“William? Do you mean William Stewart? But he was betrothed to Marian.” Eva shook her head, confounded by the woman’s reasoning.
“Aye, ’tis why I had to do what I did because Buchanan could not know that I wanted him not. He would have been wrathful at the time and sent his army to kill us.” Danella paced the area before Breckin, hardly giving him any notice now. She seemed caught in memories of her purpose.
“What you did? Did you do something to Marian?” Eva stepped closer to her. “Why would Breckin want to kill your clan? Much time has passed.”
Danella’s steps increased as she paced before her, holding the dagger in a threatening manner. “I had to get rid of her…Marian. William was in love with her and unless she was gone, he would not have accepted my clan’s offer. So I did what I had to do—sent her to the hereafter. It was not difficult because she did not suspect what I was going to do. We were good friends, aye, and she easily took the poisoned drink from me just as Buchanan did now. And so, once she was under the potion’s spell, I just had to wait for her to take her last breath.”
“If that is so, then why did you stab Breckin?” Eva’s heart hurt knowing he was in danger, that his life hung in the balance whilst she stood there talking. But how else could she keep the woman from striking him again?
“The poison would only subdue a man of his strength so I had to seize the moment. I struck him true in the chest, in his overzealous heart, aye, for he’d professed to love me and I could not have that.” She looked down at him and waved her hand dismissively. “He shall perish soon. ’Tis time for me to seek my leave.”
Eva couldn’t let her go and stepped in front of her. “You are not going anywhere. Did you think you could strike down the laird of the Buchanans and walk away?” She rushed at her and grabbed her arm with her free hand, the one not holding Caden’s dagger.
“Let go of me,” Danella yelled. She yanked her arm and tried to get Eva to release her.
“Not on your bloody life.” Eva struggled against the woman and hoped to get her to stop fighting but the woman cocked her arm to strike her with her knife. Eva tried to dodge but moved too slowly.
A sting spread over her shoulder and she drew in a shocked breath. She pushed at Danella, but the wound made her unable to grip the practice dagger and she dropped it. It fell to the ground with a thud; now her chance to protect herself was too far from her reach.
The two of them grappled. Eva saw that they were nearing the edge of the cliff. She tried to move away from the precipice but Danella reached out, grasping at Eva’s hair and yanking at it. Eva yelled from the searing pain at her scalp and reached out to strike at her tormentor, trying to escape as stars sparkled in her eyes, punching out. She landed a blow to the woman’s midsection. With a grunt, Danella let go of Eva’s hair to clutch at her belly and as Eva watched, she stepped backward and away.
Time seemed to stand still as Danella lost her footing at the edge of the cliff. Eva tried to grab hold of her garments. The woman had possibly killed Breckin and tried to kill her as well, but that didn’t mean she wanted her to die. Now Danella flapped her arms, trying to regain her balance. Her eyes widened and her mouth rounded in surprise as she fell back. And then she disappeared over the ledge with a shriek that faded as she fell, and then the shriek stopped abruptly.
There was silence. Not even birds sang. Eva dropped to the ground and crawled backward, scrambling to get away from the ledge, and get to Breckin.
When she reached him, she pressed her hand on his face and called his name repeatedly. His eyes didn’t flutter now. His skin was pale and his lips had taken on a bluish hue. He’d succumbed to his wound, and the poison he’d swallowed.
Eva’s heart thrashed in her chest and tears welled in her eyes. “Breckin, you cannot leave me now…now that I know that I love you. Do not dare to leave me. You cannot, do you hear? Please answer me. I love you…love you…” Distraught, heartache overtook her as tears blurred her sight. She sniffled her tears and tried not to shudder as the fear of losing him took control and sobs began to wrack her body.
“Milady, move back. Let me see what the laird did to himself…” Willa called from behind her. She knelt next to Breckin, shouldering Eva gently aside.
“She poisoned him…” Eva’s voice came out in a whisper. Her voice was trapped in her throat, in a thick ball of tears and anguish. “I smell it on him, Milady, the Devil’s Nightshade. ’Tis a nasty poison that renders one immobile whilst they still are aware of what is happening. Now that it has taken effect, the laird shall sleep, which is a blessing. Worry not, for I shall care for him, och, ye must let us take him.”
Eva wouldn’t move, though. She took hold of Breckin’s hand. Willa rounded Breckin’s body and assessed him from the other side.She cut away his tunic and leaned in to take a whiff of him. While she did so, Eva called him and tried to get him to respond.
Willa rose and waved; suddenly, Gideon and a group of Breckin’s men moved forward. They must have arrived with Willa, Eva realized. And the lads! They were there too, seeing their brother still and covered in blood. She tried to compose herself for their sakes as Willa ordered, “Gideon, have the men take him to my cottage. I might have a remedy and we shall see what the dagger’s damage is.” The healer took hold of Eva, who couldn’t stand yet. She was suddenly shaking too hard. Too much had happened, in such a short time. Now all Eva could do was watch through blurred vision as they carried Breckin away.Breckin!
“Oh, Milady, ye are covered with blood. Lads, take Milady home so she can get cleaned up. I shall see to the laird. He will be fine, Milady. All will be well. Come once ye can.” Willa hurried off.
As if in a dream, Eva followed Connor and Caden until they reached the longhouse. Along the way, many of the clan’s men and women lined the path. No one spoke to her and all lowered their heads as she passed. News of the laird’s attack had spread faster than a blowing storm. I should speak to them, she thought, but it was too difficult to find the proper words right now. It was getting harder and harder to keep up with the lads. Her feet were too hard to lift and her shoulders too heavy to hold straight, and everything seemed to be behind a thick curtain of sorrow that she could barely see through.
Finally, they reached the longhouse. Without feeling the familiar comfort of her carefully decorated and cleaned home, Eva entered her room and pulled her garments from her body, dropping them to the floor as if she still had servants to care for them.
She couldn’t bring herself to care about that. But when she looked, the torn garments were stained with blood. Breckin’s? She looked down at her own torso. Her skin was also covered in blood. Bright red, fresh blood. Thick, not thinly smeared, still dripping. Hers?How?Thenshe remembered. Danella had stabbed her. Itwasher blood. The sight of it instantly made her dizzy and she fell back upon the bed.
A knock came and then Clare entered. “Eva, are ye ready to go to Willa’s—”
Eva panted and tried to sit up but found it difficult. Finally, she managed to roll to the edge of the bed and push herself upright. “I…I seem to be… She stabbed…me.”
“Oh my, Milady. Let me help ye.” Clare retrieved a cleaning cloth from the basin and wiped the blood from Eva’s body. Once she had her cleaned up, she used a dry cloth and pressed it against her wound. “We need to bind this cloth to ye until we can get ye to Willa’s, to stop the bleeding. I’m afraid she’ll have to stitch you up.” She tore a strip of cloth from one of her underdresses and then used the swath of material to tie the cloth to her body. Then she helped her to dress and covered her with a tartan.
“My t-t-thanks,” Eva said with a shiver of shock.
Clare put her arm around her and helped her to stand. “Come, let us get ye to Willa’s. She will have ye patched up right quick.”
Eva stumbled along until she reached the outside where they ran into Gideon. She heard the muffled words between Clare and Gideon but her head spun and she wobbled on her feet. Gideon marched toward her and snatched her up into his arms and cradled her like she was a child. She rested in his arms with her cheek against his chest.
He wasn’t Breckin. He didn’t smell like Breckin, or feel like Breckin. Breckin was…she bit back a sob.Sweet Mary, was Breckin dead?
