Read Love Beyond Compare (Book 5 of Morna’s Legacy Series) for Free Online Page A

spoke over his shoulder in order to get in the last word.  
    “If I wished to find a lass who needed companionship, I would surely ask ye to seek her out for me. Ye should know the look of one.”
    His words were harsh. Guilt immediately stung at Adwen, but he placed it into the back of his mind. Orick had been brutally honest with him as well, as per usual, and they would find out which one of them was right soon enough.  
     

CHAPTER 8

    If not for the one dirty and exhausted traveler who stopped in for an early dinner before continuing on his way, there’d have been no real reason for me to stay and watch things while Gregor and Isobel were away. Still, I gave them my word, so I busied myself through the duration of the evening by trying, rather unsuccessfully, to improve my bread baking skills.  
    After stuffing myself with bread that was either too tough, or too salty, or too just plain gross, I gave up, surrendering to the fact that I was just not meant for bakerdom.  
    From the looks of the village outside the main window, it seemed that Gregor and Isobel weren’t the only folks interested in checking out the travelling healer. The village looked vacant, and the cold, windy air gave the evening a spooky feel, as if someone were watching me just past the edge of what I could see through the window. I did my best to busy myself so as not to think on it all too much.  
    It didn’t take long to wipe everything down—Gregor kept things very clean. Dust and dirt only seemed to aggravate Isobel’s cough.  
    After too much bread was baked and the tables were cleaned, I took to sweeping the floors while conducting a private stage show for all of the empty chairs. I chose to perform a one-woman stage version of Phantom of the Opera. Knowing every word by heart, I think it would be fair for me to speak for all of the invisible ghosts that took in my grand performance and say that I killed it.  
    Exhausted and happy, I collapsed into one of the many chairs, realizing that I’d not truly been this alone in a very long time. Something inside me reveled in it; enjoyed the freedom of being able to sing at the top of my lungs and prance around like a fool without being worried that a maid or other castle worker would come busting in through the doors. There was such a lack of privacy at the castle; never a moment presented itself where I could be the crazy goofball of a woman I was so accustomed to being in my life before.
    I felt very little remorse at breaking Eoghanan’s trust to begin with since I was doing it to help Gregor and Isobel. I knew Eoghanan would understand once I explained it to him. But now that I’d so thoroughly enjoyed my evening alone, any repercussions that might occur if he wasn’t so understanding would be worth it.  
    Once I took a moment to catch my breath, I stood and went to lean my head out of the front door, to gauge the time of evening based on the moon’s position—it was somewhere between nine and eleven by my rudimentary guess, and I expected Gregor and Isobel to arrive back shortly. Assuming it safe to go ahead and close down for the evening, I stepped back inside and blew out all of the candles in the front, deciding to wait in Isobel’s private sitting room until their return.  
    With the rest of the inn now dark save the sitting room, which remained lit by a candle in each of the corners, I wrapped myself in a thick wool blanket and sank comfortably into a rocking chair. The flicker of the lights combined with my own rocking had me near the edge of sleep when the sound of wind whooshing through the front door as someone entered sent me soaring to my feet.
    In my rush to find out who was there, I tripped on the edge of the blanket, falling headfirst into the edge of the doorway. I screamed and cursed as I stumbled into the dark hallway, feeling my forehead with one hand to make sure I wasn’t bleeding and guiding myself with the other.  
    Satisfied that my skull was still in