Forgiving Hearts: Duncurra 1-3

by Ceci Giltenan

  “Of course I will. May almighty God, St. Andrew, and all the angels and saints guard and protect her.” He said a blessing in Latin and after making the sign of the cross handed it back to Fingal.

  Lana stood near the hearth. “Laird, I too am glad ye are well.”

  “I’m not sure I’d jump straight to ‘well’ but I’ll live.”

  “Please God, Gillian will too.” Lana looked pale and drawn, exactly as a distraught mother should.

  He couldn’t help it. He would not be able to tolerate being in the same room with her or allowing her near Gillian until he knew.

  “Lana, what do ye know about all of this?”

  “I know what ye know, Laird. Rhiannon tried to poison Gillian.”

  “Ye had no role in it?”

  Father Stephen was shocked. “Laird, surely ye don’t suspect Lana of harming her child.”

  “Nay, Laird! I would never harm Gillian.”

  “Would ye not? Not even to see Fallon ‘rise above all others’?”

  Lana trembled. Tears welled in her eyes. “Laird, perhaps I deserve yer suspicion. I have treated Fallon differently. There were reasons that I don’t expect anyone to understand. Still, I would give my own life this instant, if it meant saving Gillian’s. I swear to ye, by God’s holy bones, I knew nothing about the poison in the herbs Rhiannon gave me. I gave Gillian the tisane, just like ye did, hoping to see her well again.”

  “If ye and Rhiannon were not working together, why did ye try so hard to get me to arrange a betrothal between Fallon and Coby?”

  “I—I have wanted that for years.”

  “Have ye? Why? What was so special about him that ye nagged yer husband then me to see them wed? He had no great skills, an average warrior at best. He was neither wealthy, nor particularly handsome or charming. In fact, he was ordinary in all things. Surely lovely, warm-hearted Fallon, the child ye believed was destined to ‘rise above all others’, deserved more than mediocrity?”

  “I never looked at it like that. It was just always meant to be.”

  “It was meant to be. Why would ye think that? Oh, let me guess, Rhiannon predicted it.”

  “Nay, she didn’t. Oh, she talked for years about how nice it would be for them to marry but she didn’t predict it. I respected Rhiannon, nearly everyone did. I was flattered that she wanted Fallon as a daughter by marriage. She thought it was to be a good match and I agreed. We dreamed about sharing grandchildren. It pleased her so to think of them married.”

  “I’m sure it did. It would also give her a very good motive for wanting Gillian and I dead. If Rhiannon had succeeded in killing us, and she could manipulate ye into marrying Fallon to Coby, her son would become laird.”

  “Laird, I love my daughter. All of my daughters.” Tears spilled down her cheeks.

  Fingal did not know what to think. His head throbbed. He remembered the story about how Lana had wanted Fallon to be recognized as chief over Gillian. That simply didn’t make sense. It led him to question her innocence in this now. He sighed. “I want to believe ye, Lana, but at the moment there are too many unanswered questions. Until Rhiannon is found, and I know more, I do not want ye in here.”

  “Laird, ye can’t mean that. Gillian is gravely ill. I need to be with her.”

  “Katherine, do ye believe Gillian will wake from the poppy?”

  “Aye, Fingal, I do. Her breathing is strong and steady now.”

  “Is there anything I should do when she wakes?”

  “If she wakes, send for me,” Katherine said. “The best thing for her is to drink lots of fluid to help flush the poisons from her body. Give her some water to drink. If she is able she should have some food too, to help build her strength, but I suspect some broth at first is all she’ll be able to manage. If she wakes, I’ll see to it. But Fingal, ye have a bad head injury and have lost a good deal of blood yerself.”

  “Give her water and send for ye. Even in my questionable state, I can handle that.” At her frown he added, “but if it would make ye feel better, I will instruct the men standing guard to wake me every hour or so to make sure I’m still among the living.”

  “I suppose that will have to do.”

  “Very well, then I will say good night to everyone. Katherine, if Niall returns with any news, please send for me. Otherwise I will see ye all in the morning.”

