“I am sorry, lass.”The elder shook her head.“That is not how it works.The Veil would allow ye to pass since ye are a woman, but being a male, it is doubtful he would survive it.Especially in his condition.”
“Can we not go back, get some medicine, maybe even a doctor, and bring it all here?”Emily asked.
“No.We dare not overly muddle history.We trouble it enough by our very presence.”Mairwen tipped a nod at those emerging from the keep to join them.“Ye are their mistress now, Jessa.Tell them what ye wish done.”
“What I wish done?”Had the meddling old woman lost her mind?Jessa stared at the men, women, and children.All of them stared back at her with expectant expressions.What was she supposed to tell them?She didn’t know what they needed to do.“I have no idea what to say.”Too much had just happened—and Grant, the man she had finally admitted she loved—was dying because of her.
“A good leader reassures the people and assigns them tasks so they not only feel useful but keep their minds occupied with beneficial thoughts rather than worries.”Mairwen knelt beside her and nodded at Grant.“What do ye believe he would say to them?”
Before Jessa could reply, three men she hadn’t yet met pushed free of the crowd and knelt in front of her.
“Mrs.Robeson has gone to her apothecary for healing poultices,” the largest of the trio said, before thumping his fist to his chest and bowing his head.“Forgive me, mistress.I be Henry Skelper.Close as a brother to the laird, I am.”
“I am Jessa,” she told the red-haired giant, then eyed the other two men.
“I be Lachie,” said the muscular blond who could pass for a battle-scarred Viking.“Close as a brother to him, as well.”
The last of the three, short and wiry, and somehow reminiscent of a ferret, offered her a gallant bow.“I be Gordon.If ye need a lock picked or some gold pinched, I be yer man.I can get whatever Himself might need.Daren’t ye worry about that.”
Henry shook his head.“I feel sure the mistress finds comfort in yer adeptness at thievery at a time such as this.”He bowed to her again.“We can carry him to the bedchamber, m’lady.If’n ye wish it done.What would ye have us do?”
Jessa couldn’t bear the thought of letting go of Grant, but she supposed he’d be better off in his bed instead of here in the mud.She shuddered at the thought of what needed to be done to the torn flesh on his back to keep the infection at bay.“I guess that would be best.But be careful.Try not to hurt him any more than has already been done.He saved me.We have to save him.”
“Aye, mistress,” Lachie said with a calmness that told her no matter how careful they were, the journey to the bedroom would cause Grant hellacious pain.
Lachie and Henry placed themselves on either side of their unconscious laird, hooked their arms under his, and lifted.
“Nay!”Grant came to life, growling and thrashing like an enraged beast.He knotted his fists in her skirts and yanked her closer.“I’ll not let ye take her!Never!”
“Let him go.”Jessa swatted them away, then hugged Grant and resumed her gentle rocking.“Shh…I am here.No one is taking me anywhere.I will never leave you.I promise.”
Distant thunder rumbled sorrowfully in the distance, and a respectfully shushing rain pattered in the mud, gradually increasing to a steady downpour.
“M’lady—” Henry shuffled with uneasiness.“Ye must let us move him.’Tis for the best.”
She glared up at the man and decided that now was the time to set the tone for how they would treat her.Never again would she just go along and settle when she knew it wasn’t what was best for her or those she cared about.She deserved better.She deserved respect.“Leave us for a while.Let me get him calm while you see if anyone else is hurt or needs rescuing.Others could be trapped if anything else collapsed.You know he would want them seen to first.I’ll take care of Grant.”She swiped the rain off his face and kissed his forehead.She would sit here in the mud with him for eternity if need be.Something deep inside told her he did not need to be moved.Keeping her cheek against him, she said, “Make them go away, Mairwen, because I am not moving him.It would be wrong.I feel it.He needs me to hold him until he is ready.”
Before Mairwen could respond, Griselda spoke up, raising her shrill voice for all to hear.“Her be the goddess.Do as she says for the good of our laird.”
“The goddess?”Henry repeated, his tone equal parts awe and horror.“Forgive us, divine one.”He dropped to his knees and bowed his head.Lachie and Gordon did the same.
Griselda’s dog moved to Jessa’s side, threw back her head, and howled as if singing her goddess’s praises.
“Help the others,” Jessa told them through clenched teeth, grateful for the rain because it hid her tears.She’d clear up the confusion about the goddess thing later.If it made them listen to her now, she would use it to her advantage.She didn’t want Grant moved.It justfeltwrong.
As everyone except Mairwen, Griselda, and Emily moved away to assess the damages and help anyone who might be injured, Grant relaxed, slumping against her.Alarmed, she pressed her lips to his temple and concentrated on detecting the faint tapping of his heart.To make sure she hadn’t imagined it, she worked her fingers under what was left of his neckcloth and pressed them to his throat.A slow, faint pulse barely tapped against her touch.
“You cannot die,” she said in a desperate whisper, then closed her eyes and pressed her cheek tighter against him, envisioning the healthy, sexy grump who had thrown her back onto the bed the first time she had tried to escape him.The coolness of his skin and his slower breathing both terrified and enraged her.“You will not die.I will not allow it!”
The unexplainable, loving heat that had surged through her when she had healed Griselda’s dog returned, lifting her heart and filling her with hope.Fearing she would scare the feeling away, she closed her eyes tighter and added the memory of the breathtaking fire of their first kiss to the vision of his healthiness.The soothing flow of the eerie tingling hummed through her even stronger.On impulse, she gently flattened her hands on his wounds, instinctively spreading her fingers as wide as she could.Eyes closed, she pressed her mouth to his temple and held the kiss, willing the loving energy to flow out of her and into him.Even if it didn’t heal him, at least he would know she loved him.
“Believe,” Mairwen quietly ordered, as she laid a hand on Jessa’s shoulder and squeezed.“Believe, child, and it will be so.”
“You are capable of anything you set your mind to,” Emily told her as she laid both hands on her other shoulder.“Anything is possible, Jess.Absolutely anything.”
Their touch steadied her.Their words gave her strength and clarity.“You are healed,” she whispered against Grant’s forehead, concentrating on believing every word.“You are whole.”Intuition from the very depths of her soul nudged her to add, “So mote it be.”
He shuddered with a sudden, deep intake of air, then turned and pulled her down for a kiss.He tasted of hope, of happiness, but most of all, he tasted of life.She sobbed and clutched him tighter.An overload of joy hurtled through her, exploding her senses.
