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"And me," Alick assured him.
Dougall scowled at both men for their comments, not liking the idea of either brother marrying Murine. But then he noted that Aulay was watching him closely, and forced his gaze back to the floor above.
"So she was riding with ye," Aulay commented. "But how did she end up with an arrow in her back?"
That made Dougall frown again. He hadn't really had the time to give that consideration. Glancing to Conran, who had been riding to the side and behind him when they'd left the woods and started into the clearing around the castle, he raised his eyebrows. "What happened? Did ye see who shot her?"
"Nay," Conran said, his voice tight with his own anger. "We were riding along fine, broke from the woods and then Murine gave a start in yer lap and glanced around and I saw she had an arrow sticking out o' her back." He shook his head with displeasure at the memory and then added, "I did look back to see where the arrow came from, but did no' see anyone."
"I did no' see anyone either," Alick said when Dougall glanced to him. "They must ha'e been in the cover o' the woods."
"Aye," Geordie agreed. "'Tis lucky we were so close to the gates when it happened."
"So who would want to kill ye?" Aulay asked.
Dougall glanced to him with surprise. "Me?"
"Aye," he said quietly, and then pointed out. "She was riding with ye, it could ha'e been meant fer you and hit her by accident. I hardly think Murine could have made enemies who would wish her dead. 'Sides, from what ye've said, no one kens where she is."
"Her brother could ha'e caught up to us," Alick pointed out. "Mayhap he is the one who shot her with the arrow."
Dougall shook his head at the suggestion. "There is no profit for Danvries in shooting her. He can hardly trade time with her for coin if she's a corpse."
"Oh, aye," Alick agreed with a frown.
"Then Aulay's right," Conran said, looking troubled. "The arrow could ha'e been meant fer ye."
"So?" Aulay raised his eyebrows. "Who wants ye dead?"
Dougall started to shake his head, unaware of anyone who might dislike him that much, but paused, his head shooting up as if someone had socked him in the chin when a sudden shriek reached them from above stairs.
"Ye can breathe again, lass. 'Tis done."
Murine let her breath out on a small sob and buried her face in the furs she'd bunched under her face as Rory had worked on removing the arrow. It had been as bad as she'd expected and it had taken a great effort of will not to scream and thrash as he'd worked. Only the thought that doing so would make it take longer and prolong her suffering had kept her still, but her entire body had trembled with the effort as she'd struggled against the pain.
Thank God it was over, she thought and then stiffened, a startled shriek of agony slipping from her lips as he poured something cold on the wound that then seemed to burst into flame. At least it felt as if it were burning the skin off her back. It took a moment for her to realize he must have poured something on to clean the wound. That always hurt like the devil.
"Sorry," Rory murmured, sounding sincere in his apology. "I should ha'e given ye warning."
Murine just shook her head and panted for breath as the pain began to recede.
"I'm going to put a salve on now. It should numb the--" His words broke off as the door suddenly burst open to allow Dougall to stumble in with Aulay, Conran, Niels and Geordie all hanging off him, trying to hold him back. Alick brought up the rear, following them into the room as Dougall crossed half the distance to the bed before his brother's efforts managed to bring him to a halt.
"What's happened?" he growled, his eyes locked on Murine and staying there. "Are ye all right?"
"Aye. I was just startled," she breathed and offered a weak smile. Murine was very aware that she was lying there with her back completely bare. Rory had cut away the material of her gown to work on removing the arrow. That made two gowns ruined, and the only two she'd brought with her, she thought wearily.
When Rory ignored Dougall and the others and began to apply a soothing salve to her wound, she closed her eyes and pillowed her head on her arms. The salve stung at first despite his light touch, but that sting quickly fled, leaving nothing. He'd started to say something about the salve and numbing before Dougall had burst in. It worked very well.
