As was being locked in a McCrieff bedroom with a healer sitting in the corner. The chair was giant with pillows and she pretended to be asleep. Her eyes were closed, her breath soft, but he felt her awake like him.
He’d been the one to lock the door after Frederick spouted words that justice would be done. Rory didn’t listen to anything except the healerand another woman called Hannah who seemed too young to be of any use. For himself, there were two Lochmores on the other side in rotating patterns. They wouldn’t be caught unawares again.
‘I know you’re awake,’ he said.
A creak of the chair. ‘I can’t sleep.’
It was late, she needed to, he needed to, but though the castle was quiet, the tension permeated the very air they breathed.
‘My men won’t attack tonight,’ he said. ‘I ordered them not to.’
’For how long?’ she said.
He wanted to growl. ‘I could say the same for your clan. Your father took our weapons.’
‘To keep the peace.’
‘That didn’t work did it? And here I am, tending my friend who may be dying.’
A louder creak of the chair as if she sat up properly, but he refused to turn around to confront her. He held on by a thread. He might have cocooned them in the room to help Paiden, but part of it was to protect everyone from him. There was a part of him that wanted to slaughter everyone in his path.
‘I’m here, too,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m here for your clansman. For you.’
‘Don’t,’ he snapped, but his words didn’t holdthe heat they’d had just a moment ago. They couldn’t. She hadn’t yelled back at him, but stated a fact. He didn’t dare believe it was the truth. She wasn’t here for Paiden, whom she had never met, or for himself, though she’d agreed to marry him.
‘You’re the healer, isn’t it your requirement to be here?’ he said.
‘Yes.’
‘Well, then tell me, healer, will he live?’
A soft noise, but he couldn’t tell if it was in agreement or non-committal. In the end, all she said was, ‘There are hundreds of different tinctures and concoctions that could have been used.’
Her voice was strong, but he heard the strain behind it. He didn’t know this woman. Not at all, but he knew she had a spine and opinions. She’d been giving them since the moment they’d been introduced and now she didn’t give him one at all. ‘Tell me.’
‘I’m trying. If it is poison—’
‘It is,’ he growled.
‘It could have been his food.’
There it was. An opinion and wrong. ‘It hit too fast, it hurt only him. That isn’t food.’
Absolute silence behind him, but he didn’t move, didn’t take his eyes away from Paiden.When he woke, Rory wanted to be the first person his friend saw.
‘It could have been in the wine,’ she admitted. From her voice she was still in the corner. Sitting or standing, he didn’t care. ‘I don’t know how much he drank, what the properties were or how long it was in his stomach.’
‘We saw him drink,’ Rory said. ‘We saw him fall. And you know how long it was in his stomach because you were right there watching him die!’
A noise cut short. She wanted to say words and held herself back. Why now? ‘Say it.’
‘You want me to say it’s your fault because you held a sword to my neck and didn’t let me get to him quick enough?’
The truth burned him, but he wanted that. He could have been the one to kill his friend.
‘It’s not true,’ she quickly said. ‘I don’t know for certain if those moments counted. We emptied his stomach until it ran clear. That is what counts.’
‘Don’t,’ he spat out. ‘You think to soften me to you? You think I’ll forgive this. Ever?’
