Pushing himself up to stand over the guard, William turned, grunting as his right knee gave out on him.He caught himself in a crouch on his left leg, and Robb rushed to his aid.
“William?”Bernard called out, his voice heavy with concern.
“I’m well,” William answered.“Naught but minor pain.I’ve been hurt worse falling off my horse.”
Bernard, Robb, and Iain kept a keen eye on William as he stood, leaning on Robb, and limped towards his horse.William’s lips were tight, and his entire body tensed as he put his weight on his right foot to position his left in the stirrup.Once that was done, and with a helpful shove by Robb, William managed to bring himself up and into the saddle, panting from the exertion.His forehead, neck, and underarms were coated in sweat.
Bernard’s guilt of not letting his son draw his sword was written on his face, but they all knew that if William had drawn his sword, he most likely would have killed the man instead of leaving him senseless.Then Malcolm might have never allowed them entrance into the keep.And without entrance, there would be no delivery of the king’s message.
As it presently stood, no life had been lost, no blood had been drawn, and the unconscious guard would soon wake with a bastard of a headache.
Taking a deep breath, Bernard dismounted his horse and bent down on one knee in front of one of the men still on their backsides in the mud.Bernard pulled out the scroll and pressed the tip of it under the man’s nose.
“As I said, lad, we've a message for your chieftain.Open the gate and lead us to him, or join your friend.”
The wide-eyed man in front of Bernard nodded his head.Getting to his feet, he moved to retrieve his sword.
“Nay,” Bernard said in a commanding tone.“Ye men thought it humorous to have us go in without our swords, now ye can leave yours where they lay.Your friends will keep it for ye until ye return.”
The man looked from his sword to the gate and back to his sword, thinking about what his chieftain might say if he noticed that his sword was not in its sheath.
Bernard read the man’s thoughts.“I can see your dilemma.Ye should have thought of that before ye tried embarrassing the MacDougals.Now get up and open that gate before ye have to explain a bruise on your face as well.”
The man nodded again and moved to the gate as Bernard mounted his horse.William moved his own horse next to his father’s.
“Are ye sure ye’re no’ hurt?”Bernard asked William, glancing at William’s leg.
“I’ll be fine, Father,” William answered as he brushed clinging mud off his braies and tunic.“But I may need to stay in the saddle a little longer until my knee halts its throbbing.The little shite kicked me like a horse, but ‘twill feel better in a few days, I’m certain.”
Robb turned his face to William before mounting his own horse.With nimble fingers, he grabbed William’s right leg and carefully probed his knee.William grumbled at his ministrations.
“I canna tell how bad ‘tis,” Robb commented.“Does no’ feel broken, but we should wrap it tight with linens first chance we have.”
“After we meet with Malcolm.Robb can bind it tight tonight,” William replied.
Bernard nodded his head in agreement, but his face was rigid.“Stay on ye horse and dinna put any weight on it until we can get a healer to look at it.As late as ‘tis, we shall have to ask Malcolm, and I fear we’ll have to stay here for at least a day.Malcolm is one for feasts.No matter if he receives the king’s request well or no’, I’d wager my left ballock he’ll want a feast tomorrow eve.”
He kicked his horse to ride through the now-open gates, and the men followed.
Chapter Thirteen
BetrisandEoghanmadeit back to their family croft north in the Grant lands by midday.Eoghan had noticed that Betris had been quiet for most of the ride home and attributed it to leaving without seeing her dear friend Mairi again.
Yet as soon as they arrived home and unloaded their belongings, Betris’s visage changed, and she tugged at Eoghan’s tunic sleeve before he departed to his own room.
“Please, brother, might I have a word with ye?”
He sucked on the inside of his cheek before answering.“Does it regard your silence on the way home?While usually I would welcome a reprieve from your nonstop chirping, ‘twas peculiar behavior for ye.”
His tone shifted as he spoke, dropping from his typical, lighthearted speech to something laden with concern.Betris was not known for her paucity of speech.
Betris surprised him by snorting as they strode to the side of the rounded croft house, sheltering their conversation between the house and the small barn.He noticed that she had not placed all her items away – she held a small sack in her hands.
What is she about?Eoghan thought with a touch of curiosity, mired in irritation.
“Ye think I have been peculiar?Did ye not recall William’s wife?”
Any mirth lingering in Eoghan evaporated, and he narrowed his eyes at her.It took much to raise Eoghan’s ire, and Betris and her complaints about Ailith over the past sennight were doing exactly that.Though he might worry about William and agree with some of her complaints about Ailith’s odd nature, this was still his friend and cousin’swifeshe blathered about!The wife of the chieftain’s nephew!That was treading on dangerous ground.