Once the worst of the pain faded, Murine opened her eyes and lifted her head to see that Dougall and his brothers all stood, staring with a sort of horrified fascination as Rory treated her wound. It made suspicion rise within her. The original wound had probably been smallish, the size of the arrowhead that had pierced her, but Rory had had to dig it out. She'd seen the arrow spoon he'd used, but she'd also caught a glimpse of a knife and suspected he'd had to enlarge the wound to fit the spoon in. She hadn't really been able to tell. The pain had pretty much been horrible from start to finish.
"How bad is it?" she asked now with concern.
Still working, Rory was behind her where she couldn't see him, but Dougall and his other five brothers all immediately shifted their gazes to her face. For a moment, no one spoke, and then Dougall cleared his throat, shook off the hold Aulay, Conran, Niels and Geordie still had on him like a dog shaking off fleas, then crossed the room toward her, saying, "'Tis no' so bad, lass."
He was a horrible liar, Murine thought wryly as he stopped next to the bed and his gaze skated to her back again. He actually winced before turning a weak smile her way and adding, "No' bad at all."
"All right, ye've seen she's alive and well and I'm no' torturing her," Rory said quietly. "Now get out and leave us be so I can bind her wound."
Dougall scowled at Rory, but then turned back to offer Murine a smile and said, "I'll wait in the hall until he's done."
"Ye can wait there as long as ye like, but ye're no' coming back in here tonight," Rory said firmly. "She lost a lot of blood and needs to rest now. I won't have ye disturbing her."
"I--" Dougall began, but that was as far as he got before his brothers set upon him again and began to drag him from the room. Murine didn't know if his brothers had been as eager to see that she was all right as he had been and had been fighting themselves as well as him when they'd tried to stop him earlier, or if now that his worry was eased he had less fight in him, but whatever the case, they managed to drag him from the room quickly enough.
"He'll be back the minute I step out of the room," Rory said dryly once the door had closed behind the men.
Murine smiled faintly at the prediction. "Ye don't sound terrible upset about it."
"I'm not," Rory acknowledged, and then explained, "I plan
to dose ye with a sleeping powder and wait till it takes effect ere I leave. Whether he returns or no', he'll no' disturb ye."
Murine didn't even consider asking him not to give her the mentioned sleeping powder. She was exhausted and didn't think she'd need it to drift off to sleep, but did suspect she'd need it to stay in that state.
Chapter 9
Dougall tore his gaze from Murine's sleeping face and glanced to the door when it opened, but when he saw it was just Aulay he shifted his gaze back to Murine. She had been sleeping when Rory had finally let him in and, much to his frustration, hadn't stirred at all in the two hours since then. While Dougall knew sleep was the best thing for her just then, he really wished she'd wake up, if only for a couple minutes so that they could talk. He was very aware that while he'd announced on his arrival that he was going to marry her, he hadn't yet actually discussed the matter with her to see if she would be willing to marry him.
Part of Dougall assured him she would be grateful to be safe from her brother in the bonds of marriage. But another part was reminding him that she might have been thinking she should marry Aulay, the eldest brother, the one with the castle and title. Her response to him by the waterfall might have been nothing more than the whiskey-laden tincture she'd downed. He needed to talk to her and find out what she wanted. Or, perhaps it was better to say, who she wanted.
"Dougall?" Aulay said quietly, taking the seat across the bed from him that Rory had vacated only moments ago.
"Hmm?" he grunted, not bothering to tear his gaze from Murine.
"The lads and I were talking, and we're a bit concerned--"
"I told ye, there's no one I can think o' who would wish me dead and might have shot the arrow," Dougall growled with irritation. Aulay and the others had questioned him ad nauseam on the subject as they'd waited in the hall for Rory to finish binding Murine's wound.
"Aye, I ken. That's not what we're worrying about right now though. What I was going to say is, we're a bit concerned about Danvries," Aulay explained quietly.
That caught Dougall's attention and he tore his gaze away from Murine to frown at Aulay. "What do ye mean?
"Well, he's probably searching for Murine," Aulay pointed out solemnly.
