Mariote_Book One of the Daughters of Moirra Dundotter Series by Suzan Tisdale

Author:Suzan Tisdale [Tisdale, Suzan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781943244508
Amazon: B07LF1RDZY
Publisher: Targe & Thistle, Inc
Published: 2019-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Not only was their mount old, ’twas also quite apparent he was not used to being ridden. At least not for long distances or at any pace faster than a trot. Unaccustomed to riding without a saddle, Mariote kept slipping to one side or another. Her arms were beginning to ache from holding onto Conner so tightly, her legs to grow sore from trying to keep from falling off.

They had ridden a few hours — in complete silence — before finally finding sunshine and more even terrain. The snow was not quite as deep, but the air was just as cold. Her cheeks and ears were wind-burned and beginning to sting. Mariote was not about to complain, for she did not want her future husband to think her weak.

Finally, she swallowed her pride and asked him to stop. Begrudgingly, he pulled rein. “Do ye need to piss?” he asked.

Not only was she embarrassed by his question, she found his tone off-putting. It was not as if she were unaccustomed to such bluntness, for the McCullums were quite blunt. But she had hoped that her betrothed would have found a more gentile way of asking the question. “Aye,” she murmured softly.

He grunted, nodded his head, and threw one leg over the neck of their mount. Sliding to the ground, he took her satchel, but only after she asked him to. That sense of dread she had pushed away came roaring back to life when he turned his back to her and walked away.

Where was the man’s compassion? Where was the gentle, sweet man who’d been so evident in his letters? Letting loose a breath, she had to scoot forward, grab hold of the horse’s mane, and let herself down.

Her feet stung when they hit the cold earth. Holding on to the side of the horse, she counted to ten and moved her toes inside her boots.

“Do no’ tarry long,” Conner said as he stretched his arms out wide.

She wasn’t sure which upset her more. His silence or his gruff tone when he finally did manage to speak. Swallowing back her anger, she left him in the small clearing and headed toward a copse of trees for some privacy.

Once she was alone, she let the tears fall. This is no’ at all how I imagined ‘twould be.

It had to be close to the nooning hour, for her stomach was growling. Freezing, tired, and hungry, she cried, her mind filled with doubts, guilt, and longing for home.

Mayhap this had not been the right decision. Mayhap Conner could only be kind and romantic in his writings. Mayhap she was seeing the real Conner for the first time: a rude, uncaring individual. If that was the case, she did not like it at all. Her anger was quickly replaced with a sense of heavy trepidation. No matter how badly she wanted a husband and bairns of her own, it was not worth being married to a man like Conner.

But how to explain it to him? Ye be no’ one to shrink from anything, she told herself.

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