by Lynsay Sands
It was a relief when they reached the beast. Aside from the fact that they could now use the horses as cover, a strange numbness seemed to be descending on his extremities, and his vision was dimming at the edges, Kade feared he wouldn't be able to remain conscious much longer.
"Husband, shall I help you mount? I can--"
Kade ignored Averill's twittering, drew on the last of his strength, caught her by the waist, and proceeded to toss her up into the saddle. She gasped in surprise at the precipitous action, but managed to stay in the saddle rather than tumble off the other side of the beast. That was a relief since he didn't think he could have done it again.
"What--?" Averill began.
"To the castle," Kade ordered. He slapped her horse on the hindquarters as he did, and the mare immediately shot forward, carrying her mistress away. He watched them ride out of the clearing and stumbled the few feet to his own mount. He grabbed for the saddle when he reached his mount's side, but that was as far as he got. It seemed as if his strength had ridden off with his wife. It took an inordinate amount of strength just to place his hand on the saddle; pulling himself up onto it was beyond him at that moment.
He would just rest for a moment, he decided, leaning against his mount. He would regather his strength, then mount up and ride out. Kade knew those were lies even as they ran through his head. There was no strength to regather, and resting would do him little good. He was fading fast and pretty much done for.
But at least he'd seen his wife safely away. That thought had barely floated through his mind when the pounding of hooves made him stir from the lassitude laying claim to him. The bastard who had shot the arrow into him was coming to finish the job, he thought, and automatically reached down to clasp the hilt of his sword, wondering even as he did if he had the strength to even unsheathe the sword.
"Husband, are you not coming?"
Kade stiffened and lifted his head to peer blankly at Averill. She had reined in next to him and peered down at him from her mount with concern.
"Husband?" she prompted.
"What are ye doing back here?" he snapped, anger bringing his shoulders back and making him stand up straight. "Ye were to ride to the safety of the castle."
Averill's eyes widened with surprise, but then her expression turned stubborn, and she shook her head. "What kind of wife would just ride off and leave you here alone and wounded?"
"An obedient one," he growled, anger giving him the strength to raise his foot and jam it in the stirrup. Good God, did I really think her too sweet and biddable to survive in Scotland? Kade wondered with disgust.
"Aye well, I shall be as obedient as you wish once we are back at the castle, and I have tended your wound," she announced firmly. "But for now we need to get away from here, and you need to get on your horse so that we may do it. Do you need help with the task? Shall I dismount and--?"
"Nay," Kade snapped, the offer sending his anger up a couple more degrees and giving him the strength he needed to propel himself upward into the saddle. His behind had barely settled on the leather when he felt a sharp punch in the side.
"Husband!" Averill's horrified shout came to Kade as if from far away as he slumped forward on his horse and darkness began to crowd his vision.
Chapter Thirteen
"Husband!" The cry was half panic and half shock as the second arrow suddenly appeared in Kade's side...and that was how it seemed; one moment there was just the one arrow protruding from his back, then another suddenly appeared in his side.
Averill quickly urged her mare closer to his mount, noting with some concern that while he had been pale after the first arrow, he was now almost grey. His eyelids were at half-mast, and sweat had broken out on his forehead. Biting her lip, she glanced to the woods opposite them, searching briefly for the archer who had loosed the arrow, but she saw nothing. That did not mean he was not there, however. He might even now be creeping closer to get in another shot. The very thought made her heart fill with more panic and the determination not to allow it. She was not losing her husband. Averill very much feared she had fallen in love with the man.
In truth, she suspected she'd been half in love with Kade before he'd even come out of his deep sleep and opened his eyes. It was all those stories her brother had told her...that and the fact that she found him very attractive. But after experiencing the pleasure he gave her, and the kindness and consideration with which he treated her, there was no hope for it. Averill loved him, and that was that. Fortunately, she was a practical girl and didn't expect him to love her in return. She was just grateful he had found her or her dower worthy enough for marriage.
