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

dagger outward with both hands.
    “Now listen here, lassie, there will be none of that. Now hand over that blade. I am no here to hurt ye. I am here to offer ye protection, but I can no do that from all the way out here in the village if I have to disarm ye.”
    I’d like to see him try ! If this was how they offered help and protection, she would rather take her chances out in the storm.
    Leaning into Evelyn, Alex whispered, “Ye dinna think she’s a Sassenach, do ye? That alone would have given those men reason to beat her.”
    Staring daggers at him, Ella thought to remind him that she was mute, not deaf! Are they all like this? The ignorance of men! This one, she figured, wore his arrogance like a tartan showing off his true colors. This was a man who was not afraid to offend others. Ella found his words harsh and unyielding. Had he no care at all?
     
     
    “If ye are just going to stand there, ye leave me no choice, Lassie,” Galen threatened.
    The lass was as irritating as an itch he could not scratch. It was a shame her personality did not match her pleasant appearance. 
    With pursed lips, the lass glanced to Evelyn.
    “It will be fine. I promise nothing bad will happen. Castle Dunquest is a fine castle, wit’ plenty of comfortable accommodations. Ye will have yer own room, and once yer ankle heals, I am sure ye will be able to return home,” Evelyn calmly said.
    Galen’s patience was wearing thin. He had no time to waste on such stubbornness. Before she could react, Galen grabbed her wrist and removed his dagger from her hand as if he were taking it from a child. He then proceeded to toss a plaid around her shoulders, and lifted her into the air as if she were a bag of grain. He could have just as easily tossed her over his shoulder and carried her out the door from the start and avoided all this nonsense. So much for tryin’ to be considerate, he thought to himself.
    The cold wind blew hard as snowflakes stuck to the plaid. Placing her gently in the cart, he draped another blanket around her.
    “That should keep ye plenty warm,” he said as he placed a bag Evelyn had given him next to her before mounting his horse.
     
     
    Ella peeked inside the bag that Galen had set down next to her. There was a blue-colored gown and a white shift, as well as a few more bandages that matched the ones Evelyn had wrapped around her ankle. Ella took another apprehensive look back to Evelyn as Alex mounted his horse. Soon, they were off toward Dunquest. Her thoughts turned to the daunting castle, wondering where Galen was taking her. Was it a grand fortress like the one she lived in, or was it a small dwelling filled with a mass of ignorant, overbearing, foul-smelling men like this Galen fellow? After what she had experienced already, she assumed the worst.
    The cold wind howled like a banshee as it bit her frozen cheeks. Lying back against a pallet of hay, she held the blanket close under her chin, thankful she had donned both gowns. The blanket offered little protection from the cold. As Galen rode toward Dunquest, Ella took note of every distinctive landmark they passed so she was better equipped to map her escape. The direction Galen led them brought them inside a dense forest. Taking several turns, Ella was jerked around inside the cart. She wondered if he was intentionally riding over roots and the uneven ground to spite her for resisting him.
    After taking a meandering, weather-beaten path, the tree cover lessened and she could see a clearing ahead. Within the woods, the trees offered sufficient protection from the falling snow, but now, out in the open air; snow fell like a heavy rain, wet and thick.
    Her hair, wet and frozen from the snowfall, was now like icicles that hung off a tree branch, and snowflakes covered her like a white blanket of prickly thorns.
    As they reached the edge of the woods, they were surrounded by rolling hills and shadowy groves. In the far distance, stone peaks of three circular towers