Free A Warrior's Perception by Spring Stevens

there would keep her presence secret if she desired it. The girl had paused only briefly enough to thank the old crone with her eyes. The old crone nodded and had left as quickly as she had come.
    Kagan stood with his legs firmly planted to the floor beside of the groaning man and growled at Crimm as he stepped away from the window, “ Out with it! ”
    “ Guston was attacked in his quarters, ” he forced himself to continue, “ Andra was there. ”
    Kagan eyed Crimm, “ Where is she? ”
    “ I do ‘na know. She ran from the keep yesterday morn 'fore we were aware that this had happened. ” Crimm dropped his eyes from Kagan's viscous stare, “ Aran is trailin' her as we speak. He will find her and bring her back. ”
    “ Who attacked 'em? ” Kagan roared at his friend.
    Crimm ran his hand through his hair, “ Andra attacked Guston, Kagan! She did this to him, she's gone mad, and then she ran without explanation. ”
    “ She...she was...mag...magnificent, ” whispered the wounded Guston, “ She fought so hard and. ”
    Kagan's hand went to his hilt and turned to look down at the man on the table, “ Why did she attack ye? ”
    Guston laughed, spurting blood onto his lips, “ One last lesson. Her body was mine. I beat her. Submission. Took my sword. I took her from ...behind. ”
    Kagan's rage filled every inch of his frame; his howling war cry breached the keep's walls and echoed across the hillside as his sword danced through the air. The clang of steel bit into the table underneath Guston and the hilt met Guston's chest. Kagan's wild eyes watched the man drag his last breath in as he pulled his long sword from the table and Guston's body. Blood poured out from the wound and covered the floor under the table. Kagan wiped his sword on the linens beside Guston and sheathed his sword as the blood rolled under his booted feet.
    “ Feed him to the buzzards and lea'e his bones for the wolves, ” he ordered through clenched teeth.
    Adalie fell to his knees in heart wrenching agony as Crimm answered Kagan's order, “ It is done! ”
    Kagan turned as Crimm continued, “ I ha'e dishonored ye, I failed ye, my life is in ye hands. I swear by Dagma that she will be found! ”
    Kagan was laird and could not let his emotions be shown, “ Find her and lea'e her be. I will deal with her in due time. Waste na time in returnin' to me when ye find her. ”
    “ Aye milord , it will be done! ” Crimm vowed as Kagan stalked out the double doors.

Chapter 6
    Davonna Abbey – Scotland - 1573
    Andra clapped her hands as the children from the nearby orphanage finished their puppet show for the nuns at the abbey. The recipients smiled in delight as the sparingly dressed children bowed with puppets in hand. The children were orphans from the wars that plagued the highland clans. The nuns had found them huddled and half-starved in an abandoned shack on the outskirts of a destroyed village. Andra had been at the abbey for at least six months when the children came.
    They had been a godsend, bringing Andra out of her depressive state of mind. She had taken to them like flies to honey and they had welcomed her loving hands. Smiles, happy tears, laughter, and long nights of storytelling were indeed the cure that the children brought with them.
    The children piled around Andra as she kissed their foreheads and praised them. They loved her from the very start and wormed their way straight to her heart. She laughed and smiled as the children rapidly talked and danced around the small abbey hallway. They made their way to the schoolroom at the back of the abbey and took their seats.
    Andra had taken it upon herself to teach the children how to read and write. She spent hours with them each day as they pondered through what few books the abbey possessed.
    Months flew by as Andra's heart melted and she finally cried for herself. She cried in agony and the tidal waves of pain eased as she accepted what had been done to her. She vowed to