Cathlina was touched and saddened. Touched that he should go to the trouble and saddened because her beloved pet was still missing. “Youdolike Midgy,” she said to him. “You pretend not to care for him but I know you do.”
Sebastian pursed his lips irritably. “Untrue.”
She smiled as she made her way over to Sebastian and Justus, putting a hand on Justus’ arm as she focused on Sebastian.
“You are not telling me the truth, Sebastian de Reyne,” she declared, though it was gently done. “I know you are just as worried as I am.”
Sebastian looked away. “You are mad.”
Cathlina laughed quietly, looking to Justus as Sebastian tried to avoid her. “And you?” she said, squeezing the old man’s arm.“You will be none the worse for the wear when this is all over. I will feed you great and fattening things while you recover.”
Justus looked up at her, a strained smile on his face. “I would hope you would tend a foolish old man,” he said. “In fact, I smell something cooking now.”
Cathlina gestured towards the floor above them. “I found some food scraps and put a stew in a pot,” she said. “I do not know how it will taste but at least it will be something warm.”
Justus merely nodded, grunting because Stephen was picking bits of mail out of the wound. Cathlina smiled encouragingly at him as she patted his arm one last time and returned to Mathias, who was kneeling by the hearth and trying to work up a substantial flame. It was the blacksmith in him, the innate ability to heat metal. She crouched down beside him.
“Who were those men?” she asked with concern.
Mathias was poking at the peat. “Scots from Clan Wemyss,” he said. “They have been harassing the outpost fairly steadily for months now. This was just another raid.”
Cathlina pondered the statement. “There seemed to be a lot of men.”
“There were enough.”
“Did they go home?”
He nodded. “They did indeed,” he replied. “But they will be back. The outpost commander says they have been hitting harder and harder each time, with more and more men from other clans.”
Cathlina leaned against his back, watching him as he fussed with the fire. “What does this mean? What will happen?”
Mathias didn’t say anything for a moment. When he did, it was softly uttered as he turned to look at her sweet face, so close to his own.
“It means I should have never brought you here,” he whispered. “I knew when I came here that I would be facingbattle of some kind, but in my mind, you would be safely bottled up somewhere far from the fighting. It appears that it will not be the case. I cannot have you in the midst of hostile territory where fending off raiders will be a daily event.”
She looked at him with her big brown eyes. “What will we do?”
He kissed the end of her nose. “As much as I loathe the thought, I fear that I must send you back to Kirklinton,” he groaned. “I have no choice. I cannot have you here in the midst of a war.”
Her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed. She moved away from him. “You cannot send me home,” she hissed. “You are my husband. My place is with you.”
Mathias could see the brewing storm. “Love, I have no choice,” he said. “I cannot take the chance that the next raid will tear down these walls and those barbaric Scots will get at you.”
She was growing angry. “I can take care of myself.”
“They will kill you after they have made sport of you. Do you understand what I am telling you?”
“You want to send me away!”
“I want you safe.”
Infuriated, and sickened at the thought of going back to Kirklinton and being separated from Mathias, Cathlina opened her mouth to argue with him but noticed that Sebastian was listening. She didn’t want him to overhear. Bewildered, angry, she turned away from the group and hastened up the stairs to the first floor.
Mathias let her go. With a heavy heart, he removed the cauterizing iron from the fire and brought it over to Stephen, who had Mathias and Sebastian hold their father down while he seared the wound.
Cathlina heard the howling on the floor above them and smelled the burning flesh. It scared her to death.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
