Sold Into Marriage Read Online Free PDF

through the trees, reveling in the warmth of the rays hitting her face. After pulling her stockings back on, she quickly put her boots on and drew her shawl tighter around her shoulders.
    Through the trees, the tents in the encampment looked like miniature brown domes in the distance. She stared at the hill, knowing she must return soon in case Varron came to check on her, but she didn’t want to leave until she glimpsed the white eagle one last time. Surely, she would never see one again. She doubted eagles made their nests near cities as populated as Himma.
    As she waited, she hummed along to the rhythm of the music flowing out of the village. She smiled when a school of tiny yellow fish zipped by, on their way down the stream and through the forest, thinking fish lived such uncomplicated lives. They, as well as the animals in the forest, lived by instinct, the instinct to survive and procreate driving their actions.
    So much more drove the actions of men. Greed and jealousy. Pride and ambition. As a quiet child who preferred to keep to herself, she had learned to watch people from an early age. She could usually discern a person’s character by their eyes and their body language, and as a result she either liked someone or disliked them only moments after making their acquaintance.
    Thank goodness she liked Varron. Thank goodness he had kind eyes and moved with confidence, yet without arrogance. Yes, she was sure she could tell how boastful and jealous a person was by the way they walked and glanced around at their fellow persons. Her grandmother, widowed at a young age, had made a living in the mountains telling fortunes and reading palms, and Meadow liked to think she possessed a bit of her grandmother’s insight when it came to people. Her mother hadn’t had it, or she wouldn’t have married Herbert Lansing, but the legends about fortune tellers said their gift skipped a generation.
    Though Meadow could read people and sometimes get a vague feeling about their future, she found interacting with others, particularly strangers, to be exhausting. She couldn’t imagine talking to new people day after day and reading fortunes. It would be too tiresome and would deplete her soul. Not for the first time, she wished she had the cheerful and outgoing personality of her grandmother, whom she missed very much.
    She stood up and jumped from her rock to the ground, her gaze lifting to the trees. She squinted and willed the blasted eagle to show himself. She walked to a nearby clearing and kept her eyes upward, holding her breath as she waited. Come on. Show yourself.
    Joy abounded within her when she spotted a flash of white amongst the branches above. The eagle came to rest on a long, wide branch of an oak tree for a full minute, before spreading its wings and soaring past the trees and high into the sky.
    She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks, then headed out of the forest and back through the tall grasses on the hill.
    She felt ready to leave Monnaka now.
     
    *****
     
    Where in God’s name was she?
    Varron strode through the camp, looking right and left. He’d returned to his tent with Meadow’s belongings, only to find her missing.
    He’d ordered her to stay put, yet she had disobeyed him. His palm twitched. His little bride would be going to bed with a sore behind tonight, that was for sure. If she thought she could disregard his rules and do as she pleased, she was in for a rude awakening.
    Perhaps he had been too sweet and gentle toward her. He’d felt so much tenderness for the girl that maybe he hadn’t made himself clear enough to her that he expected obedience. The strapping he’d given her had been for a clear violation of the law, trespassing and attempted thievery, which she couldn’t have disputed and had seemed to accept when she willingly bent over the stool for her punishment. But he expected her to heed his orders even if she viewed them as unfair or minor. Like staying put .
    The