Her gaze slid over the woods one more time. Birdsong filled the air, and all there was to see were trees, bushes, the waterfall, and the river. The idyllic scene was a sharp contrast to the fear and anxiety she was suffering, and it didn't fool her for a minute. They had to get out of there and quickly. The archer could already be aiming another arrow at Kade.
That thought at the forefront of her mind, Averill glanced back to her husband. Kade's eyes were closed, and he was slumped forward in his saddle. For one moment she feared him dead, but then she saw his chest move and released a small sigh of relief. Averill took a second to think what to do, but there seemed little choice. She could not ride her mare and lead his mount for fear he might slide off. She also couldn't take the time to try to remove the arrows or tend him in any way until she had him somewhere safe.
Cursing, she quickly dismounted, grabbed up both reins in her hands and struggled to mount her husband's horse behind him without jostling him too much. In the end, Averill jostled him a lot in her struggle to accomplish the awkward maneuver, but at least she did not accidentally nudge either the arrow in his back or the one in his side, she thought as she finally settled astride the horse behind Kade. He lay across the saddle, leaving her to sit on the animal's haunches. She had never ridden astride, but it was the best she could do at the moment.
Averill clucked her tongue and urged the horse to move, relieved when the beast listened and started forward...and then she realized her next problem. She had no real idea where they were or how to find her way back to Stewart.
"You are awake."
Kade had just blinked his eyes open when he heard that relieved comment. Shifting his eyes farther along the bed, he found himself peering at Will, seated in a chair watching him, and for one moment thought himself back at Mortagne, still recovering from the head wound he'd taken when the boat had broken apart. However, he was on his side, his back paining him, and a quick glance over the room beyond Will told him he was at Stewart.
"Some bugger shot me with an arrow while I was tryin' to tup me wife," he said with disbelief as his memories flooded back to him.
"I suspected that was what you were about when you asked me to ride on with the cart," Will said dryly.
Recalling it was his wife's brother he was talking to, Kade frowned, and muttered, "Sorry."
Will shrugged that away, and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Sore. Where's Averill?"
"I sent her below to have something to eat and drink once she finished tending to you," Will said quietly. "She was quite shaken by the whole incident, and I thought a meal would help settle her nerves a little."
"I am surprised she managed to get me back here on her own," Kade murmured. The last thing he recalled was pain tearing through him as he surged up to mount his horse, then nothing. He wasn't at all sure he'd managed to get himself on the beast ere losing consciousness.
"She had some trouble finding Stewart on her own," Will said quietly. "It was nearly the sup and raining by the time she rode into the bailey. Amusement tipping the corners of his mouth, he added, "She caused something of a stir."
"Aye, well, ridin' in with me across me horse's back, an arrow stickin' out o' me would do that."
"Oh, no one noticed you at first, they were too taken with the sight of Averill to pay you any attention," Will said with dry amusement, an
d when Kade looked startled, he explained, "After riding around for a while trying to find her way back to Stewart, Averill decided she could not wait any longer to tend your wound and stopped to take care of it. She tended you right there on the horse. Managed to get the arrows out, then tore up her gown and somehow managed to get it under your chest and across your back as a makeshift bandage, and then continued to search for Stewart. She said she was never so glad of a sight as when she crested the hill and saw Stewart."
"So 'twas the sight of me wife in her chemise that distracted everyone from me?" he asked.
"Aye." Will grimaced, and added, "And, as I said, by the time she rode into the bailey, it was raining."
"Raining?" Kade asked, eyes widening as he considered how that would affect the thin linen of Averill's chemise.
"She might as well ha'e been naked," Aidan said dryly from behind him. When Kade instinctively started to turn to see the man, a hand lodged itself at his hip to stop him. "Ye'll no' want to be doin' that, me laird. Best to stay on yer side for a day or two until the worst o' the healin' be over."
When Kade stilled, the hand was removed, and Aidan moved around the bed, dragging with him the chair he'd been seated in on the other side of the bed. He set it down next to Will's and settled in it to eye Kade, and announced, "Yer wee wife was a damned fine sight."
