A VOW TO KEEP (The Vengeance Trilogy) Read Free Page A

herbs.
    Myranda had added entries on the best use of various remedies as well, making the book all the more precious. Someday, Alyna would add comments of her own to pass on to another healer.
    She looked around the sparsely furnished miller’s home, realizing she might never again see Sarah or this cottage. A narrow trestle table and two benches were near the door. A bed with a small wooden trunk at the end of it stood against the back wall. Small, narrow slits in the walls allowed in the remaining daylight.
    A pang of regret shot through her. She would miss many of the people here, including Sarah. The past few days, she’d caught herself looking at the oddest things–the bench in her room, the cook, the herb garden–all with the realization that she’d never see that person or thing again. That both excited and frightened her. But the people most important to her would be with her.
    “We will miss you sorely.”
    Alarmed, Alyna looked up from the basket she’d set on the table. How could Sarah have possibly found out they were leaving?
    The woman frowned, obviously confused by Alyna’s expression. “When you marry Lord Tegmont.”
    Relief made her knees weak. “Oh, aye, of course.”
    With luck, Charles, Enid, Nicholas, and she would be gone come morning and not so that she could become Lord Tegmont’s fourth wife. Certainly not when the third one was freshly buried. She shivered at the thought.
    Though she feared her grandfather remained out of the country as he hadn’t responded to her message, she’d determined to set out for his holding anyway. She had nowhere else to go and time was slipping away, stealing her options. “It will be a new experience to be away from home.”
    Alyna mixed the dried peppermint with hot water. “Let this steep then sip it slowly. I’ll leave you with some in case your stomach pains you again.”
    She bid Sarah goodbye, anxious to get back to the manor before darkness fell completely. Nicholas hadn’t wanted her to leave and the sooner she got back, the sooner she could calm his restlessness and help Enid finish packing.
    She stepped out of the cottage and realized dusk had arrived quicker than she’d expected. She pulled her cloak tighter to guard against the cool, spring air and walked briskly up the path in the fading light.
    The thought of leaving home and all that was familiar frightened her, but her father left her no choice. The betrothal he’d arranged to Lord Tegmont was unacceptable. Surely the marriage was the plan of which Myranda had warned her. That aside, her father had told her she’d have to leave Nicholas behind when she married Tegmont.
    Nothing on this earth would part her from her son. Each day, she gave thanks for the love and joy he brought her.
    Her relationship with Nicholas was the one area she defied her father though she did her best to hide it for fear he’d send Nicholas away. The times he’d noticed her attachment to the boy had resulted in heated arguments, but Alyna refused to change how she treated Nicholas. Her father had been livid when he’d first heard Nicholas call her mama, but Alyna had held her ground. Still the awful possibilities of what her father might do to Nicholas if she wasn’t constantly on guard made her desperate with fear. Myranda had given her a precious gift and Alyna would do anything to keep her son safe.
    Marriage and a family of her own had always been a dream of hers, but she knew few men would marry a woman such as she. She had only a small dowry and was nothing much to look upon, as her father often told her. Her long, dark hair held no curl. Her eyes were a strange amber color that might’ve looked better upon a cat. Her figure was too slim.
    And she’d come to realize no man would want to raise another man’s child as his own.
    Some time ago, Alyna had reconciled herself to the idea of never marrying. After all, she had her own family in Nicholas, Charles, and Enid. What more did she need?
    She’d