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"Oh, nay, I just poured the mix in the whiskey to cover the taste. 'Tis a vile mixture," Alick said with a grimace. Brightening, he added, "But it appears to have helped with the pain too."
Dougall rolled his eyes and then glanced back to Murine. She appeared to have fallen asleep in Conran's arms. The whiskey was probably behind that, he thought, and aye, she appeared to be feeling no pain now, but he suspected the whiskey would cause her some pain later.
Sighing, he reached out to pluck her from Conran's lap to his own, then took a moment to settle her so that her side was against his chest and he could better see her face. That way he would know when she woke.
Dougall was aware that Conran was watching him silently, but didn't return his gaze or explain his actions. He was the one who had requested Conran take her up on his own horse in the first place. He could now decide she was better off with him if he liked. Besides, he'd already told Conran of his decision to marry Murine. She was his now, so ignoring his brother's questioning look, he simply urged his horse to a faster pace, determined to cover as much ground as possible before the sun set and darkness made the ride more treacherous and forced them to slow.
Murine jolted awake, sucking in a sharp breath as she was punched violently in the back. She whirled then to peer over her shoulder to see who had hit her, and then stared with confusion at Conran Buchanan. Last she knew, she'd been riding with the man, but now she was sitting sideways in--
She turned back to look at the man who presently had one arm around her upper back and found herself blinking up at Dougall. How had she ended up riding with him again? Murine wondered over that, then glanced around again at a bark of sound from Conran. The man had been looking forward when she'd first glanced around, but her moving must have drawn his gaze. He was now staring at her back and with something akin to horror. Murine lowered her gaze and caught a glimpse of the fletching of an arrow that appeared to be protruding from her lower back and then Conran barked out a warning.
The sound caught Dougall's ear and he automatically started to slow to glance around. The moment he did, Conran bellowed, "Faster, Dougall, faster! We're under attack!"
He followed that up by leaning over to slap Dougall's stallion firmly on the rump and the beast immediately burst into a charge that made Dougall curse and take a firmer grip on the reins. His arms automatically tightened around her as he did and the action must have nudged the arrow in her back, because the odd numbness that had followed the punching sensation suddenly gave way to searing pain.
Crying out, Murine grabbed at Dougall's linen shirt and tartan, using her hold on it to pull herself around and try to shift to a position that might ease the pain. There was no such position, however. Or, if there was, she couldn't find it, and gave up the task to merely bury her face in the cloth on his chest, trying to stifle the scream that was attempting to rip its way out of her throat. She'd stayed like that for several minutes before she became aware that the drum of the horses' hooves around her had become a staccato tap.
Raising her head, Murine saw that it was dawn and they were crossing a drawbridge. Twisting her head to peer ahead of them, she glimpsed the curtain walls of a castle just as they rode through them and into a bailey.
Buchanan, she thought with relief. She must have slept through the better part of the ride. Murine turned her face back to Dougall's chest and buried it there again. While she was relieved to have arrived, that didn't ease the pain burning in her back. It did mean that it could be tended to soon though.
Murine grimaced at the thought, knowing she would suffer a lot more pain as they tried to remove the arrow before she gained any relief . . . and yet she was still awake. Where was her habit of fainting when it would be useful? she wondered and then raised her head to glance around again at the sound of male voices hailing them.
Dougall had ridden straight to the stairs to the keep rather than the stables, she saw as he reined in. A whole mess of men had spilled out of the building and were rushing down the stairs toward them, and every last one of them looked concerned, she noted. Several of them also looked very alike, all tall and broad with long dark hair and similar facial features like the men she had traveled with. She knew Saidh had seven brothers, so three of the men rushing toward them were probably the brothers Aulay, Rory and Niels she had yet to meet. The others must be cousins or otherwise related, she thought.
