“Aye.”
“Don’t move.” Laurel ran to the door and flung it open. She went to the railing and looked down over the Great Hall. “Aggie! Get me all the gool we have and hot water. Now. Just do it.”
Laurel dashed back to Brodie, whose face was turning purple. She prayed Aggie hurried with the oxeye daisy. She knew Berta would have water heating for one thing or another, but she didn’t know whether Aggie would have to find Nora for the medicinal. She doubted Brodie had that much time.
“Laurie,” Brodie choked.
“Aye. Dinna leave me,” Laurel begged. “Dinna talk. Just breathe, Brodie.”
Laurel didn’t notice the tears that streamed down her cheeks until Brodie tried to wipe them away. She squeezed his hand and ran next door to retrieve the chamber pot. Grateful that it was clean, she shoved it under Brodie’s chin.
“Brodie, ye need to throw up. Ye’ve been poisoned.”
Brodie turned horrified eyes at Laurel, but he bent over the bowl and stuck his fingers down his throat. He gagged, but nothing came up. As he kept trying, Aggie arrived with Graham behind her. Laurel turned a thunderous glare at him. “Get out. Come near my husband, I will kill you,” she threatened Graham. She watched one eye twitch. It was all the confession she needed. She hissed, “I will kill you. Run before I find you.”
Laurel snatched the medicinal from Aggie, nearly spilling the mug of hot water the housekeeper poured. Laurel sniffed it and sipped. When she was convinced it was pure, she dumped the plant into the mug and used her eating knife to stir it. She was relieved Aggie brought so much. Normally, the plant made a weak tea to reduce fevers, but excessive amounts caused vomiting. She held the mug while Brodie choked down the brew. His throat felt as though it was swelling shut. He feared he would suffocate.
“Stand up, Brodie,” Laurel begged as sweat poured from Brodie’s forehead. She looked at the stunned Aggie and begged, “Get Dominic.”
Laurel watched Aggie leave, but if she hadn’t been unwilling to leave Brodie’s side again, she would have butchered Graham, who stood watching in the passageway. She helped Brodie to his feet, but he was unsteady on them. He was too large for Laurel to support on her own. She needed Dominic’s help. Her husband’s younger brother stormed into the room, having heard a commotion as he entered the Great Hall and learned something was happening abovestairs.
“Help me,” Laurel pleaded. “I need him to stand up. I need the tea to get to his belly faster. Please, help me.”
Dominic was at Brodie’s side without hesitation. He wrapped his arm around his older brother’s waist and bore much of Brodie’s weight. Laurel fought against the need to sob, praying Graham hadn’t added enough poison to kill someone Brodie’s size. When he groaned, Laurel lifted the chamber pot. With Dominic holding him up, and Laurel holding the chamber pot, Brodie emptied his stomach.
When there was nothing left, Brodie sagged onto the window seat, his previously scarlet face now deathly pale. Laurel patted his forehead with her skirt as she watched Brodie. She didn’t know what else to do. If his body had already absorbed too much of the poison, throwing up wouldn’t be enough.
“Brodie?” she whispered.
“Aye, Laurie,” Brodie wheezed. “A wee better.”
“What happened?” Dominic demanded, speaking for the first time.
“The only thing Brodie ate or drank that I didn’t was water while we were out riding. He said Graham filled his waterskin.” Laurel turned her head to investigate the passageway, but Graham was no longer there. “Brodie was poisoned. And now his second is no longer in sight.”
“Brother?” Dominic’s voice held uncertainty.
“Go. Find him.” Brodie nodded. Dominic gave a jerky nod, his expression still uncertain. But he hurried out of the chamber. Brodie leaned against Laurel, still too weak to sit up on his own. He felt his wife trembling as she held his hand and rubbed his back once she sat beside him. “Wheest.”
Laurel squeezed Brodie’s hand, unable to speak now that she had no orders to issue. She looked at Aggie, who’d remained silent and out of the way. She saw the raw pain in the woman’s eyes as she watched a man she’d helped raise struggle to remain alive. Laurel waved her over and stood. Without releasing Brodie’s hand, she moved to stand on his other side, giving Aggie her seat.
“Och, lad. I dinna ken if ma heart is beating again yet,” Aggie whispered as she took Brodie’s other hand. “I love ye like ye’re ma own wean. I canna imagine losing ye.”
Brodie looked at Aggie and knew she spoke the truth. Despite being nearly forty, he didn’t resist when the older woman embraced him. He found the comfort she’d given him his entire life, but it didn’t last as it had when he was a child. The person he needed most was Laurel. She hadn’t released his hand since she’d taken it once more. But he eased it from hers, watching her pained expression grow worse until he wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Thank ye,” Brodie whispered. “Real water?”
Aggie rinsed and filled his mug with water that had cooled since she brought it. Brodie sipped it until his throat no longer burned, and the lightheadedness faded. He had never felt so drained as he did that moment. Not after any battle, not after his parents died, not even once he found Laurel after her abduction and finding her in the larder. He’d been confident that he would find her, refused to believe he wouldn’t. But as he gasped for each breath, growing more certain that he would die, he feared leaving Laurel alone. He feared never seeing her or listening to her again. So now that the crisis was averted, and he knew he wasn’t leaving her a widow, his energy was sapped.
“Do ye wish to lie down, bear?” Laurel asked softly. Laurel noticed Aggie smiled at them, then slipped from the chamber to give them privacy.
“Aye. Will ye stay?”
“I’m nae going anywhere,” Laurel spluttered, aghast that he thought she might leave his side.
“Dominic? Graham?”
“I dinna ken,” Laurel shrugged as she helped Brodie struggle to his feet once more. He staggered his first couple steps, but he grew steadier as he approached the door. As they left the solar and turned toward their chamber, an unholy roar rose from the Great Hall below. Brodie and Laurel went to peer down over the railing, stunned to find Colina in Graham’s arms as Dominic surged forward with his sword drawn.
