Mary nodded, tears pouring from her eyes. ‘I wasn’t go-going to murder Hamish, just keep him sleeping until the marriage was done, until matters were...settled. I don’t know why he isn’t waking.’
‘It’s because you haven’t been trained, Mary,’ Hannah said. ‘It’s because he is already sick!’
‘I’m sorry!’ Mary burst into tears, her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. She curled up even tighter in the corner.
Rory scrubbed Paiden from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, between his toes and fingers. He poured the water over him, grateful there were other buckets here for other uses. They didn’t smell of rosemary or clove, but thewater was ice cold. He knew it because he’d poured almost half of it on himself.
Paiden didn’t wake through it all which Rory was grateful for. He wanted only one of them to remember this and even then he hoped enough ale and time would allow him to blur the details. He wasn’t trained to put braies on another man and Paiden would have new bruises. But the deed was done; his friend was out of harm’s way.
As for Hamish, as far as Rory was concerned, he would never be out of harm’s way. To lose Paiden would have been to lose family. Paiden...
At Mary’s apology, he tore his attention from Paiden to his wife and watched Ailsa stumble over to the sobbing woman to clasp her close.
Anger mottled her cheeks, but his wife, the healer, gave comfort where it was needed because she cared. When Mary cried harder, Hannah flew to her side. Ailsa murmured words he couldn’t hear, but Frederick’s oath was firm and resolute. ‘How far my clan has fallen. My God, I will repair this.’
Rory knew, absolutely knew they wouldn’t ferret out all the deception. Even here, Mary confessed to her intention to poison the McCrieff’s Tanist because of her father’s loyalties. Even Mary, not quite a woman full grown, was divided. The entire clan of McCrieffs was divided.With his marriage to Ailsa, he had tied his own clan to lies and deceit, murderers and traitors. He was helpless to fix any of it, to slash his sword and order executions because there were innocents here as well. Mary was both loyal and a traitor. Their future was dark.
Then Ailsa turned her head to look his way. Her eyes were green like spring grass, new and full of promise, and Rory knew, no matter the future, he’d marry her again if he could.
Chapter Fourteen
Ailsa was beyond exhausted, but so were Hannah and Mary. A fortnight had gone by since she’d made her discovery and all of them had been working, ensuring that every bit of food, clothing and linen was free of rosemary.
It had been found in everything. It was in the trunks containing folded linens. Laundry, put out to dry, had been draped over the sturdy rounded shrubberies. According to Rory, Paiden often brushed his teeth with the fragrant herb. If that were true, it wouldn’t have taken much more to push him over the edge.
Frederick ordered everyone to keep quiet. Not much could be kept hidden, but Frederick waited because he wanted to confront his Chief first. However, though everything they’d done for Paiden had been done for Hamish as well, the Chief never woke. He still slept, his breathinglaboured, his cheekbones sunken. Bone broth was given to him in tiny droplets, but most now just dribbled down his chin.
Paiden, however, had woken within hours of Mary’s confession. It had been a happy moment for all, but joyous for Rory. Once she ensured Paiden’s breathing, eyesight and memory were restored, she left them alone in the room. Right before she closed the door, Rory caught her eye and the look he gave her was full of warmth, gratefulness, and something more...something she dared not think of now.
For though Paiden was mending, Hamish still slept and looked ready for the tomb. Her work was not over with.
In the meantime, Rory and Frederick were seen together. There were no more secret meetings, only open council sessions which they both attended. Such open co-operation also brought open disgruntlement and scathing remarks. Ailsa feared there would be no resolution between the clans and no peace within the McCrieffs.
Yet in the evening, when the doors were closed, she and Rory discovered their own peace. Fragile. New, but there was now some understanding between them.
The only fissure of worry was the matter of Rory’s parentage. In the midst of it all, Ailsacould not forget. Maybe it was because, with Hamish’s illness, it brought back memories of Rhona’s dying words. Maybe...she more than cared for Rory now and wished for him to know the truth even if he didn’t know his life was false.
Was there a right answer here? With Hamish looking as though he’d never wake, maybe the answer would never come. Thus far, she’d found no records on McCrieff land that Hamish had fathered a son or that a boy had been given away. Maybe Rhona’s murmurings were just that. Dreams and imagination cloaked within her illness. Maybe it was all made up. And yet, Rory’s—
‘You’ve retired early.’
Ailsa spun around. Rory closed the door behind him. His clothes were dusty which could only mean that he’d helped with the fields or with training. ‘It appears so did you.’
‘Your father had nothing else on his agenda, I thought I’d take advantage of it. Why are you here?’
‘Mary and Hannah are looking after our patients.’
‘Is Hannah with Paiden? If so, I should warn her that he can be quite charming when he wants to be.’
She had no doubt. That man was all too freewith his smiles. ‘Hannah can take care of herself. Moreover, Mary still wants to tend Hamish, though I don’t fully understand why, after what he ordered her to do.’
‘In my years, I have seen great men do terrible things and terrible men rise to occasions,’ Rory said surrounding her in his arms. ‘People are surprising with their actions.’
‘You surprised me,’ Ailsa said. ‘When Mary said it was Hamish who ordered the poisoning, you didn’t demand retribution.’
‘Because quickly after, Mary confessed Hamish targeted your father. It wasn’t about me or Paiden then.’
It was about her. Generations of strife and hatred worked to keep them separated, yet she and Rory... She didn’t dare believe there could be more, but when he said things like this, she couldn’t help but hope.
