“She’s coming here? Truly?”
“That surely brightened your day, Hagen. You are besotted, are you not?” Logan had the famous crooked grin on his face.
“I guess I am. And I’m happy about her coming here.”
“Why do you wish for her to come here, Hagen? That’s not something you’ve ever said about any lass before.” His father knew there had to be much more to this story, so he decided to probe a little bit without being direct.
Hagen sighed and pushed himself away from the table. “Because… Her father is a Scot who got her mother with child and deserted her. The bastard came back when she was older and asked her if the bairn was a lad or lassie. Brynja overheard the conversation when her own sire said since she was a lass, he wanted naught to do with her. And he left again.”
Logan whistled and said, “Oh Lord above, please let me find this bastard.”
“And when the men came along and killed her mother, they stole her away, started rubbing her, she tried to stop one, so he punched her. Punched her! She hates men, Da. And I don’t know how to convince her that there are good men in the world other than to get her here.”
His father and uncle had a look pass between them. Uncle Logan paced a bit, but his sire stayed in his seat.
“I tried to talk her into coming here, but she refused. Said she couldn’t leave Hildi.”
Logan stared up at the rafters. “You know what’s next, right, Grant?”
“I do, but I’ll listen to your thoughts, Ramsay.”
“If Simone doesn’t bring her here, I’ll go for Hildi.”
His father grinned. Great minds came to the same conclusions quickly.
Hagen said, “Nay, go get Brynja. Make her come. She needs to come here.”
Connor and Logan both laughed. “Nay, son. If you do that, she’ll hate you.”
“She’ll hate me if I bring Hildi here.”
Again, that look passed between the two.
“What?”
His father said, “If you bring Hildi here, Brynja will follow.”
Logan said, “She’ll insist.” He shook his head. “We still have things to teach you, lad. But that happens to besotted men. The right woman will twist your insides in five score ways.”
Connor didn’t say what he thought. He was glad his son was besotted.
But he wasn’t glad that Brynja was on Tora’s mind. That couldn’t be good.
Chapter Eighteen
Brynja
Brynja sat in the boat with Hildi’s head in her lap, Artan, Simone, and one of Thane’s guards rowing them across to MacQuarie land. “Can Lady Brenna fix her? I can’t lose my best friend, Simmy.”
“If she can be fixed, Lady Brenna will find a way. She’s the best in all the land.”
When they arrived at MacQuarie land, Thane told Artan, “If she hasn’t awakened yet, take the larger boat and four more men down through the Sound of Mull straight to Craignure. You can use a cart to get her to Duart from there.”
They’d switched boats, Hildi moving from one set of hands to another and then another, but she never awakened.
Once in the new boat, Brynja did her best not to cry, because the look on Hildi’s pale face saddened her more than anything else could right now. How could she still be sound asleep after sleeping the night through?
Oh, she knew Hagen would have something to say about her coming with Simone, how she’d refused him. But he’d have to deal with it. What else was she to do? Hildi was no better, and Simone had been forceful about bringing her to another healer.
