Hurry! I need your help!
“Now you are lying,” one said.
“I am not lying. Lies not only rot the teeth, but they also rot your insides until there is nothing left of you,” she said, confident in her remark, her grandmother telling her that constant lies rotted a person’s soul. “Now begone before my husband gets here or you will wish yourself dead.”
They both laughed.
Fia squared her shoulders proudly. “My husband is Lord Varrick, the legendary Highlander.”
They stared at her a moment, then one looked to the other and said, “Well, if we’re going to die, we might as well have ourselves some fun poking a fine-looking lady before we meet our end.”
They did not believe her.
They both broke into a fit of laughter, leaning on each other as they did, then turned to step toward her and stopped dead. Their eyes went wide, they paled, and one man peed himself, the cloth he wore turning wet between his legs.
