by Lynda Lukow
Connor opened his mouth.
Annie held up her hand. “Dinna argue with me.” She ambled abovestairs.
If she thought to keep him separated from Kasey for even one moment, she had lost her wits. He stomped up the stairs and arrived at the chamber in time for Annie to slam the door in his face. “Ye best not be behind the door, Annie. I mean to come in even if I have to break it down.”
“If ye enter this chamber, I willna tend her.”
“Ye be not so cruel.”
She cracked open the door. Her crooked smile and raised brows gave Connor pause.
“I no longer be the little sister who had to obey. Ye stand in my husband’s home, and he will abide my decision.”
“We waste time. Kasey worsens whilst we argue.”
“The sooner ye leave, the sooner I tend her.”
He elbowed the door open, stepped in, and towered over Annie. With a swish of her skirts, she crossed to the hearth and dropped onto a chair. Connor’s gaze darted from his sister to Kasey. Before he could say aught, hands tugged on his arm.
“I beg yer pardon, milord, but ye stand in our way.”
He stepped into the corridor so Maggie and the servants bearing the tub and water could pass.
As the last servant exited, Annie said, “Close the door.”
Connor stepped forward. “I beg ye, Annie, let me stay.”
Her expression softened. “I ken the hell ye have gone through all these years, brother, so I shall give ye the choice. Leave us to tend her, and ye will have many years together. Stay, and ye will regret what little time she has left.”
“Why can ye not tend her in my presence?”
“We need to get her into the bath without her kirtle. Ye be not yet wed. Save some surprises for yer first night together as husband and wife.”
“Do ye swear I shall have that pleasure?”
“I shall do my best.”
Connor hung his head. He could ask no more. “If ye need me, I shall wait in the corridor. And Annie, check her back.” His arm felt heavier than a caber as he reached out and pulled the door closed.
He backed across the hall. When the coolness of the stone wall greeted him, he sank to the floor. Each of Kasey’s moans cut like a sword. Though he could not understand their words, the concern in Annie and Maggie’s mumblings heightened his anguish.
How could he be so foolish? He had thought to earn Kasey’s love by showing her how much he had changed since Inverness. But he had not changed at all. His heedless actions had almost ended his life then, and they risked hers now.
Why did he not question her actions? Because she looked so frail, he feared his voice alone would harm her. But had he asked, she would not be knocking on death’s door now.
Why had she not told him of her injury? Because she did not trust him. Why should she? She does not know Connor. Mayhap if he had revealed himself as Hunter and explained his delay, she would have celebrated his arrival. Mayhap she would have confided in him.
When she wailed, he bound to his feet. To Hell with the past, only the present mattered now. He crossed the hall in two steps and threw open the door.
His mouth dropped open. Maggie held Kasey up as Annie lifted his lady’s wet chemise. Kasey’s bared back bore red inflamed stripes crossed with blue, green and yellow welts. Unable to contain the fury coursing through his veins, he roared.
“Out!”
Connor could not drag his tear-filled gaze from Kasey’s back, much less move his feet.
Annie shoved him into the corridor. She glared toward the approaching men before she slammed the door.
Connor had not cried since his mother passed, and even then he had done so in private. He leaned his forehead against the wood, determined to dam his tears.
“Milord?”
“Let me be, Gavin.” The concern in his brother’s voice could very well be his undoing.
“Come down to the hall, Connor.”
As he glanced at his sister’s husband, a single tear escaped. “I must stay here.”
“Ye can do no more here than ye can belowstairs. Let Annie concentrate without worrying about ye.”
“Ye dinna understand, Euan.”
“From the look on yer face, I ken whatever ye saw be not good. Would ye like me to summon the priest?”
Connor straightened. “She willna die. She canna die.” She still did not know he had not forsaken her.
“A prayer could help.”
“Come belowstairs.” Gavin pulled on his arm.
Connor allowed his brother to guide him down to the great hall. He shook his head when Gavin pulled out a chair at the table. Instead he chose the sole cushioned seat by the hearth. He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head into his hands.
