Legendary Warrior (Warrior 1)
Chapter 20Magnus stood silent for several minutes, staring at Reena. He needed the few moments to form his answer and to keep remembrances at bay. His return to Dunhurnal had not been easy for him. Memories had flooded his mind with each step he had taken inside the keep, bitter memories mixed with tender ones. No one knew of them, and he chose to keep them locked away. One day he planned on releasing the hurt and pain of the past, but Reena’s discovery now forced that day upon him sooner than he had planned.
“How did you know my mother was imprisoned here? Did she engrave her name in the stones?”
“I read one of the journals in the chest when you first showed me the room,” she confessed. “The entry spoke of giving birth to a son and naming him Magnus. I simply made an assumption.”
A commotion outside the door prevented Magnus from answering, and the door soon opened. Thomas entered in a rush, followed by several men.
He stopped abruptly when he saw Magnus and Reena standing in the middle of the room. “I thought you may be trapped in the room, so I rushed.”
“We made certain to exit the room before it imprisoned us,” Magnus said, then turned to Reena. “Wait for me in my solar. I wish to talk with you.”
She nodded and left, hoping Magnus would share his childhood days with her. She could only imagine the pain he must have suffered over his mother’s imprisonment and what the woman herself had been forced to endure. She prayed that his mother was safe and free from harm; but then, the Legend was her son, and by now she must be free. How long had his mother actually been imprisoned there? This was only one of many questions she hoped Magnus would answer.
Her curiosity also had her wondering about his connection with Dunhurnal land. He had known all along it sat adjacent to Kilkern land, yet he’d made no mention of it to her when she had approached him about protecting her village.
And why then did the king grant him the land? Was it a favor? Or did the land actually belong to Magnus by birthright?
Reena ran into Brigid, who was rushing up the steps, as she turned the spiral staircase to go down a few levels to Magnus’s solar.
“You are all right?” Brigid asked through labored breaths.
“I am fine,” she said and wished she could tell Brigid of her discovery, but that would not be fair to Magnus. He had kept the secret of the keep to himself, and perhaps for a good reason. She would not betray his trust and share his secret.
“You were not fearful of the dark and being trapped?”
“Nay, I knew you would return with Magnus and, of course, Thomas.”
“Was it not completely dark in the room?”
“The darkness was more thick than I thought possible,” Reena said.
“And this did not frighten you?”
Reena gave her question a quick thought. Recalling the door closing, the light flickering out, and the glint of metal made her realize she had been too curious about the mysterious object to worry about her predicament. “My thoughts were elsewhere—besides, I knew you would be returning in a short time.”
Brigid shivered. “Being trapped in the darkness is not a fate I wish to experience. It must have been terrifying for the woman who was chained in the small room. And why chain her if she could not escape, that was even more cruel.”
“I agree, and I hope she now has her freedom.”
“I must go,” Brigid said. “Maura needs help in the kitchen with the extra preparation for the men. I wanted to make certain you were all right.”
One last firm hug and the women parted, Thomas coming around the curve just as Brigid disappeared from sight.
“You are well?” Thomas asked, stopping beside her.
Reena was grateful for caring friends. “Aye, I am fine. It is Brigid who worries more than I.”
“She worries over you, though she need not, but then memories haunt her. Time will help heal her pain.”
“Love will help heal her pain.”
Thomas nodded, and a touch of sadness filled his voice. “Aye, she will find someone to love her, and she will be happy.” He raised a beefy fist. “And he best be good to her or else.”
Reena smiled. “Oh, I have a feeling that the man who captures her heart will treat her like a princess. Would you not treat her such?”
Thomas lowered his fist and his voice. “I would treat her like a queen and love her with all my heart and be forever grateful she was mine. And I would allow no one—no one—to hurt her.”
Reena had no time to comment, as a shout for Thomas’s help from the tower room had him fast turning around and rushing up the steps. She would make certain Brigid learned of how Thomas felt, and she continued down the steps to Magnus’s solar.