Free Legend of the Fae: A Highland Fantasy (The Dark Fae Saga Book 1) by April Holthaus

knocked once, but there was no answer. Pushing the door open, he crept inside. He found Evelyn passed out in a cushioned chair in front of the small hearth. The fire had long been extinguished leaving behind a pile of smoldering ash as a wisp of smoke lingered in the air. Clutched in her arms, was a spool of yarn, and the workings of a baby blanket rested upon her lap. The floor creaked beneath his weight as he stepped towards her.
    “Ev,” he whispered.
    “Wh…what?” Evelyn stuttered as she woke from her slumber. “Oh, Galen, tis only ye,” she said with a yawn.
    “I dinna mean to wake ye.”
    “Tis alright. I was no’ verra comfortable in this chair anyways.”
    “Has Warrick returned?”
    Evelyn looked about the room as if she expected to see him standing near the doorway.
    “Nay. I waited fer him, but I must have fallen asleep,” she said, as she placed her needlework into a wicker basket on the floor.
    “How is the lass?”
    “The lass is still sleeping. ‘Tis the oddest thing. Physically, she appears to be in good health. There were no signs of rape or injury other than a twisted ankle and the bruise on her cheek, but she is still verra weak and tired, as if she had been through one hellish ordeal. She did manage to drink some broth I spiced with willow bark and other healing herbs. I am hoping that after some rest she will improve.”
    “I have a mind to transfer her to the castle. She verra well cannae take up yer only bed, and there is plenty of room at Dunquest.”
    “It may be best to wait. She cannae ride a horse. Her ankle is quite swollen. It is possible that it is just a sprain, but I will have to see how it is when she wakes,” Evelyn said as she stretched her lower back. “I’m afraid that riding on a horse now would only jostle her, and she still seems quite frightened as it is. The lass is verra skittish.”
    “I dinna think she has any other options.”
    “She will be fine here, cousin. I am perfectly well enough to care for her.”
    “That is no’ a request, Ev,” he barked.
    Galen had not meant to be short with his cousin, but his concern for her and the bairn came first.
    “Gather what things she will need. If her ankle is only sprained I imagine she will no’ be staying wit’ us long. I will make arrangement to send her back to her people.”
    “Galen, there is something else about the lass that ye need to know. She cannae speak.”
    “She’s a mute? Well, that complicates things,” he said in a husky voice as he slumped down hard into one of the chairs behind him.
    “Nay, it dinna have to be,” Evelyn perked up.
    “How am I going to find out what happened to the lass and how she came to be on our lands if she cannae speak?” Galen asked, annoyed.
    “Honestly, Cousin. Dinna it ever occur to ye that she can answer by shaking her head?”
    Galen thought on the matter. In all honesty, it hadn’t occurred to him. Perhaps the fact that she couldn’t talk wasn’t entirely a terrible thing; a woman often talked too much as it was.
    “I will return wit’ a cart for her within the hour. Perhaps that will ease her discomfort.”
    “Perhaps, but please be patient with her. I dinna know what had happened to her, but I imagine there was some reason why she was traveling alone. Perhaps she was escaping from something or someone. If we do find out where she belongs, we cannae just send her back without finding out why she left in the first place.”
    “E’en if she ran away from an arranged marriage or an abusive husband, there is nothing I can do. The lass is no’ my concern.”
    “Well, she is now!”
    Evelyn was right. The moment he offered her protection, he was already caught up in her affairs whether he liked it or not.
    “With what happened last night, will ye be leaving again?”
    “I know what yer thinking, Ev. If this results in war, I will do my best to keep Warrick far away from the fight.”
    Galen knew that was exactly what Evelyn wanted to hear, but the