He should have realized aught more brutal than the Cameron’s idiotic hierarchy had wrought changes in the lady. His lady. She had been his responsibility from the day the king had granted his petition. Why had he not retrieved her sooner? Damn the king and his peaceful measures. The delay had cost Kasey too dearly. If she paid with her life—
Nay. He would not, could not think that way. But he knew another would pay with his life.
“I know how ye feel about scars, Connor.”
He looked up, surprised by Annie’s presence.
“Do Lady Cameron’s change the way ye feel aboot her?”
He nodded.
Annie threw up her hands. “I always knew ye to be vain, arrogant, conceited, self-righteous—”
Connor rose and towered over his sister. “Sit and calm yerself, Annie.”
In a heartbeat, Euan gained her side. “Shout not at my wife, Mackintosh.”
Connor glared at him. He wanted to beat someone. If Euan MacPherson wished to avail himself, so be it.
Annie stepped between them. “Both of ye hush. Euan, ye canna believe I grew up as this oaf’s sister without having my ears blistered? And ye,” Annie poked her brother’s chest, “put yer anger aside. Lady Cameron’s recovery may require all of us.”
She bade the men to join her at the table. “We canna give her vervain. What other choice do we have?”
Many silent moments passed before Euan cleared his throat. “Mayhap ye could give her but a little? If she has never tried it, ye canna know how it will affect her.”
Connor looked at Euan. “If she be yer wife, would ye be risk it?”
“Only if there be no other options.”
“We be not that desperate. The bath has lowered the fever for now.” Annie patted her husband’s hand. She turned to Connor. “What did Lady Cameron call the potion she used at Inverness?”
“Dragon’s Breath.”
Annie slapped her hand on the table. “That be what she mumbled.”
Connor shook his head. “Only Kasey knows the makings.”
“Her dorlach! Where be it?” Broderick asked.
“Still tied to my saddle.”
The emissary fled the hall.
A moment later, Ciara MacPherson walked through the door. She pointed behind her. “Who be that fool? He nearly knocked me off my feet, and he failed to apologize.”
Connor took a deep breath. He was in no mood to tolerate her games.
She smiled as she approached him. “Have ye finally come to yer senses, Laird Mackintosh, and asked for my hand?”
“I fear not.”
“Och. How long must we play this game? Ye need a wife. I want to marry a Mackintosh.” She pushed out her lower lip. “Do ye find me uncomely?”
“Ye be very easy on the eyes, Ciara, but ye value features more than aught else. I fear I fall short.”
“Ye jest, Connor. Mackintosh-MacPherson children would be works of art.”
“Since beauty be the only quality that matters to ye, I advise ye to wed yer looking glass.”
“I… Och! Ye conceited oaf! Ye arrogant swine!”
“It be aboot time ye see the true me.”
“I have seen the true ye for years, Mackintosh.”
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Euan pulled his sister aside. “Let the man be. He loves another. Besides, the conceited oaf be much too old for ye.”
Connor glared at Euan. Though he appreciated his efforts to sway his sister, the laird had no need to repeat her insult.
“Why be ye here?” Ciara asked.
“My bride be sick with fever. I seek yer lady’s help.”
“Kasey? That lying bitch be in my holding?”
Connor raised a brow.
Euan placed himself in the middle, facing his sister. “Need I remind ye this be my holding, Ciara? Ye be but a guest here until we find ye a suitable match. Unfortunately, that may be a lifetime. I find no enemy so repulsive to thrust ye upon him.”
Tears streamed down Ciara’s face.
“What has Kasey done to earn yer hatred?” Connor asked.
“I believed her to be my friend. I confided in her. Yet she lied to me.” Ciara sobbed. “She denied ever meeting ye, yet the whore spent two days in that cottage with ye.”
“Ciara, she spoke the truth. Ye ken my family started calling me Hunter because I stalked her.” Connor paused. “From the first time I saw her, I wanted her, but I feared approaching her.”
“I be a hundredfold more beautiful than she.”
