My Cursed Highlander by Kimberly Killion

Author:Kimberly Killion [Killion, Kimberly]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Historical
ISBN: 9781467917704
Google: TE3wpwAACAAJ
Amazon: 1467917702
Barnesnoble: 1467917702
Goodreads: 13154861
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Where is he?

Viviana sank onto the edge of the unmade bed holding the tablet in her lap and waited impatiently for Taveon to collect her. She'd already brushed her hair twice, fashioning it up then down, worrying foolishly over her appearance.

Their schedule had not altered a single day throughout their travels across France. Her husband brought her food shortly after the cock crowed to break her fast, rearranged her garments, and then they set out for another day of riding and learning. She and Remi had progressed quickly as her husband proved to be a patient and capable teacher. She wanted to please him, to prove her worth and make him proud to call her wife, yet his accusing words still hurt and caused her to hang on to her forked tongue.

Viviana opened the wooden cover of the tablet and ran her fingers over the letters carved in the wax. 'Sleep well, Venus.' The last words Taveon had written before he gently kissed her knuckles and left her to sleep alone. She admitted only to herself she felt a tinge of upset every time the door clicked shut. The fear of abandonment, of unfamiliarity, was never far from her mind, and this morn those age-old feelings had her fretting.

Unable to sit still a moment longer, she found her way to the window and pushed open the shutters. Birds cawed and a salty scent filled her senses. This day was warm and active. Very active. Below, horse hooves clomped across cobbled stones and patrons bustled about their day. The fact she had no idea where they were only troubled her further. She hated not knowing her surroundings.

Her stomach gurgled. The time had to be near noontide. Taveon had come at dawn every morn for over a sennight, so where was he?

Worry caused her to panic. She chewed on her bottom lip as a gentle breeze cooled the tears forming in her eyes.

Mayhap he wasn't coming back. Mayhap she'd insulted him one too many times and he left her. The same as her mother had left her and Fioretta at Spedale degli Innocenti. She suddenly felt like that scared little girl Fioretta left beneath the pew at Santa Reparata.

Her eyes pinched tight, setting an uncontrollable rush of tears over her cheeks. The patterned motif on the floor of the Duomo exploded in her mind's eye. Her pulse quickened as the fear she'd felt that long ago day attacked her.

The sounds of panic echoed in her head, and then Fioretta was suddenly at her side, her hand outstretched.

A man pushed past Viviana, knocking her to the ground.

Fioretta screamed as the crowd separated them. Hide, Vivi, hide!

Perspiration broke out over Viviana's skin as her heart beat a wild tattoo against her ribs. Inside her head, she was that little girl reaching out to Fioretta. "Come back for me," she whispered.

A knock at the door made her jump.

"Viviana?"

She spun, her worthless eyes wide. She pressed her back against the window sill and held the tablet tight against her breast, as if it were a shield to guard her person.

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