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Quint didn’t give her a chance to respond, he stepped in front of her. “No one will take my wife from me. Now leave and go tend to those warriors who lie dying or wounded from the battle and need your comfort. And make sure you spread the word that The Monk has wed the healer. If you say otherwise, I will hunt you down.”

“I will pray for you, Shade,” Brother Peter said.

“Do not waste your breath, Brother Peter,” the other cleric said, scrunching his nose in disgust. “Do you not see the talismans hanging in the trees? She is as evil as he is.” He glanced from Shade to Quint. “You will get what you deserve and burn forever in the fires of hell.” He turned and hurried away.

Brother Peter shook his head and before leaving said, “I will pray for you both.”

“Shade.”

She turned and it pained her to see Rawlin reach out and stop her mum from going to her.

“No one will seek your healing once it is learned you wed The Monk. They will be too fearful,” Rawlin said. “Send him on his way and save yourself.”

With her head finally clear, she knew what she needed to do. “I need to go help Ula and her clan in any way I can and the only way for me to get there safely is for Quint to take me. I can waste no time on anything else until I help Ula.”

“How can you trust him?” her mum asked anxiously.

It hurt Shade to see her mum upset and she wasn’t sure how to console her since she had no answers herself. The shocking news was still settling in, and she was not sure what to make of it.

She was sure of one thing though… “I trust Quint.”

Tears began to roll down her mum’s cheeks. “I don’t know whether to be more concerned about your marriage or that you are going to help Ula. There is danger in both.”

“I won’t let anything happen to Shade,” Quint said.

“You certainly have the skill to keep her safe, slaughtering eight men with ease,” Rawlin said as he kept a firm hold on his wife so she could not go near her daughter, or near The Monk.

“Did you ever once consider that Quint didn’t kill the monks?” Shade asked, finding it difficult to believe that Quint could kill pious men and ones who had offered him solace in a time of need.

“There was blood all over him,” Rawlin argued as if that was enough to find Quint guilty. “And why was he the only one to survive and why were there no other bodies found? Not one body to prove others had been responsible for the vicious attack.” Rawlin shook his head. “Nay, he is a madman and will do you harm if you are not wise enough to send him on his way and denounce the marriage.”

Her mum pressed her hands to her chest, fear mingling with her falling tears.

Shade stepped forward to go to her and stopped abruptly when Rawlin yanked his wife back.

“Nay, I will not allow the evil that has touched you to touch my wife,” Rawlin warned.

Quint stepped forward. “Give Shade a moment with her mum.”

“He threatens already,” Rawlin said, tucking his wife closer.

“That was no threat. My husband knows how I feel and spoke for me,” Shade said.

Her mum shook her head. “You acknowledge him as your husband?”

“Please, Mum, sit with me under the tree and talk with me as we did so many times through the years when somethingtroubled either one of us,” Shade said, her heart hurting that her mum kept her distance from her.

Her mum’s face softened, and she looked ready to step forward when Rawlin tightened his grip on her.

“We are leaving now. Your mum loves you, Shade, and would do anything for you. But I beg you, do not bring evil down upon her. When you are ready to do what is right, come see us. You will be welcomed,” Rawlin said, his eyes glassy with tears.

“I understand, Rawlin, and I am glad my mum has you to care for her,” Shade said, not knowing where she got the strength to say it. It took even more strength to watch her mum turn around and weep in Rawlin’s arms as they walked away. Their horse followed behind them with his head hanging low as if he felt their sorrow.

Rawlin was right. If word reached the farms nearby or local clans that her mother accepted Shade’s marriage to The Monk, no one would speak with her. She would be shunned along with Rawlin and that would not be fair to either of them. She faced several dilemmas and on a day that turned out to be shocking in several ways.

She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and turned to face the biggest dilemma of them all. Words failed her as she stared at her husband. He stood tall, defiantly so, as though he was waiting for her to accuse him. But there was no stormy color in his blue eyes, only concern. She realized then that her thought had been of her husband not The Monk.

She surprised herself when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him and lay her head on his chest.