They went in a terrible train, Bradana first, the two men carrying Adair, and Wen behind. Bradana led them straight into the great hall, where she lit the torches, making no attempt to keep quiet.
Kendrick and Tavia both came, Mam with her hair hanging down and Kendrick gasping in disbelief.
“Wha’ is this?” he asked.
“The handiwork o’ your sons. Ye had better hope they ha’ no’ killed him.”
Kendrick stared in horror from the beaten man to Bradana’s face. “How d’ye know this was the work o’ Kerr and Toren?”
“Because I heard them on their way home from it.”
Kendrick turned to his wife. “Ha’ the servant bring the healers as quick as ye can.”
*
Adair came toeven before the healer arrived, while Mam was making a bed there beside the fire, and his men eased him down onto it. He regained his senses, swearing, but Bradana didn’t care. She was far too relieved to see him with his eyes open.
One eye open, that was. The other had already started to swell shut.
Improper as it was, Bradana went down on her knees beside him.
“Adair? Adair, d’ye know me?”
“Aye.”
She wanted to reach for his hand, ached to reestablish the connection they’d shared on the shore. But Kendrick was there and her mam, and Adair’s men. All hung about with worried faces. And she dared not let them see…
Kendrick moaned, “If this be the truth, that my sons ha’ done this, ’tis a terrible breach o’ honor.”
Bradana tipped up her face and looked at him. “Honor? Ye are worried for that?”
Kendrick turned to the nearest servant, several of whom had entered the room. “Go bring my sons.”
Bradana puffed out a breath. If this kept up, the hall would be crowded. “By the gods,” she said, “let the healer see him first.”
“I am all right,” Adair murmured.
He was not, though Bradana hesitated to argue it. The power of what gripped her—a kind of protective wildness—shocked her. At that moment she would have fought ten marauders to keep him safe.
Instead, she looked at him. “What happened?”
Adair clearly had trouble speaking, one side of his mouth torn and bloody, the other swollen. “I was walking. Before bed. Thinking.” His gaze met Bradana’s, and she knew exactly what he’d been thinking about. “They waylaid me.”
“Who?” Kendrick asked.
Before he could answer, the healer came hurrying in. He nudged Kendrick, Bradana, and Wen aside and performed a grim inspection.
“Ye’ll live, young master. Pray,” he told the rest of them, “gi’ me some room.” And to the servants, “I will need water, warm if possible.”
Mam already had the fire lit. The rest of them moved to the door, where the cold air spilled in.
“Ye found him?” Kendrick asked Bradana.
“Wen and I did.”
“How?”
“I heard Kerr and Toren returning from…doing that. Wen led me down to the shore.”
