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“Get Lady Fia back to the safety of the keep, my lord, and I will go see how Corwin and Marsh do,” Argus said.
“The arrow?” Varrick asked as he eased his wife to her feet, keeping a solid hold on her.
“Not a very well made one and no signs of who it may belong to,” Argus said.
“Let me know as soon as you find anything,” Varrick ordered and, before he lifted his wife gently in his arms, he whistled, a signal that let Sinead know she was to return home.
“She will return to her perch?” Fia asked anxiously, still worried for the hawk and thinking as her husband settled her in his arms that it was not necessary for him to carry her. She could walk on her own.
“She will and there she will wait for me.”
“I can walk,” Fia said, then regretted saying so since she was quite comfortable in her husband’s strong arms.
“I doubt that since I can feel you are not steady on your feet,” he said as he started walking, the troop of warriors flanking either side of him as they went.
“You may be right,” she said and laid her head on his shoulder.
It was a short distance to the castle walls and not long before they reached the keep, though they were followed every step of the way by curious and worried glances.
“This incident may help prove that someone truly is plotting against me,” Varrick said as they entered the keep.
Merry hurried toward them when they entered the Great Hall. “How may I help, my lord?”
Fia responded, “A hot brew, if you would, Merry, and clean cloths, a bucket of warm water, and some honey so I can coat my wound once it is cleansed.”
“Aye, my lady, I will see the items brought to you right away,” Merry said and issued orders as she hurried off, sending the servants scurrying.
“There was no time to fetch you,” Fia said as they climbed the stairs, wanting to explain her actions and make him understand why she did what she did.
“Tell me,” he urged, eager to hear and eager to keep her in his arms as long as he could since there was the safest place she could be.
Fia relaxed against him, cherishing his warmth and how protectively he kept her tucked close. “The voice warned me that Sinead was in danger. I could not take the chance and wait to find you. I had to reach her before it was too late.”
“You saved her and for that I am grateful, though,” —his brow shot up— “you definitely need snowball throwing lessons.”
She smiled. “I was not trying to hit her just chase her.”
That he teased her warmed her heart and when he gently sat her on the bed once in their bedchamber, she almost reached out to grab his arm, not ready to let go of him. But with the sound of the servants on the stairs, she reluctantly let her hands fall in her lap.
When they were once again alone, he moved a bench to place in front of her, and with a tender nudge of his knee between her legs to spread them apart, he moved the bench and himself closer.
“I will tend your wound,” he said and grabbed a cloth off the bench that held the items Fia had asked for and had been placed close to the bed for her to tend herself.
She thought to stop him, but instead, her smile returned as she said, “And what experience do you have to perform such a task?”
He turned a glare on her until he saw the playfulness in her dark eyes and a smile of his own surfaced. “I have seen Llyod tend many similar wounds, but I am almost certain that my wife will be unable to let me tend her without telling me what to do.”
Fia laughed softly. “You have come to know me well, husband.”
“Aye, far more than I expected,” he said after rinsing the cloth in the bucket and used it to clean the blood around the wound.
Fia had already experienced his gentle touch, something no one would realize he possessed with the powerful way he wielded his sword. She closed her eyes as he caressed her face with the wet cloth, clearing away the blood.
“I left fear behind the day I escaped the man I was sold to. I never let it touch me again until today,” he said, being as gentle as he could so as not to cause her pain.
Fia opened her eyes to see the worry in his bold blue eyes.
“I feared you were dead, you laid so lifeless in the snow. I feared I would never get to hold you again, feel your love wrap around me, kiss you, make love to you, live the rest of my life with you. But most of all I feared I lost the chance to ever tell you that… I love you. At least what I feel I believe is love, having never known it. All I know is that I never felt as I did today when I thought you were dead. It was as if my heart shattered into pieces that could never be put back together again, that I would never feel whole, that life was meaningless without you.”
