Last week Maja's aunt Asgrid told her she did not think it was necessary to keep hiding the truth, but would go along with it for a while longer. This week, the secret is revealed to readers, but the men from Hilvard will continue to be left in the dark.
This week's snippet:
Maja swallowed her tears and tried to clear her mind. Aunt Asgrid was right; she needed rest. On the morrow there would be a great many decisions to be made, and she knew her aunt would require her counsel. Her head hurt less, thanks to some herbs Lene had given her, but she could not quite settle and convince her body to rest.
Forcing her breathing to slow, Maja carefully did not think about home, her parents, her brother, or her uncle. She did not think of the village either. Instead, she found herself picturing a handsome yet dirty face and deep, dark eyes, the color of which she did not yet know.
Kate
There had not been enough light in the cave to see. Why Jorgen of Hilvard's face should intrude into her thoughts she could not say, nor why the memory of his eyes should be both frightening and comforting. He had not shown any sign of seeing her as anything other than an injured woman. No threat had been implied in his gaze, his questions, or his probing of her wound. Why then did she feel nervous thinking back to that brief moment when their gazes had met and locked? It had not been long, half a moment really, certainly not long enough to cause Maja any discomfort this much later.
Rather than fight the thoughts, she allowed herself to be soothed by them. She was not afraid of her feelings, only confused by them. It could not be attraction she felt, she was certain, for she had felt that before and it was a far more overwhelming set of emotions. Flutterings of the stomach, skipping of beats of her heart, and a feeling of lightness to almost giddiness. None of that did the thought of Jorgen Andriksson give her. And when her weary mind wondered how it would feel to have his strong arms around her, she paid it no mind at all, but rather snuggled deeper under her furs as if she truly was held and safe.