  Chapter 31

  After they had left, Fingal realized that he still held the rowan saltire in his right hand. He turned toward the bed. Bodie sat up and wagged his tail. Fingal scratched him behind the ears. “Katherine says ye have kept a good watch, Bodie. I need to rest now too, would ye mind making a little room for me lad?” Bodie moved to the bottom of the bed, resting his head on Gillian’s feet. Fingal climbed into the bed on her left side. Maneuvering with his rigidly splinted left arm was awkward at best but he managed to slide his right arm under the pillow and around her shoulders. He rested his hand, holding the blessed cross over her heart.

  He lay awake for quite a while, praying fervently to every saint whose name he could remember. Please protect her and make her well. He did doze after a while but slept lightly. The men standing guard entered the chamber to check on them as he had asked. Most often they needed only to call from the door, “Laird are ye well?” to wake him.

  He woke several other times to Bodie standing at the foot of the bed and growling. “That’s a good dog, Bodie. Do ye hear the men in the hall? It’s all right. They’re meant to be there lad.” Eventually Bodie laid back down.

  Just before dawn he was awakened again. His beautiful wife lay facing him, gently stroking his face. “Fingal, ye’re here.”

  “And praise be to God, so are ye, my sweet, lass.” He kissed her and rose from the bed, putting his hand out to steady himself a bit. His head throbbed and spun, reminding him painfully of his own images.

  “Fingal, ye are hurt. Rest.”

  “I will in a moment. I promised Katherine I’d let her know as soon as ye woke.” He found Alan on guard in the hall and sent him for Katherine. He also poured a mug of water from the pitcher and brought it to her. “How do ye feel? Katherine said ye should have some water if ye woke.”

  “I-I feel a little better, I can manage some water.” She sat up and took a drink before saying, “did ye say Katherine? Are Niall and Katherine here?”

  “Aye, love. Drink a bit more, Katherine says it is the best thing for ye.”

  She obliged. “Truthfully, I am dreadfully thirsty. But Fingal, ye look awful. What happened to ye?”

  “I had a little fall. ’Tis a long story and I don’t want ye to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll worry about ye unless ye come back to bed yerself and tell me what happened.”

  Fingal sighed, but he wouldn’t argue with her. He adjusted the pillows so he could sit up propped against them and slid back under the covers. “Ye were so very sick yesterday I was terrified I was losing ye. Nothing we did was helping. I was desperate for anything. I went to see Rhiannon and she told me about an old charm made from rowan twigs.”

  She smiled. “Aye, I know the one.”

  “She said the charm would be stronger if I had never before seen the tree and if the tree itself grew out of an inhospitable place. She said she knew of just such a tree growing near the top of the cliffs. I went there with her. She showed me where the tree was and when I was on the cliff’s edge she shoved me off.”

  “Oh, dear God, Fingal. Are ye all right? How did ye survive?”

  “Oddly enough, I only fell part of the way before being caught by a rowan tree. As ye can see my arm is broken. Katherine stitched up a gash in my head and I have a few broken ribs, but I will heal. Sweetling, I am so sorry to tell ye this, but it appears Rhiannon is responsible for yer illness too. She has been poisoning ye and she tried to kill ye yesterday with poppy.”

  “I know. After a few swallows of the tisane she brought me, I knew. She said the new ingredient would ‘put everything to rights’.”
r />   “If ye knew, why did ye drink it?”

  “I didn’t, certainly not all of it. The first few swallows were incredibly strong. I tried to refuse it. Then I tried to get her to send for ye. She got angry with me. I was too weak to get away from her. I thought it better to let her believe I was drinking it. I assumed she would leave once she was sure I had. I kept pouring little bits of it down the side of my face, into the pillow. Still, I had consumed enough that it was having an effect. When she thought I had drunk it all, she gloated about poisoning the herbs for the tisane. I don’t know what it was but apparently she killed Aunt Meara with it too.”

  Fingal remembered the king’s words. She died suddenly. When that happens one can never be sure it isn’t murder. “Katherine believes she mixed tiny amounts of foxglove in the herbs she gave ye. It is what was making ye so ill but ye will get better now.” Taking her right hand in his, he lifted it to his lips. “I am so sorry, Gillian. I never imagined that the person charged with caring for ye would ever intentionally hurt ye.”

  “Do ye know why she did it?”

