Lion Heart (Hearts of the Highlands Book 4)

by Paula Quinn

  He smiled and looked down at Pip. “She is soft and not so bad, after all.” He stroked the cat between the ears and was quiet for a moment.

  Then he told her, “Beneath all the confidence and bravado, he is still the boy who hid under the bed.”

  Lily didn’t think her heart could break for Elias anymore than it already had.

  But no time to think on that now. She heard footsteps and looked up at the children coming closer, staring in horror at Brother Simon.

  He spoke to them, assuring them that he would watch over them from heaven, but they all wept.

  Lily looked up to the second landing. Was Elias awake? How would she tell him about his friend?

  She asked Charlie to sit with the brother while she went upstairs to check on her husband. She would make them something to eat when she returned.

  She had to stop once before she reached the top. She felt overwhelmed, on the brink of hysterics at any moment. She didn’t want to tell him, but what if he was well enough to come belowstairs and see and speak to his friend for the last time?

  She continued up and went to her bed. She was hoping to see his eyes opened, him smiling, everything all right.

  “Elias, my love.” She leaned down and touched his face. He was burning up with fever. No! She put her hands to her temples. She wanted to scream and cry and never stop. Did he make himself worse by getting out of bed during the night?

  “Elias?” She gave him a little shake but he did not stir.

  Panicked, she hurried down the stairs to prepare his tea and something for his fever. She’d had hope for him. He was a fighter. He held her last night. He fired her hope, but today…oh, today…they might lose Brother Simon. She couldn’t lose Elias, too. She prayed and did her best to reassure the children that everything would be all right, but she didn’t believe it. How could it be? Richard was gone. A future without him in it frightened her. She’d lost all her friends, Alice, Joan, Deirdre, Agnes, Ivett, and Clare. And the poor children, Cecily and Lizbeth. Who would be next?

  “Are they both going to die, Lily?” Charlie asked her quietly. “Because if they do…” he paused again, his dark hair falling over bloodshot eyes. “I will take care of you and Annabelle, and little Eddie.”

  “Charlie,” she managed, though she wasn’t sure how she did without a tear. She had to be strong for them. “That is not your concern. I have the shop and, well, they will not both die.”

  He gave her a look like she was only saying it for his benefit, like she didn’t truly believe it.

  Because she didn’t.

  “Here,” she said, handing him a cup. “Go and feed this tea to Brother Simon. Annabelle,” she called, beckoning the girl to her. “Dab this cloth on Brother Simon’s head.”

  “It smells!” Annabelle scrunched up her face and held the cloth away from herself as she went to her task.

  Lily finished preparing Elias’ tea and then carried it up to him.

  Wiping a rogue tear from her eye, she set down the tea on a nearby table, then lifted his head and shoulders and put them in her lap as she sat behind him on the bed.

  “Elias, my love,” she said softly, then a bit more firmly. She gave him a little shake until he opened his eyes. “There now, Husband. Drink this. Careful, ‘tis hot.”

  She reached for the cup and held it to his lips. “Drink a little, Elias. Your fever needs to come down. Drink, my love.”

  He sipped some. She coaxed him to drink more, holding him in one arm, her head bent to his. “I will not let you go, Elias MacPherson. Not until you return to me.”

  #

  “Eli?”

  Elias turned to Simon and smiled. He didn’t look around at his surroundings. He didn’t care where he was. Simon was here and his friend had something to tell him. Something important.

  He put is hands on Elias’ forearms and looked up into his eyes. “Eli, I have to go.”

  He had never left. He had been in Elias’ life for as long as Eli could remember. He would always be there. Would he not? “When are ye comin’ back?”

  Simon shook his head. His soulful gaze warmed. “Tis time for me to go on home.”

  “I will go with ye, as ye always went with me,” Elias told him and took a step forward.

  “Lily is a fine wife. You chose well. She is very much in love with you.”