Connor shook his head. “Mayhap on the surface, but Kasey’s beauty goes far deeper. She would give her last morsel of food to the starving and her only cloak to the freezing. She risked her life to save me, an enemy, from certain death.”
“Ye love her out of gratitude?”
“Nay, Ciara. I loved her long before. My failure to accept that led to my attack as well as to Kasey’s suffering. I pray my lapse costs not Kasey her life.” Connor hung his head. “Dear God, please dinna let it be too late.”
“Someday, Ciara, ye will meet a man who will love you as no other. But if ye wish yer destiny fulfilled, ye must let go of yer infatuation with Connor and keep yer mind open.”
Ciara cried, “Ye dinna understand, Annie. I never could abide Connor. I feigned care only to appease my father.”
Euan raised a brow. “Another man has caught yer eye?”
She looked at Connor. “Yer brother.”
Gavin shook his head. “I already be wed.”
“Not ye.” Ciara wrinkled her face at him before she turned a softer gaze toward the window. “Dillon.”
“Dillon?” Annie lifted her brow.
“Aye. Be that hard to believe?”
“All those years ye pestered me?” Connor asked.
“Dinna ye see? Every time ye shooed me away, I sought out Dillon. I would have wed ye to please my father, but my heart will always belong to yer brother.”
Connor patted her arm. “Help us get Lady Kasey well, and I shall do what little I can to help ye attract my brother.”
“Please forgive the difficulties I have caused ye.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
Annie blew out her breath. “Can we get back to our most urgent manner? I have cleaned and wrapped Kasey’s injuries—”
“Mask not the truth, Annie. Kasey had been flogged on countless occasions.” Connor’s stomach knotted. “Her back bears more colors than the Mackintosh plaid.”
Annie turned to Gavin. “Ye should have done aught afore the wounds became angry.”
Gavin’s shoulders sagged. “How can I tend what I dinna ken?”
“She dinna tell ye?” His sister turned to Connor, who also shook his head. “She must be verra strong to withstand such pain without complaint.”
“If she lives, will ye ask the king to set aside yer petition?” Gavin asked.
“She will live, and after she recovers we shall wed.”
“And the scars, brother? Ye do ye both grave injustice if ye wed her only out of obligation.”
“I understand yer concerns.” Connor noticed Euan’s confusion. “Warriors’ scars either remind them of ill-advised actions or a battle well fought and won. On a woman, they prove the man entrusted with her care failed in his duty.”
“Which applies to Lady Cameron?”
Connor frowned. “I bear the blame for her shoulder. Had I been more vigilant, Randall would not have come into range.”
“And her back, brother?”
“I share the blame. I be sure the lashes resulted from her tending me.” He should have sent her home with his father. At the very least, he should have retrieved her sooner.
“She falls into the second group.” Ciara chimed in. “Her clan dinna treat her as a lady, so that omits the third. I doubt she could avoid the whip, which omits the first. She be a warrior who fought to survive.”
Connor had little time to ponder Ciara’s words.
Dorlach in hand, Broderick,burst into the great hall. “Have ye searched this?”
Gavin nodded. “Considering she be on her way to marry Laird Grant—”
“What?” Everyone looked at Connor.
“Later. Go on, Gavin.”
“The dorlach contained two kirtles, two rails, a comb, soap, and some containers bearing odd writing.”
“Those be the answer to our prayers.” Broderick dumped the meager offerings on the table and handed each a jar, flask or pouch. “Look for an apostrophe.” He drew his dagger and sliced the bag’s lining.
Annie looked up from her vessel and sighed. “What good will come if we find the right one?”
“Kasey feared her laird would destroy all her potions and disguised them.”
“She used a code?” Connor’s rising hopes sank. “But how will we decipher it?”
“She became elated when I recognized Dragon’s Breath.”
Gavin said, “That makes no sense.”
“She worried she would forget. The apostrophe holds the key.” Broderick ripped out the satchel’s lining.
“Why do ye rend her dorlach?” Ciara asked.