  “I suspect that Rhiannon intended for Coby to marry Fallon, as your mother wished, making him laird. A few weeks ago Eadoin told me about a prophecy concerning Fallon. It is hard to believe that anyone would do so many horrible things just so it would come true.”

  “As Rhiannon gloated, she said the ‘sight’ isn’t what people think. She said something about reading situations and helping predictions come true. Perhaps that last part is the most important.”

  “What else did she say?” Fingal didn’t want to tell her he suspected her mother may have played a role in this, but if Rhiannon had told her more, he needed to hear it.

  “She talked about secrets being the source of good predictions. I didn’t understand it all. She said my mother had a secret. She talked about trying to convince mother to arrange the betrothal between Coby and Fallon. She said she had to kill us both and that she had accomplished that.”

  “I’m sure she thought I was dead, or close to it. She sent Coby back, I suspect to ensure I had died. I had managed to climb out by then but he drew his sword intending to finish me off. I killed him, Gillian. But as of last night, Rhiannon had vanished.”

  She moved close to him, resting her head on his right shoulder. “She’ll be found. But it’s over now. She won’t be able to hurt us again.”

  He put his good arm around her and kissed her head. He wanted to believe her reassurances, but he wouldn’t let his guard down until he knew for sure that Lana too wasn’t involved. “Aye, she won’t hurt us. But, sweetling, I must be sure no one else was involved.”

  She pushed back from him, a shocked expression on her face. “Ye don’t suspect Fallon?”

  He pulled her close again. “Nay, of course not.” She seemed relieved.

  “Fingal?”

  “Aye, sweetling?”

  “When did ye make this?” She opened her left hand, revealing the rowan cross.

  He smiled. “When I awoke, stuck in that rowan tree on the cliff, I decided if that tree could save my life I would give it the chance to save yers as well. I tucked two twigs in my dagger sheath and Katherine helped me bind them together last night. Father Stephen blessed it. Where did ye find it? It was in my hand as I went to sleep.”

  “When I woke, it was laying on my chest, under yer hand, over my heart. I knew what it meant and I knew ye had made it for me. Thank ye.”

  Their quiet moment ended with a knock on the door. Katherine arrived with servants, trays of food, and supplies for tending Fingal’s wound. She fussed over them both, insisting they stay in bed.

  “But I thought that was the worst thing for melancholia and an excess of black bile,” Gillian said.

  “The only thing ye have had an excess of over the last weeks was foxglove. All of the symptoms ye had, nausea, headaches, the weariness and sadness ye felt, all of it was caused by the foxglove. Ye need to drink a lot, build yer strength back by eating well, and get lots of rest, preferably cuddled up next to yer husband because he needs rest too.”

  Fingal was happy to comply. Shortly after noon, Ailsa, with Duff at her side, forced her way through the gauntlet of adults who tried to turn her back. She burst into the room and ran into Gillian’s arms. “I was so worried. No one would tell me anything. Then they carried the laird in yesterday, and Gillie, if ye think he looks bad now, ye should have seen him then.”

  “Ailsa, that’s rude.”

  Fingal laughed. “Aye, but it’s true. I’m sure I was a sorry sight.”

  “I told ye, Gillie. What happened to ye both anyway?”

  Fingal was unsure how much to tell the lass, but Gillian stepped in. “Ailsa, sometimes people make very bad decisions because of their own selfish desires.”

  “Like when Laird Malcolm tried to take Duncurra from the MacIans?”

  Gillian nodded. “Precisely. Well, Rhiannon has done something similar. She decided that she wanted her son to marry Fallon and be laird.”

  Ailsa looked confused. “He couldn’t be laird by marrying Fallon. Fingal is the laird. Fallon doesn’t even want to marry that old Coby. She likes Quinn MacKenzie.”

  Gillian smiled. “Aye, I think she does. And ye’re right, before anyone else could become laird, Fingal and I would both have to die, so Rhiannon tried to make that happen.”

  “Are ye saying Rhiannon tried to kill ye? Both? How could she do that? What happened?”

  “She has been mixing poison with the tisane she gave me. Instead of making me better, it was causing me to get sicker. And when Fingal wanted to make a rowan charm for me, she led him to the cliffs to find a special tree, then she pushed him off. He didn’t fall far, but that’s how he got hurt.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Are ye going to be all right?”