  Elias turned and looked behind him. “Lily,” he said in a soft whisper. His heart pulled him back. He wanted more time with her. More nights, more mornings with her. He wanted to be with her to help her get through this life.

  But Simon.

  “Eli,” his best friend said, his voice, so good and familiar to Elias’ ears. He didn’t want to stop hearing it. “Tell Lily that tears are water for her roots and will make her stronger, not weaker.

  “As for you, I have loved you like a little brother and a son and I like to think I had some good in how well you turned out.”

  “Mayhap a wee bit. Half the time I was only pretendin’ to ignore ye. The rest of the time I was listenin’.”

  They both smiled and wiped their eyes.

  “Your father saved my life,” Simon told him. “I went from being a slave to being one of Nicholas MacPherson’s closest friends. I would have done anything for him. I vowed to look after you when you were little Eddie’s age. I have kept my word to your father. You are Lily’s now. You have little ones of your own to care for.”

  Elias pulled him into his arms…but his faithful companion was gone.

  He opened his eyes.

  “Simon!” he grasped at the air.

  “Lily!” He heard Charlie call her name. She was there with Elias, sitting behind him on the bed. She moved him gently from her lap and then bolted to her feet.

  “Brother Simon,” she whispered and then hurried down the stairs.

  Elias knew his old friend was gone. He left the bed slowly, but with more strength than he had last eve. He padded to the stairs and looked down at his family, his wife and his adopted bairns crying around Simon. He thought he might collapse, not from exhaustion or sickness, but from sorrow.

  #

  Lily looked up from Brother Simon’s left side and thrilled at seeing Elias standing at the top of the stairs. He lived. He’d fought a monster and he lived. She wanted to go to him but she felt rooted to her spot, kneeling beside Brother Simon, trying to remain steady and steadfast.

  Her gaze followed him as he came closer and reached for her hand to steady him. She stood up and let him take it. Feeling the weakness in his arm, she rushed beneath him and aided his next few steps.

  “Where is Chisholm?”

  “Dead,” she told him beneath her breath.

  He stood over Brother Simon with tears falling over his cheeks and onto the brother’s hand. “Any man or woman would be blessed to have a friend like Brother Simon.”

  Lily and Charlie agreed, and then so did Annabelle, not wanting to be left out.

  They bid him their farewells in waves of tears. Most of them.

  “I dinna want his body burned. I want him buried,” Elias declared.

  “Who will dig, Elias?” Lily asked him, hoping he didn’t think he was strong enough to do it himself. “Certainly not you! You are just out of bed!”

  “Tomorrow. I will bury him tomorrow,” he said as if it were now carved in stone.

  Lily wanted to demand that he stay in bed for at least three days. She knew he wouldn’t.

  She looked down at Brother Simon. His body would remain here all day and all night, and until his grave was ready. They could lay him in the shed or in the back of the shop, but who would carry him there?

  “I wish to take the children to Eleanor’s. They should not—”

  “Aye,” he agreed. “They shouldna.”

  She went to him and touched her fingers to his face. He was cool. “I will make you some tea first.”

  He shook his head. “Nae, love. Ye will go now fer I wish to have a wee bit of time with Simon.”

  She too
k little Eddie from Annabelle and turned for the door. She stopped and turned back around. “Charlie, come with me, please.”

  The lad shook his head. “I want to stay with—”

  “Go with her,” Elias told him. “Go on.”

  Charlie left the house and went the other way.

  Lily said nothing and walked toward the village, to Eleanor’s and asked her to keep the children with her and Terrick for the night.

  She felt on the edge of a mountain-moving breakdown of her senses, her joints, her control, as if her weeping last night was just the beginning. She didn’t want the children about when or if it happened. She was close though. She could feel the bubbling rumble in her belly.

  She returned to the house alone and discovered Brother Simon covered with Elias’ long plaid. She looked up to the second landing and prayed Elias was still in bed.

  She was so happy to see him asleep but alive. She wished they hadn’t had to bid farewell to Brother Simon on the same day Elias recovered.