One of the men, one with his hair not quite covering a scar that halved his handsome face like a dividing line, moved in front of the others to peer over her with concern, his mouth tightening as his gaze moved to her back and the arrow protruding from it. The man who could only be Saidh's eldest brother, Aulay, then glanced over his shoulder and ordered, "Ye'd best fetch yer weeds, Rory."
Rory was just a touch smaller than his eldest brother. He was also unscarred and while he too had long hair, he wore it tied back in a loose ponytail behind his head. Nodding, the younger man turned to rush up the stairs and back into the keep.
Aulay then turned back to Dougall, and raised his arms. "Pass her down."
Dougall released the reins and started to shift Murine in his arms until she faced him and dangled off the side of the horse, but then he caught her alarmed expression and paused. There was just no way he could pass her to the other man without the risk of bumping the arrow. At this angle, Aulay would have difficulty taking her without doing so, and did Dougall turn her to face his brother to make sure the arrow wasn't in Aulay's way when he took her, the arrow would most like be bumped by Dougall himself.
Cursing, he eased her back into his lap, shifted one hand under her legs and the other to rest high on her back where it was least likely to jostle her injury, then quickly shifted his leg over his mount and slid off to land lightly on his feet still holding her. Despite how light the landing was, Murine had to bite her lip to keep from crying out as the small jolt sent pain shooting through her back.
"I'm sorry, lass," Dougall said gruffly, pressing her closer as if to shield her from the pain as he started to move.
Murine didn't glance around to see, but was quite sure he was carrying her up the stairs to the keep entrance. A moment later she felt a slight breeze as someone rushed past them and she heard a squeak that she guessed would be the door opening. When she opened her eyes a moment later, Dougall was carrying her into the castle and she blinked to try to adjust to the darker interior.
"Who is she?" Aulay asked once the door closed behind them, leaving most of their welcoming party still outside.
"Lady Murine Carmichael, soon to be Lady Murine Buchanan, me wife," Dougall said grimly.
Murine stiffened and then leaned back slightly to turn wide shocked eyes up to his face. "Yer wife?" she asked in a confused whisper.
"Aye," he growled and pressed her head back to his shoulder, muttering, "Rest."
"But ye're no' in the market fer a wife," Murine murmured with confusion.
Dougall's eyebrows rose at that comment, but before he could respond, someone asked, "Not the Murine who is Saidh's friend?"
"Aye, Niels," Dougall said grimly. "The verra lass."
"What happened?" Aulay asked next.
"She apparently has been shot with an arrow," Dougall said dryly.
For some reason that struck Murine as funny and she released a little gasping laugh that truly sounded more like a grunt or snort.
It made Dougall slow and glance worriedly down at her. "Are ye all right, lass?"
"Ye mean other than being shot with an arrow?" she whispered with a crooked smile.
Dougall's lips twitched with appreciation at the echo of her words, but he merely continued walking, carrying her the last few steps to the stairs and starting up them with her.
"She has no' fainted."
Murine lifted her head with surprise at that comment from Alick. She'd thought him still outside. But then she hadn't looked around much. Now she did and saw that Geordie and Conran were there too, along with Aulay and another man who could only be Niels.
"Aye, ye're right, she hasna," Conran agreed grimly, following them up the stairs. He shook his head. "More's the pity."
"What?" Murine scowled at him over Dougall's shoulder. "All the four o' ye ha'e done is harp on about me fainting, and now that ye've fed me up and filled me full o' yer tinctures I'm no' doing it and ye think 'tis a pity?"
"Now, lass," Conran said soothingly. "I just meant 'twould be easier fer ye were ye in one o' yer faints jest now."
"Aye," Dougall muttered and then paused as he reached the top of the stairs and frowned down at her as he suggested, "Mayhap ye should try and faint."
When Murine merely gaped at him, Aulay murmured, "Saidh's room, I think, Dougall. Rory is no doubt waiting for her there."
Dougall scowled at his brother and turned left off the stairs. "My room. I told ye I'm marrying her."
