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"Aye," Kade said grimly. "The question is who?"
"You have been away for almost three and a half years," Will pointed out. "Surely you would remember someone you have offended so much that he would hold a grudge this long?"
"Ye'd think so, wouldna ye?" he asked dryly, and took a moment to search his mind. As far as he knew, he had no enemies at all.
When Kade finally shook his head in bewilderment, Will cleared his throat, and asked, "You do not think your father or one of your brothers could be behind these attacks, do you?"
"Why the devil would they want to kill me?" he asked with amazement. While he planned to take over as laird, they didn't know that yet...and wouldn't until they sobered up long enough for him to speak to his father.
"They may have heard of your return and plans to take over as laird here," Will pointed out. "Ian, Angus, and Domnall may have discussed it and been overheard."
Kade was frowning over that when Aidan shook his head, and said, "They havena left the keep in months. They couldna ha'e been the one to shoot the arrow on yer journey here or even today."
"Hmm." Will frowned, looking disappointed that Kade's own kin couldn't be who was trying to kill him, but then straightened, and asked, "You do not have secret passageways here like we have at Mortagne, do you?"
"Nay," Aidan said at the same time that Kade answered, "Aye."
"Which is it?" Will asked with amusement.
"Aye, we do," Kade said, noting Aidan's shock. His mother had told him it was a secret among the family, but he would have thought Aidan should know.
"Well then, one of them could have slipped out using the secret passage to drop the rock on you," Will said with apparent satisfaction.
"But they couldna ha'e traveled down to England to shoot the arrow at him and come back without me noticing," Aidan said firmly. "'Twould take days, and none of them have been out o' me sight for more than a few hours or a night while sleeping."
"They could have hired someone," Will pointed out.
Silence fell in the room as they all considered the possibility that his own family might wish him dead after all.
Averill had eaten the fine meal Morag prepared and was bringing a tray of the delicious stew upstairs for Kade when she heard a shuffle along the hall. Pausing at the top of the stairs, she glanced in the direction of the rooms belonging to Kade's father and brothers, her eyes widening slightly when she saw the Stewart laird, standing in the doorway to his room, holding himself upright by clutching at the door and the frame.
She hesitated, her gaze slipping to the tray she held, but then turned her feet and headed in the man's direction.
"Good eve, my lord," Averill said quietly as she paused before him. "'Tis good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?"
The Stewart raised his head slowly, as if afraid it might fall off did he move too quickly. He eyed her blankly. Eachann Stewart looked atrocious, Averill noted with interest. His eyes were red and bloodshot, his skin grey beneath the wild salted red hair that sprang out of his head. He sported a beard and mustache as wild as the hair on his head.
"Who the devil are you?" he asked in a growl, one that was rather reminiscent of his son's when he was grumpy, she noted.
Averill offered him a blinding smile, and answered, "Kade's wife, Averill."
"Kade has a wife?" Eachann Stewart asked with obvious surprise, then frowned. "The lad went and got hisself married without me there?"
"Aye," she said simply.
"Oh." He lowered his head, his eyes landing on the tray she held. He immediately turned green at the sight of the food, but when he spotted the mug, he grabbed it up and gulped it down, only to sputter with disgust. "This is no' whiskey."
"Nay," Averill said dryly, as he dropped the empty mug back on the tray. "'Tis honey mead, and 'twas not for you, but your son."
"Oh." Eachann Stewart looked miserable and even a little lost. He was also swaying in the doorway unsteadily.
"You do not look well, my lord," she said quietly. "Mayhap you should go lie down."
"I am thirsty," he said plaintively.
"I shall bring you some mead and food," Averill assured him, setting the tray down on the hallway floor so that she could take his arm and usher him back inside.
"I doona drink mead. I prefer whiskey," he said grimly as she urged him into bed. "Bring me some whiskey and food."
Averill sighed as she straightened, but merely asked, "Are you sure you would not rather have mead? You don't appear to be handling the whiskey well, and I worry it will make you sick again."
"Nay. 'Tis no' the whiskey causin' that. 'Tis a sickness. I would ha'e whiskey. 'Twill fix me right up."
"Very well, I shall bring you whiskey. But you cannot blame me does it make you ill. I did warn you," she said, turning to move back to the door.
"Ha! Whiskey make me ill," he muttered, as she left the room. "Whiskey is the water of life, lass."
Averill closed the door without comment, stooped to pick up the tray again, and hurried along the hall to the room she and Kade shared. She had just shifted the tray to open the door when it was suddenly opened for her. She glanced up and blinked at Will in surprise.
"I was about to fetch Kade a drink. He is awake and thirsty," he explained almost absently, his attention on the tray she carried. He noted the empty mug with a frown, but then glanced to the stew. "That smells good."
"Morag made it, and 'tis very good, but 'tis for Kade," Averill said firmly, and added, "I can bring you some, though, if you wish. I need
to go back for more mead anyway."
"More mead?" Will asked with amusement. "What happened to the first of it?"
Averill hesitated, but then decided it might be best not to mention Kade's father, and simply said, "I fetched the mug for it, but forgot to put the mead in ere coming above stairs."
Will chuckled and took the tray. "If you would bring me some stew on your return, I would appreciate it. I will feed Kade while you are away and finish our conversation."
Averill nodded and decided she would bring Aidan some, too. She plucked the empty mug off the tray, then waved him away. "Go on. I will get the door for you."
Nodding, Will turned to head back toward the bed, and the moment he did, she stepped in and reached out to pluck her bag of medicinals off the chest a few feet from the door. She then stepped out, pulled the door closed, and hurried for the stairs.
The maids and Laddie were all bustling around the kitchens when she entered, still putting away and organizing the supplies they had purchased from Donnachaidh. One would have thought it was Christmas the way they all hurried about, flushed with pleasure and smiling as they worked. Well, all except Bess, she acknowledged. Not that the maid looked unhappy to be helping, but she had not been without as the others had for so long, and while the occasional indulgent smile curved her lips as the others exclaimed over the things they unpacked, she was not quite as enthusiastic.
Fortunately, distracted as they were, they left her to it when Averill explained she was fetching more mead for Kade and stew and mead for Aidan and Will, and she was able to load three mugs of whiskey on the tray as well without anyone's noticing. She then carried them out to the trestle tables, set the tray down, retrieved her tincture, and quickly dumped some into each mug of whiskey.
Releasing a little satisfied sigh then, Averill picked up the tray and headed above stairs, heading first to take the food and mead to her own room, where the men waited. She was about to open the door when she realized she couldn't carry the whiskey into the room without drawing questions. Grimacing, Averill set down the tray, started to remove the whiskeys to set them on the floor, but then paused and straightened with them instead. Once she entered the room, she might have difficulty leaving again and worried Kade's father would make his way downstairs and drink untainted whiskey were that to happen. She would just deliver one mug of whiskey to him and leave the others on the bedside tables as she had with the doctored ale that morning, then take the tray in to Will and Aidan and see how her husband fared.