“She recorded her learnings and then stitched them behind this lining.”
Gavin handed a pouch to Connor. “This could be it, but the marks be worn.”
Connor opened the pouch and inhaled. “Ye might have found it, Gavin, but it smells not as pungent as I remember.” He turned to Annie. “Could it weaken over time?”
His sister nodded.
Broderick shouted. He removed scrolls tied with a charm’s leather thong. He showed Connor the note for Dragon’s Breath. They compared the pouch to the sheaf, found they matched, and went to work decoding the writings.
“That be a beautiful necklace.” Ciara said.
Broderick studied it before he held it out to Annie. “Many believe this charmstone holds the power of life.”
Connor nodded. “Kasey wore it when she tended me.”
“I have heard tales of such talismans but had never put any faith into them.” Annie tied the thong behind her neck and tucked the amulet into the bodice of her kirtle. She furrowed her brow. “I may have been mistaken. The stone chilled my hand, but warms agin my heart.”
“Milady!” All eyes turned toward Maggie.
Chapter Sixteen
Connor snatched the pouch of Dragon’s Breath and flew abovestairs. At Kasey’s doorway his heart lurched. Save her flushed cheek, the side of her face would have blended into the linens. Her lips fluttered like a moth’s wings.
He kissed her burning brow. “Kasey?”
She moaned.
He knelt and thrust the pouch under her belly. As his fever had thinned the gluey potion, hers would do the same. He stroked her hair. “Open yer eyes, Kasey.”
“Be she awake?” Annie panted from the doorway.
Connor shrugged before he turned back to the woman of his heart. “The Dragon’s Breath ye used on me, be it too weak to use on ye?”
“Make fresh.” Her voice crackled like autumn leaves.
“Ye canna wait another day. Will the old potion do ye harm?”
Kasey shook her head.
He looked over his shoulder. The fear etched in Maggie’s and Annie’s eyes, along with Kasey’s stilted answers, convin
ced him. “Use the dregs.”
While Maggie retrieved hot water and clean rags, Annie applied the remedy.
Connor offered loving words and tender caresses to ease her discomfort. “Annie will be done soon, and then all will be well.”
A tear slid down Kasey’s nose. “No burn. Too old.”
Annie’s shoulders slumped. She wiped away the potion, and then buried Kasey under the blankets. She put a measure of powder in a goblet of water and handed it to Maggie. “Whenever she rouses, let her drink this.”
“Vervain?” Connor asked.
Annie shook her head. “Coltsfoot. This herb works not as well as vervain, but it may buy us time.”
“Thank ye, sister.”
“I shall make Dragon’s Breath posthaste. Get some rest, Connor.”
“I have never slept through a battle, and I shall not do so now.”
“Ye can do naught now. When the potion be ready, we may need ye to hold her fast.”
“If I tire, I shall rest on the rushes. Waste no more time arguing. Ye hold my bride’s life in yer hands.”
After Annie left, Connor took hold of Kasey’s hand. No crime, not even tending an enemy, deserved the brutal treatment she endured. He understood the need for fealty, but when one of his clansmen broke his oath, he considered the reasons. Traitorous intent earned exile. Just cause garnered a lecture.
Connor never had, nor ever would, order a person beaten. The only exception could very well be Douglas Cameron. If he could hold that pig in his grasp, he would be inclined to give him an eye for an eye. Nay, lashing would not suffice. He would make the Cameron suffer as long and as often as Kasey had.
Kasey’s teeth chattered. Her body quaked. She kicked at the covers.
He raised her head and tried to get her to drink, but more sloshed onto the pallet than past her lips.
He laid her head down, then stripped off his tunic and trews. Careful not to touch her back or injured shoulder, he rolled her onto her side and climbed onto the pallet. He pulled her belly to his and tossed his plaid over them. This night he would share his body heat with her as she had done years before.
He caressed her cheek, then lifted her head onto his shoulder. Her damp, heated softness teased his naked flesh. He tried to ignore the tip of his manhood pressed between her thighs.