Caitlyn resented being the brunt of King Robert’s taunts. She wanted to check Alex’s stitches and ensure he ran no fever. Deciding not to play the royal game any longer, she crossed the chamber, making a straight line to Alex, which forced King Robert to step out of her way. She placed the back of her hand to his forehead before stepping around him to raise the back of his doublet. She pulled down the bandages, dissatisfied when she found inflammation around the edges, and red lines were creeping away from it.
“Alex, I need to take these stitches out and clean your wound again. I need to pack more yarrow into it. You’re too warm for only the layer of clothing you have on, and I suspect the wound is getting infected. I shouldn’t have let you sleep on your back.”
“Let him sleep on his back?” King Robert crowed, but he snapped his mouth shut and jerked his chin back at the scathing expression Caitlyn cast him. He knew he should have expected as much from his wife’s lady-in-waiting. They were, as a whole and individually, fiercer than any of his men for those about whom they cared. He was certain something existed between the pair, and he suspected Caitlyn would be as steadfastly protective of Alex as her former peers were of their husbands.
“You already knew I was here, Your Majesty. I’d wager you were informed of when I arrived and when I left. I’m aware there are secret passages in this castle, so it surprises me not if you knew exactly what happened—or didn’t happen—in here last night.” Caitlyn placed her basket on the bed and rapidly unbuttoned Alex’s doublet without a second thought. She eased the garment from his body before carrying a candle to the fireplace and lighting it. The men remained silent as she moved around. She cared not if she interrupted their conversation.
David slipped into the chamber with the boiling water Caitlyn had requested before knocking. She brewed two cups of willow bark tea, insisting a man Alex’s size would do well to have both. She brewed another tea, but Alex didn’t recognize the scent. When she returned to him, she kept her voice low but knew the Bruce could still hear her. She did it for Alex’s sake. “Can you lie on your stomach?”
“Aye.” Alex moved onto the bed, so he could roll over his right arm as he positioned himself for Caitlyn to work. She was efficient as she snipped the stitches from the night before. He pressed his face into the mattress to keep anyone from witnessing his pain. Caitlyn’s cool hands eased some of his anxiety as she cleaned his wound with a wash she’d brewed into a tea from alder leaves and primrose. When her examination satisfied her that it was clean, she packed it with more yarrow. She passed her needle and thread through the candle’s flame, then ran a soft palm around the wound before she began the first stitch.
Much like the night before, Alex tensed with each pass of the needle, but he made no sound. She glanced at King Robert and found him staring at Alex’s head. Their eyes met, and she glimpsed not a monarch viewing his subject, but a warrior leader watching one of his men. She found a man who understood what it was to be in Alex’s condition, but she could tell Alex’s lack of reaction discomfited the Bruce. He nodded to her, respect in his gaze for them both. She slathered a poultice made from yarrow and burdock. She applied it more liberally than she had the night before. When she finished, she wiped her hands on a linen cloth.
“I shall let this breathe for a while, but you can’t put any pressure on it. I think pressing it against the sheet made sweat get into it last night. I didn’t find aught else in there to make it get infected. Can you stay like this, Alex?”
“Aye.” The single word was all he’d said since he answered Caitlyn’s last question. He turned his head, so his left cheek rested on the bed, having pushed the pillow out of the way.
“Do you want me to send for some broth? Are you hungry?” Caitlyn knew Alex was in pain, even if he showed no signs, so she didn’t want to bombard him with questions. But she doubted he’d eaten anything yet that day.
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll send one of his men.” The Bruce stood beside the door. “Alexander, let Lady Caitlyn tend to you as she sees fit. It’s clear she knows what to do. I’ll ensure naught disrupts your rest.”
Caitlyn assumed that was as close to consent and discretion that the king would offer. She pulled the chair close to the bed as she had the night before. “With the light in here, do you think you could sleep after you eat?”
“I think so.” Alex reached out his hand to Caitlyn, his silent request clear. She took it, wrapping her forearm around his before he drew it close to his chest. “Thank you, Caity.”
Caitlyn kissed Alex’s temple, remaining quiet until Mitcham arrived with beef bone broth. She helped Alex sit up and held one side of the warm bowl while Alex held the other and sipped the liquid. He asked for his flask and swallowed a tot before lying back on his stomach. Caitlyn watched as he drifted back to sleep. She wondered how long it would take to recover, and she wondered what Alex discussed with the king. If it were anything short of the Scotts being punished, she wasn’t certain she could remain quiet.
* * *
Alex felt arms wrap around his waist as he gazed out from Mangerton’s battlements. Without turning his head, he was sure it was Caitlyn. He rested his right hand over hers as she pressed her cheek against his back. He could feel the rounded swell of her belly brushing his hips. He guessed his expression softened since his face relaxed. Twisting in her hold, he wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her around until he could bend and kiss her upturned face. Their lips fused together, and a bolt of heat surged through Alex.
They drew apart, and both beheld the land before them. It was spring, and the crops flourished in the distant field. A pair of doves called to one another from the orchard just beyond the bailey wall. Happiness swelled in Alex’s chest as he stood with Caitlyn at his side as he gazed at their clan’s land.
“How do you feel this morn, Caity?”
“Enormous.” Feminine laughter filled the air as Caitlyn grinned and rubbed her belly. “This bairn shall be the largest of the three, I swear.”
Surprise yet a sense of rightness made Alex shift his eyes from Caitlyn’s face to her belly. He hesitantly placed his hand over it and felt a succession of sharp jabs before the bairn seemed to perform a somersault.
Three? We already have two weans? I’m certain Caity is my wife. We could never hold one another if she wed someone else. We couldn’t have kissed if she were. But when did this happen?
Alex’s mind attempted to sort through the scene in his dream, where he continued to converse with Caitlyn.
“Will you ride out today, Alex?” Caitlyn’s furrowed brow appeared to Alex more like she was planning for her day rather than concerned that he left the keep on horseback.
“Aye. I need to visit the crofters again. They still haven’t recovered all that they lost during the last raid.”
“I wish I could go with you, but I fear the wagon ride jostling this bairn right out of me.” As if the babe wished to make a point, Alex watched as Caitlyn’s belly shifted and rippled.
“I don’t enjoy leaving you here when you’re this far along, but Brice is on patrol.”
“I’ll be well. Coira spoils me rotten.” Caitlyn grinned and leaned in conspiratorially. “When you leave, I get all the apricot tarts.”
“I shall miss kissing the leftover sugar from your lips.” Alex drew Caitlyn in for another kiss, this one filled with searing passion. “Would that we could slip away for ten minutes.”
“When has it ever been so quick as ten minutes?” Caitlyn offered a saucy wink to which Alex squeezed her bottom.