Kade scowled at the comment, but the soldier just grinned, and added, "Yer a lucky man."
"She did look rather magnificent," Will commented, sounding surprised. "Her hair was soaked, and slick to her head, the chemise plastered to her figure." He frowned and muttered, "I am not sure when she grew up, but she obviously has."
Despite the pain plaguing him, Kade couldn't help but smile with amusement at his words. He supposed it was an uncomfortable realization for a man to have regarding a sister. She had always just been little Avy to him, and today he'd had his blinders removed and seen her for the beautiful woman she was.
"She couldna tell us who shot ye though," Aidan said, shifting the conversation onto a more important subject. "She said as how she didna think ye would ken either."
"Nay." Kade sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "He must ha'e been in the woods behind me. I ne'er saw a thing. I felt it, though," he added with a grimace.
"So," Aidan said grimly, "ye had an arrow loosed on ye on the journey here, a boulder dropped on yer head, and now two more arrows shot into ye...I'm thinkin' someone's tryin' to kill ye, me laird."
"Aye," Kade said grimly. "The question is who?"
"You have been away for almost three and a half years," Will pointed out. "Surely you would remember someone you have offended so much that he would hold a grudge this long?"
"Ye'd think so, wouldna ye?" he asked dryly, and took a moment to search his mind. As far as he knew, he had no enemies at all.
When Kade finally shook his head in bewilderment, Will cleared his throat, and asked, "You do not think your father or one of your brothers could be behind these attacks, do you?"
"Why the devil would they want to kill me?" he asked with amazement. While he planned to take over as laird, they didn't know that yet...and wouldn't until they sobered up long enough for him to speak to his father.
"They may have heard of your return and plans to take over as laird here," Will pointed out. "Ian, Angus, and Domnall may have discussed it and been overheard."
Kade was frowning over that when Aidan shook his head, and said, "They havena left the keep in months. They couldna ha'e been the one to shoot the arrow on yer journey here or even today."
"Hmm." Will frowned, looking disappointed that Kade's own kin couldn't be who was trying to kill him, but then straightened, and asked, "You do not have secret passageways here like we have at Mortagne, do you?"
"Nay," Aidan said at the same time that Kade answered, "Aye."
"Which is it?" Will asked with amusement.
"Aye, we do," Kade said, noting Aidan's shock. His mother had told him it was a secret among the family, but he would have thought Aidan should know.
"Well then, one of them could have slipped out using the secret passage to drop the rock on you," Will said with apparent satisfaction.
"But they couldna ha'e traveled down to England to shoot the arrow at him and come back without me noticing," Aidan said firmly. "'Twould take days, and none of them have been out o' me sight for more than a few hours or a night while sleeping."
"They could have hired someone," Will pointed out.
Silence fell in the room as they all considered the possibility that his own family might wish him dead after all.
Averill had eaten the fine meal Morag prepared and was bringing a tray of the delicious stew upstairs for Kade when she heard a shuffle along the hall. Pausing at the top of the stairs, she glanced in the direction of the rooms belonging to Kade's father and brothers, her eyes widening slightly when she saw the Stewart laird, standing in the doorway to his room, holding himself upright by clutching at the door and the frame.
She hesitated, her gaze slipping to the tray she held, but then turned her feet and headed in the man's direction.
"Good eve, my lord," Averill said quietly as she paused before him. "'Tis good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?"
The Stewart raised his head slowly, as if afraid it might fall off did he move too quickly. He eyed her blankly. Eachann Stewart looked atrocious, Averill noted with interest. His eyes were red and bloodshot, his skin grey beneath the wild salted red hair that sprang out of his head. He sported a beard and mustache as wild as the hair on his head.
"Who the devil are you?" he asked in a growl, one that was rather reminiscent of his son's when he was grumpy, she noted.
Averill offered him a blinding smile, and answered, "Kade's wife, Averill."
"Kade has a wife?" Eachann Stewart asked with obvious surprise, then frowned. "The lad went and got hisself married without me there?"
"Aye," she said simply.