  “Aye, pet, don’t worry. Lady Katherine thinks I’ll be fine.”

  “And ye’ll be fine too, Laird?”

  “Aye, little one, I’m just a bit banged up.”

  “What’s going to happen now?”

  “What do ye mean, pet?” Gillian asked.

  “What is going to happen to Rhiannon? I don’t want her to hurt ye ever again.”

  “Don’t worry about Rhiannon either. My brother is looking for her and we will make sure she can’t ever hurt anyone again.”

  Ailsa nodded. That seemed to be enough information for her because she switched the topic, chattering on about her new best friend, Maeve MacBain.

  Before long they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

  Eadoin and Quinn entered. “Laird, I’ve come to tell ye, Laird MacIan has returned. If ye are feeling up to it, can ye join him in the great hall? Quinn will stay here and keep Gillian and Ailsa company.”

  Ailsa’s face was wreathed in smiles but Gillian’s brow furrowed. “Don’t worry, love. Everything will be fine,” Fingal assured her.

  Chapter 32

  When Fingal reached the great hall, Archie, Owen, Nolan and Daniel had gathered there as had a number of others.

  “By the saints, what has been going on here?” demanded Nolan. “Gillian is sick and ye were nowhere to be found yesterday.”

  Owen added, “Not to mention the fact that no sooner do the MacIans arrive in force than they accuse poor old Rhiannon of harming Gillian.”

  “Calm down and let the laird speak. Surely there is an explanation,” Archie said.

  “Is she any better at all, laird?” Daniel asked.

  Fingal sighed wearily. One glance at Niall told him he didn’t have good news either. “Gentlemen, please sit down. There is a good bit of information that ye need to know.” Fingal explained everything that had happened the previous day. Shocked silence filled the hall when he was done.

  “Ye are certain Rhiannon pushed ye off the cliff? Could ye have just slipped? Ye clearly hit yer head. Maybe it didn’t happen quite the way ye seem to remember it?” Nolan asked.

  Fingal had expected Nolan to be the most critical of the elders. “Even if
ye don’t trust my memory, the fact she sent Coby back to make certain I was dead should leave no doubt.”

  “She might have sent him to save ye and in yer delirious state ye killed him,” Owen said.

  “I was in pain but not delirious. He drew his sword on me and he said his mother killed Gillian.”

  “Say ye,” accused Nolan. “Coby is dead and there are no other witnesses.”

  Fingal hadn’t considered having to defend himself. “Aye, there are no witnesses. However, Coby had guard duty yesterday. He was assigned to the gate. As I understand, Rhiannon arrived here at midday. Surely if she intended to help me, she would have sent help then. I understand she visited Gillian, then left with Coby, never mentioning my fall. Is that right, Tarmon?”

  “Aye, Laird. I even asked her if she had seen ye because I thought ye might have been heading to her cottage when ye left. She said she hadn’t seen ye.”

  Owen harrumphed. “There ye have it. If Rhiannon hadn’t seen him, the laird could be making this whole thing up. Maybe she knew nothing about it at all and Coby just happened on ye, the poor man. Ye could be the one who attacked him and shoved him off the cliff. Yer injuries could have been from yer fight. That is easier to believe than the story ye tell about surviving a fall off the cliff. What do ye have against Rhiannon and Coby?”

  Fingal gritted his teeth. “I had nothing against them. I trusted Rhiannon with Gillian’s life and she repaid that trust by poisoning her.”

  “Ye’re sure Rhiannon poisoned the herbs? Could it have been anyone else?” questioned Nolan.

  Fingal sat quietly for a moment before answering, “I am certain it was Rhiannon who tried to kill Gillian yesterday. She admitted it to Gillian herself. Coby said it to me. However, I cannot be completely certain she acted alone.”

  “What do ye mean?” Daniel asked.

  “As I said, it seems she wanted to eliminate me and Gillian, so that Coby could marry Fallon and become laird. Lana tried to get me to agree to this betrothal some time ago and I refused.”

  Nolan frowned. “She tried to get us to agree to it too, after Duncan died.”