  She prepared some salmon from the night before and boiled him some tea, then carried it to him.

  She stood by the bed gazing at him, half-covered by a thin blanket. It reached a little below his belly and draped his strong, shapely legs. His arms were cut from stone. One of them was slung over his head. The other was curled around his waist.

  She wanted to go to him and fall into his arms, but he was fighting his own demons.

  She set down her tray and touched her fingers to his face.

  His eyes opened. He turned them on her.

  “I came to feed you and check you for fever.”

  He nodded and closed his eyes. He grieved his friend. What could she do?

  He opened his eyes again and looked at her. “Where are the children?”

  “Eleanor agreed to take them for the night. Charlie walked off—”

  The sounds of men’s voices outside stopped her from saying anything else.

  Had the bishop and his men discovered Bertram’s body and come to take her to prison?

  Lily bolted toward the window and spotted Alan and Father Benedict. They carried shovels with them.

  Someone knocked on the front door, and then it opened and Charlie entered. “Lily?” he called. She moved to call back, but scolded Elias for swinging his legs over the bed.

  “Morning, Lily,” Alan called up to her. “Elias, you are looking well.”

  “I am well, thank the Lord,” Elias said, coming to stand beside her with his blanket wrapped around his waist.

  “We have come to bury poor Brother Simon.” Alan bowed his head and crossed himself.

  Lily’s heart nearly burst with thankfulness and love for her neighbors. Now Elias could re—

  “I will be oot to join ye in a moment.”

  What? She spun around to face him. “No! ‘Tis too soon.”

  “Lily, I must! I am able. I will let the others do most of the diggin’, but I will be there. I willna be moved on this.”

  He turned away to dress. She wanted to kick him. His pride and stubbornness would get him killed.

  Charlie called up to her. “Was I wrong to tell them that Brother Simon had perished? They all liked him. They love you and would do almost anything for you. I knew they would help, as you have always helped them.”

  Her throat burned. She smiled through it. “No, you were not wrong. Thank you for thinking clearly when we,” she paused and glanced back at Elias, “apparently, cannot.”

  “I will keep an eye on him when he comes out,” he promised with a smile and left the house. She was glad she could be here for Charlie, and Charlie could be here for her, though it was Elias the boy clearly loved and wished to help.

  She turned back to Elias. “What if you fall ill again? What will Charlie—?”

  “My love, I must be there.” The tears in his eyes gleamed in the candlelight. “D’ye not understand? The only time he ever left my side fer longer than a sennight was when we were livin’ at the stronghold. Then, Simon stayed by my father. He was a loyal and steadfast brother to me. I will be there to see him off.”

  She nodded, understanding, but not being happy about it. “I will help you down the stairs when you are ready.” She sat on her bed and watched him pull his thin, woolen léine over his head and shoulders and then let it fall down his chest and his flat belly. His long, strong legs were already covered in thick, black hose he’d pulled on while she spoke with Charlie.

  He sat beside her on the bed and turned to smile at her. But she noticed his breathing was a bit labored. He pulled on his boots and ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Is there a shovel in the small shed?” he asked her, rising from the bed.

  “Elias, you are not well enough for this,” she tried one last time.

  He stepped close to her and kissed the concern from her lips.

  “Come ootdoors and stay with me,” he offered, withdrawing and leaving her without breath, “and ye will see how much I do, aye? I willna have ye worry.”

  She nodded and followed him to the stairs. He went down slowly, leaning on her when he had to.

  “Ye are surprisingly strong fer one so slight,” he remarked when they reached the bottom. He was silent when they passed his friend’s body in the chair covered in his plaid.

  They left the house together, slowly.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Four hours later, with the help of Lily, Father Benedict, Charlie, Norman, and Alan, Elias dug his best friend’s grave close to Lily’s garden. He didn’t want Brother Simon burned as everyone else had been. No one challenged him.

  Father Benedict presided over the burial. Everyone who was left was there. The children stood by Elias and Lily. Charlie patted Annabelle’s shoulder when she cried.

