“Roof is finished… stable repaired. Ladies, I declare this place fit to live in.” He sat down. “And I’m famished!”
Maura piled some food onto his plate. “Aye, ye should be. Ye’ve been working all day and barely stopped for lunch.”
“Well, the roof had to be done if we’re to stay dry.”
Willa finished slicing the bread she and Maura had managed to bake in the hearth’s little oven, and sat down across from her brother. “How long will we stay here, James? What do we do next?” She took a bite of bread. Even with no butter, it was good. “We need to find someone who will help us. I don’t know much at all about local politics… did Father have any allies?”
“Few and far between. But then, I wasna privy to much. Perhaps he did, though I doubt they would give much thought to his bastard son.”
Willa frowned at him. She knew her brother was just stating the truth, but it stung her that he was forced to think of himself that way, when she did not, and never would. James was ten times the man their father was. “You’re not a bastard James. Everyone knows that was a vindictive lie meant to destroy your mother. No one believes it.”
“My sister will be wed soon”, Maura said. “There will be men in positions of power among the guests. We might start there…”
“Aye, we might”, James agreed with a sigh. “I was thinking the same thing myself. It willna be easy to rally the other clans to our aid. We have nothing to give in return except our alliance in battle, and I dinna even ken how many men there are left to us. Our wealth is tied up in our people and our land, we have no gold to entice...”
“You have me”, Willa said suddenly. “I’m still not wed… and I have a dowry. Well, at least I did.” She could not believe the words were coming out of her mouth, but if it saved their home…
“No”, James said with more than a little force. “I willna force ye to wed a man ye dinna love. Never.”
“But if it’s the only way, I would do it James, I…”
“No! And that’s my last word on the matter.”
The rest of the meal passed in virtual silence.
Later, when James and Maura had retired for the night, Willa slipped into the room she shared with her patient and laid down on her pallet on the floor. She listened to him breathing across the room, deep and steady. She smiled with relief. He was recovering better than she would have ever expected. Already his heart rate had evened out and his color improved, though he was still pale. If the fever broke soon, he would surely survive. She wondered yet again who he was, and what sort of man he would prove to be. Would he be kind and grateful for their help? She liked to think so, because it didn’t seem right that such a handsome man would have a mean spirit. Besides, she had had enough of that for a lifetime with her father and then Colm. Though she tried not to think of it, she knew she was not out of danger. As safe and as cozy as this little cottage was, the real world was still out there, and Colm would still try to take her back if he could. The warrior in her bed looked like the sort of man who could defend her. He looked as if when he was well he would be able to fight and keep her safe from everyone and everything. How nice that would be, to have someone to protect her and… and, oh God, she was getting all feminine and mushy, something she had always tried to avoid. Only… in her current state of mind, to be possessed by a strong man who would take away her worries and let her just live… it didn’t seem half so bad. Willa fell asleep and dreamed of the warrior slaying Colm and then making her his... in every way possible.
Chapter 5
Willa woke sometime deep in the night to the sounds of the man moving in the bed. She had fallen asleep with the candle still lit, and though it had burned down to no more than a stub, the room was still bathed in a soft yellow glow. Sitting up, she saw that he had turned his head on the pillow and was watching her, though his eyes were still glazed with fever. Her heart jumped into her throat, and for a long moment she was held by his gaze, mesmerized. What color were his eyes? In the dim light, she couldn’t tell. Damn!
“Have I died?” He asked in a weak voice, almost a whisper.
She smiled. “No, you have most certainly lived.”
“Ah, good, my brother will be pleased. He was verra angry with me for dying, I’m certain.”
She leaned forward. “You have a brother? Where is he? What’s his name?”
But his eyes closed and he was asleep again. She rose and went to him, putting her hand automatically to his forehead. He still burned with fever, but it was a very good sign that he had finally woken, if only for a moment. She stood there for a time, stroking his hair and humming softly. He did not stir the rest of the night.
At breakfast, Maura handed Willa a stale roll and some dried fruit.“Here, before James comes back in and eats it all.”
Willa laughed and pulled the roll into two parts, putting the larger half back on the trencher. “He needs it more than I do, anyway. He’s a big man and he’s been working hard ever since we arrived.”
“Aye, that he has. Though so have we.”
That was true. Between the two of them, Willa and Maura had managed to cook all the meals, haul water from the river, clean and scrub the little cottage, gather what food they could find in the surrounding woods, and even set some snares for game. And care for the as-yet-nameless warrior, of course. She supposed she should be tired, but Willa felt anything but. Instead she seemed to have more energy than usual (and she usually had a lot to begin with), a restless kind of energy that made it hard to sit still for very long. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She would have no problem sitting by the warrior’s bedside all day long, just watching him sleep. She was only restless when she was anywhere else. Hmmm, was it possible to have a crush on a man who’d been asleep for nearly the entire time you knew him? It seemed to be so.
Maura swallowed the last bite of her roll and looked up.
“James and I are to leave in two days time for my sister Janie’s wedding, and of course to learn what we can about what is happening at home. Janie’s betrothed is a cousin to the Mac Coinnachs, and though it’s no’ likely, perhaps we can convince them to help us.” She looked uncertainly at Willa. “But I suppose now I’ll have to stay here with ye. We canna verra well leave the man here alone, and we certainly canna bring him with us. The journey will be dangerous enough, as it is, even if I can manage to keep us cloaked along the way.”
Willa dismissed the idea with a flip of her hand. “Oh Maura don’t be silly, of course youmustgo to your own sister’s wedding! After all, it’s no more than a day’s ride from here, isn’t it? That’s what James says. And I know how close you have always been with Janie. I’ll stay and watch over him. I’ll be fine here by myself for a few days, and the man’s as weak as a babe. He’s only woken for a moment, and even if he does wake, he won’t be able to leave his bed for days yet. I can certainly handle him. Besides, the Mac Coinnachs might just be our only chance. After all, right now we really havenochance, just the three of us alone with any men still loyal to us trapped within the castle or fled for the hills. We need help.Anyhelp. We can’t just hide here forever, you know that. Eventually someone is going to come after us.”
She stopped abruptly, realizing she had been rambling on and on while Maura looked at her doubtfully.
“But I canna leave ye all alone, no’ with a stranger in the house.” Maura gave her token protest.
