Page 44

William sat her down gently and stood back with his hands on his hips.

“Jason,” he said coldly.

Jason twitched, then sat forward quickly. Only his black-ringed eyes were visible over the pack. William looked at him impassively.

“Lady Jordan wishes to observe your wound,” he informed him.

Jason dropped the poultice to reveal a hugely swollen face. Jordan did not even recognize him and inwardly winced at the pain he must be feeling, not to mention the hate and anger towards her. Those thoughts were emphasized by the glare in his brown eyes.

“I have no need for her,” he growled.

Jordan pursed her lips irritably, unimpressed by his hostility. She had expected as much and did not blame him.

“Dunna act the martyr, Jason,” she told him. “Let me look at yer face.”

His eyes spit venom at her. “I’d rather die first.”

William had just about enough of the blatant hatred the boy was directing toward Jordan. He obviously had yet to learn his lesson.

“That can be arranged,” he said it like he meant it.

Jordan did not want William antagonizing him. She put up a hand to quiet him pleadingly before turning back to Jason.

“Then suit yerself,” she said. “Ye were quite a handsome man, Sir Jason, and it is possible that I could help ye, but if ye are too proud to accept help from a Scot, then ye deserve to be disfigured.”

He glowered at her, torn between being flattered that she had called him handsome and being furious that she had insulted him. Deep down, he knew he had been less than chivalrous to her all along. Because she was Scot he had treated her little better than an animal and as someone who did not deserve his respect. He had convinced himself he hated her in spite of her beautiful face and gentle manner and he had to continually fight to maintain his level of hostility.

He had lost a brother and a father to the Scots. His bitterness ran deep and this woman threatened him. He was afraid that it was possible to actually like her and thereby dishonor his family. He let the other knights know how disgusted he was with their behavior where she was concerned, treating her with respect, when the truth of the matter was that he found himself wanting to respond to her that way as well but his pride prevented it.

Jordan waited a moment for her words to sink in and see if there would be any reaction. Not receiving one except for a menacing stare, she sighed and turned to William.

“ ’Twas a waste of time, sire,” she said apologetically. “He is as stubborn as an ox.”

William simply nodded and moved to take her arm. He had tried to warn her off and she knew it, so there was nothing more to say. It was late and she was tired and if Jason was going to be a mule, then, so be it. She would not feel sorry for him anymore.

“Wait,” Jason said. It sounded as if the word had been kicked out of him.

Jordan turned around eagerly but William’s eyes glittered threateningly at his knight. He would stand for no more insults.

Jason’s eyes went back and forth between Jordan and his captain. He then visibly braced himself.

“You may…look,” he forced, and with a glance at William added, “My lady.”

Jordan dared not smile; Jason might think she were mocking him. Silently, she went to him and examined his face. His eyes watched her intensely and she was taken back several months when she had tended William’s considerable wound. He had stared at her in much the same fashion, but she had been much more nervous. Where Jason’s eyes were suspicious, William’s had been openly curious. The heat she felt from Jason’s gaze was not the same heat she had felt from William’s. Jason did not trust her and William had trusted her implicitly.

She raised her hand to touch him and he flinched away from her, but she smiled as encouragingly as she could and ever so slowly put her fingers on the sides of his nose and touched him as lightly as she could. When he realized she wasn’t going to hurt him, he relaxed heavily.

After probing his face for a few minutes, she dropped her hands and met his questioning eyes.

“Well, yer nose is broken,” she said frankly. “But I think the rest of yer face was spared any major damage. I shall pack yer nose and bandage it so that it heals straight.”

She turned to look at William. “Where can I find some clean linen?”

He gave her a long look before moving from the tent. She thought she detected a hint of amusement in his gaze. Puzzled, she turned back to Jason. “I shall fix ye good as new.”

Jason looked worried and raised a timid hand to his face. “You are going to bandage my face?”

She laughed softly. “Dunna look so worried,” she said. “Ye’ll be wearing yer helmet anyway so no one will see ye.”