Page 20 of Dorchad

Dorchad took his boot off the clansman and bent to help him to his feet. “Go for a bathe in the loch. ’Twill help.”

Rebecca frowned, wondering what swimming in the icy water would do for the defeated clansman. At that moment the chieftain happened to glance up and saw her and Sheona watching them. She fell into the endless darkness of his gaze so completely that the maid had to give her a shake to get her attention.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “what did you say?”

“The bouts, they’re over now,” Sheona told her. “Do you wish speak to the chieftain for some purpose?”

Although the question sounded innocent, the sly set came back to the maid’s curvy mouth.

“No, I don’t want to disturb him.” She turned her back on Dorchad. “Thanks for showing me the way here.”

Chapter Five

Malvina Duff pulled her hood forward to keep her face shadowed, although the villagers she passed seemed to recognize her anyway. She heard a few grumbles about her husband, but Beiste would whip bloody anyone who defied him, and they all knew it. Her reason for coming to the village was to solve another, lingering problem that had grown much, much worse over the last week. With every step she suffered the burning between her legs, the source of which had crawled up her back to her shoulders, and threatened to show itself to all. She’d tried every balm, salve and tincture possessed by their cook and maids, but none of them had eased her pain or healed the second eruption of weeping sores.

The only female she knew here was the big strapping wench who delivered cheese to the compound, and her guards had pointed out which hovel belonged to her. She knocked on the sagging door, and as soon as it opened bustled inside past Eilish.

“My lady.” The big woman took a step back. “Do you come to buy new cheese? I’ve naught ready but some soft white–”

“I need help. You village wenches ken how to manage the grandgore, aye?” When Eilish just stared at her she nearly slapped the slut. “A brigand set upon me in the forest some time ago. He ravished me cruelly, and now I’ve the sickness. The pox it causes, ’tis driving me mad with pain.”

The part about the brigand wasn’t true, of course; she’d bedded so many men of late she had no notion of who had caused the sores that now covered her quim and back. She watched as the big woman went and slammed shut her window shutters before coming back to her.

“My lady, never speak so openly of such.” Eilish folded her big arms. “Nor shall any female in the village offer you aid. If the men learned of your sickness, they’d demand you and your husband leave the highlands. Mayhap you should seek out a druid. They ken much our healers dinnae.”

The widow obviously believed she was testing her, Malvina thought.

“Think again, and carefully now. You must know a remedy to help me.” When Eilish said nothing she added, “Shall I tell my husband that you’ve been selling goods secretly to avoid paying the king’s share? You may end your worthless life serving as a slave to a cruel master.”

“Do what you must, then. I’ve no cure for grandgore to give you, for ’tisnae one.” She made a rude gesture toward the door. “Please, go on your way now.”

“You’ve heard stories of how vicious Beiste Duff can prove, aye?” She let her fears flood through her so that real tears streamed down her cheeks. “He hasnae touched me for three moons now, and shall soon demand his rights. When he spies the sores on my back and quim, he shall strangle me and toss my body to the swine.”

Eilish gave her an uneasy look. “What of your kin? Cannae you rely on them for protection?”

“My kin.” Malvina almost spat in her face. “My sire gave me to Beiste to keep from being hung for strangling my màthair after she drank up all his whiskey. How shall he treat a daughter with grandgore, I wonder? If I’m fortunate, shall he fack me in the arse? Again?”

The other woman went pale. “Forgive me, my lady. I didnae ken.”

“None do.” She wished she hadn’t spoken the truth, but it seemed to be swaying the foolish wench. “Please, you must ken someone who may save my life.”

“’Tis one who may possess a cure.” The widow took hold of her hands. “Follow the trail from the village west into the ridges. Look for a cottage covered in gray moss and ivy. ’Tis the home of Heremon the herbalist.”

“Why should I permit some grubby hermit touch me?” Malvina almost shrieked.

“He shallnae, but he possesses much knowledge of herbs and such. If you speak truth to him of what you’ve suffered, I’m sure he’ll give you aid.” Eilish went to the door and opened it. “Please leave now, my lady, and tell no one what I’ve said.”

Stalking out of the cottage, Malvina halted when she saw several of her husband’s men tormenting two girls at the village well. One of them might have been the diseased bastart who tainted her; since coming here she’d bedded almost all of them. Darting around to the garden in the back, she stayed out of sight behind the trees while making her way to the trail that led up into the ridges. She had only a few hours until Beiste would return from this visit to Dunfermline, and if he discovered her gone from the compound he’d send out his friends with their tracking hounds to find her.

That prospect made her lift her skirts so she could trot along the dirt path, which seemed to stretch on forever as it climbed. By the time she spotted the hovel that Eilish had described Malvina had nearly lost her breath entirely, and had to stop and gasp the thin, cold air as her heart beat frantically beneath her breast.

Will he give me a cure? She had never bothered to learn anything about herbs from her mother, whose concoctions had been in great demand before she’d grown too fond of spirits. Why didnae that worthless hoor teach me anything?

Trudging up to the cottage, Malvina wrinkled her nose at the pungent stink coming from the open windows. Perhaps just breathing the foul air here would end her, a prospect that made her utter a laugh.

’Twould serve better to die here and now than at Beiste’s hands.

The bald, silver-bearded auldjin who came out looked as if he’d been tarring and feathering himself. His bizarre appearance made her want to run all the way back to the compound without stopping, but she couldn’t return home without a cure for her rotten luck. As he drew near, however, her tension oddly eased.