  When it was over, everyone returned to their homes for the afternoon. Since the brother’s body was gone from the house, the children didn’t need to be gone all night. Lily bid them to come home, but they asked to stay with Terrick for the afternoon. Elias and Lily agreed.

  They returned to the house with Elias leaning on her with his right arm on her shoulders.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked him. He’d kept his word and did not do much digging, but even a little was much for him.

  “Just tired,” he admitted.

  “Come,” she said as she took him by the hand. “Let me put you to bed and get you some tea.”

  “I grow weary of tea,” he complained playfully. “I am hungry.”

  “That does not matter to me,” she scolded. “You will drink what I give you. The salmon has spoiled. The villagers will bring food later and then you can eat.”

  She led him to bed and sat him in it then helped him out of his clothes. She did her best to see him as a patient and nothing more right now. The man needed rest from burying his best friend and recovering from the plague a day ago! How could tugging off his boots arouse her? Was he breathing harder? Faster? “Elias, are you feeling worse?”

  “Nae,” he promised softly and pulled his léine over his head. Her eyes drank in the glory of his sculpted shoulders and muscular arms as he undressed. She remembered the last time they were together. The pain, and the pleasure of his body…she thought she was a monster for having such intimate thoughts about him when they had just finished burying his best friend. But then he was a monster, too. Or just a soul in terrible need of comfort.

  She leaned in and pressed her lips to his shoulder.

  He groaned and her bones felt like dry tinder, her blood, pure flame.

  Emboldened by his groan, she kissed his collarbone. If he wanted to stop, she would without question. But he pulled her wrists around his neck. She melted against his chest and tilted her face up to his when his hungry mouth sought her.

  His lips burned hotter than her blood.

  He dragged her over his lap to straddle him, she went with only a moan of her own. She landed atop a hard mound between his legs—a mound he adjusted with a sensual stroke of his hand under his hos
e.

  It felt like a stroke to her when his knuckles touched her there. She sucked in on her lower lip when he flipped his hand over beneath his hose and slid his palm over her heat. His touch sparked another flame between her thighs. When he pulled his hand free, she closed her eyes at the stiff erection pushing against his hose, as if to get to her.

  She pulled up her skirts and rubbed herself over the length of it and then waited anxiously for him when he lifted up his hips and pulled at his hose, releasing himself, hot and hard enough to lift her.

  She glided over it one more time, taking in its fullness, and then set herself down on the head. Pain shot through her like a lance, but it didn’t last. It couldn’t last against the pure pleasure of impaling herself on him to the hilt and watching the rapture of his release, just before her own.

  It was quick and filled with passion. Elias wanted more but soon fell asleep.

  Lily washed and changed into her long-sleeved, indigo kirtle. The skirts were one layer and straight and the belted overcoat reached her hips.

  She looked at him sleeping and felt the threat of a whole new army of tears gathering with the rest. She loved him and was thankful she could comfort him in the most intimate way.

  She still hadn’t told him about Bertram and the bishop wanting little Eddie dead. To keep the bishop’s name unaffected by scandal, no doubt. She was still afraid that the bishop’s men would find her once they figured out she had the babe and she had been the one who stabbed Bertram. She would have to tell Elias soon.

  She heard a sound at her door and braided her hair behind her head, but when she hurried down the stairs to greet Estrid, entering the house, most of it had come loose. She wished she had thick hair like Clare—

  She stopped as the memory of her pretty friend’s smile swept across her thoughts.

  She greeted Estrid and the two women embraced and held each other for a long time. They greeted Father Benedict and Norman and his wife, Hild, along with Emma and Ava, their daughters. Alan returned with his wife, Helen. Everyone, including Estrid, brought a pot of some dish or another and some brought fresh bread or dessert. Even Eleanor managed to prepare two of her delicious chicken pies with four children running around her skirts. When everyone arrived, they sat outside and ate together and spoke quietly about their lives and the loved ones they’d lost.