"Oh." He lowered his head, his eyes landing on the tray she held. He immediately turned green at the sight of the food, but when he spotted the mug, he grabbed it up and gulped it down, only to sputter with disgust. "This is no' whiskey."
"Nay," Averill said dryly, as he dropped the empty mug back on the tray. "'Tis honey mead, and 'twas not for you, but your son."
"Oh." Eachann Stewart looked miserable and even a little lost. He was also swaying in the doorway unsteadily.
"You do not look well, my lord," she said quietly. "Mayhap you should go lie down."
"I am thirsty," he said plaintively.
"I shall bring you some mead and food," Averill assured him, setting the tray down on the hallway floor so that she could take his arm and usher him back inside.
"I doona drink mead. I prefer whiskey," he said grimly as she urged him into bed. "Bring me some whiskey and food."
Averill sighed as she straightened, but merely asked, "Are you sure you would not rather have mead? You don't appear to be handling the whiskey well, and I worry it will make you sick again."
"Nay. 'Tis no' the whiskey causin' that. 'Tis a sickness. I would ha'e whiskey. 'Twill fix me right up."
"Very well, I shall bring you whiskey. But you cannot blame me does it make you ill. I did warn you," she said, turning to move back to the door.
"Ha! Whiskey make me ill," he muttered, as she left the room. "Whiskey is the water of life, lass."
Averill closed the door without comment, stooped to pick up the tray again, and hurried along the hall to the room she and Kade shared. She had just shifted the tray to open the door when it was suddenly opened for her. She glanced up and blinked at Will in surprise.
"I was about to fetch Kade a drink. He is awake and thirsty," he explained almost absently, his attention on the tray she carried. He noted the empty mug with a frown, but then glanced to the stew. "That smells good."
"Morag made it, and 'tis very good, but 'tis for Kade," Averill said firmly, and added, "I can bring you some, though, if you wish. I need
to go back for more mead anyway."
"More mead?" Will asked with amusement. "What happened to the first of it?"
Averill hesitated, but then decided it might be best not to mention Kade's father, and simply said, "I fetched the mug for it, but forgot to put the mead in ere coming above stairs."
Will chuckled and took the tray. "If you would bring me some stew on your return, I would appreciate it. I will feed Kade while you are away and finish our conversation."
Averill nodded and decided she would bring Aidan some, too. She plucked the empty mug off the tray, then waved him away. "Go on. I will get the door for you."
Nodding, Will turned to head back toward the bed, and the moment he did, she stepped in and reached out to pluck her bag of medicinals off the chest a few feet from the door. She then stepped out, pulled the door closed, and hurried for the stairs.
The maids and Laddie were all bustling around the kitchens when she entered, still putting away and organizing the supplies they had purchased from Donnachaidh. One would have thought it was Christmas the way they all hurried about, flushed with pleasure and smiling as they worked. Well, all except Bess, she acknowledged. Not that the maid looked unhappy to be helping, but she had not been without as the others had for so long, and while the occasional indulgent smile curved her lips as the others exclaimed over the things they unpacked, she was not quite as enthusiastic.
Fortunately, distracted as they were, they left her to it when Averill explained she was fetching more mead for Kade and stew and mead for Aidan and Will, and she was able to load three mugs of whiskey on the tray as well without anyone's noticing. She then carried them out to the trestle tables, set the tray down, retrieved her tincture, and quickly dumped some into each mug of whiskey.
Releasing a little satisfied sigh then, Averill picked up the tray and headed above stairs, heading first to take the food and mead to her own room, where the men waited. She was about to open the door when she realized she couldn't carry the whiskey into the room without drawing questions. Grimacing, Averill set down the tray, started to remove the whiskeys to set them on the floor, but then paused and straightened with them instead. Once she entered the room, she might have difficulty leaving again and worried Kade's father would make his way downstairs and drink untainted whiskey were that to happen. She would just deliver one mug of whiskey to him and leave the others on the bedside tables as she had with the doctored ale that morning, then take the tray in to Will and Aidan and see how her husband fared.