Legendary Warrior (Warrior 1)

Or were they mere excuses she made for the stark cold fact that the Legend simply would never love a woman such as her?

She turned her troublesome thoughts to the prospect of drawing Magnus. His defined features were made for drawing, and she intended to do as he suggested—draw him.

Would she then understand him better?

There was much to understand, especially the journal she had discovered in the trunk. It had belonged to Magnus’s mother, and the trunks seemed to have been hidden away in that small room.

She had had no chance to continue reading the entries. Footsteps had fallen heavy on the stairs, and she had quickly returned the journal to the trunk before closing the lid. Two of Magnus’s men had entered the room and removed the trunks, though she knew not where.

Questions gathered like storm clouds in her mind, filling with possibilities and getting ready to burst. Could his mother have lived here at Dunhurnal? Or had the trunks been brought here and hidden? And was there more to the reason why the king had granted Dunhurnal land to Magnus?

She rubbed her forehead, her thoughts a jumble of questions with few answers.

“You work too hard.”

Reena jumped, startled by Magnus’s sudden presence.

“I did not hear you enter.”

“I doubt you would have heard a troop of men enter. You appeared too engrossed in thought.” He approached her desk, walking around to where she sat to stand beside her and look over the map she worked on.

“I have not gotten very far.”

Magnus disagreed. “You have done more than I expected, and your detail is remarkable.” He studied the tower room she had drawn and marveled at the preciseness of her strokes. The windows matched in size, and each window was marked with a Roman numeral and a direction inscribed in Gaelic and Latin, as was a spot on the wall where the door to the small room would be located.

Reena pointed to the Latin inscription. “North, south, east and west so you know where you look upon. The Roman numeral corresponds to another map, which will give you the view from the window. The numeral on the door corresponds to a map of the small chamber, which shows little—a bare, cell-like room with a metal ring secured to thick wood.”

“You noticed the metal ring?”

“I make myself aware of all that I see and record what I see. I know not if it is important, I only know that I see it and therefore record it.” She asked one of the questions that troubled her thoughts. “Do you know the metal ring’s purpose?”

Magnus remained silent for a moment, and she waited, knowing he would answer after his own thoughts had settled.

“The metal ring is to chain a prisoner.”

“The small chamber is a prison?”

“A special prison that no one knows exists.”

Reena was appalled. “How horrible. The room is too remote, far removed from the rest of the keep. A person could die in that room and no one would ever know.”

Magnus pointed to the tower room. “In this room as well. No cries would be heard even from the windows; they are too far up. The screams would sound like a mere whisper when they reached the ground.”

She pointed where he did, her finger touching his. “Will you imprison here?”

There was another moment of silence that had Reena wondering what secrets—or, perhaps, nightmares—haunted him.

“Nay, this room will know no more sorrow.”

She thought to comfort him, though from what she did not quite understand; she only knew that the sorrow he spoke of belonged to him. She splayed her hand over his. “Furnishings that lend comfort, tapestries that add color and a larger fireplace that chases away the cold would all welcome anyone who enters the tower room.”

He moved his fingers to lock onto hers and held tight. “You have ideas for change, this is good.”

As she had extended comfort with her touch, he extended comfort with his firm grasp, and it was a natural comfort they shared. It took no effort, no thought, no choice; it was a reaction of the heart.

Flutters rushed through her stomach and up to circle her heart and she smiled, knowing there was nothing she could do.

He leaned his face close to hers. “Do what you will to the room.”

She shook her head. “The choice belongs to the lord of the keep.”

“The lord of the keep is instructing you to see to the changes.”

“And if you should not care for them?”

He tucked a wisp of her long dark hair behind her ear, his finger slowly stroking the edge. “I trust you.”

A sturdy knock on her door interrupted them and the shiver that raced through her.

“Enter,” Magnus called out.

Thomas entered. “You are needed.”

Magnus nodded, then turned to Reena. “I will give orders that you are to be helped with the tower room, but the mornings are ours to spend touring the keep, and in the evenings we will discuss our findings.” With a kiss of her hand he left, closing the door behind him.