He quirked an eyebrow, wondering what good any of this would do. Finally, the child stopped shaking and collapsed.
Lilliana reached over and pulled the stick from the child’s mouth before rubbing her chest soothingly, urging her to take deep breaths. The woman, whom Kayden assumed was her mother, had calmed down as well.
“Do ye have anything that will help with her condition?” she asked Lilliana.
Lilliana looked up at her. “Does she often suffer from the falling sickness?”
“Nae often. But they come on suddenly, and afterwards she is weak and doesnae ken where she is or who we are for a moment,” the woman sniffed, her voice trembling.
“Unfortunately, there is no treatment for it. When it comes on, make sure to hold the tongue with a wooden stick so that she does not bite down on it. I shall give you some lavender seeds, with which you can make her tea. It will soothe her mind somewhat.”
The woman nodded. “I am much obliged to ye, Me Lady.”
“Not at all. Not at all,” Lilliana said absently as she got to her feet and went back to retrieve the lavender seeds.
Kayden followed her, struck by her kindness. To kneel in the mud and help a child she did not know was not something he had expected from the Englishwoman.
Perhaps I was hasty in my judgment of her.
Once the woman had left, he commanded the groom to pack up Lilliana’s wares. “We are returning to the castle.”
“Aye, Me Laird,” the groom said.
Kayden frowned. The roads were not completely safe. He did not like the idea of Lilliana traipsing along with no one but a young boy to protect her.
He spotted Rua as the dog got up and shook itself. “There ye are, ye traitor,” he murmured.
Rua just barked, walking over to Lilliana and smelling her basket curiously. The dog sneezed, and then Lilliana sneezed as well. Kayden had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
“We are not done for the day,” she protested.
“Aye, ye are,” Kayden said implacably and plucked the basket from her arms. “Time to head back home. If the villagers need ye, they ken where to find ye.”
She huffed and then sneezed again before sticking her nose in the air and walking off in a huff, Betsy hurrying after her. Kayden let them walk ahead of him so he could keep an eye on them both, even though Rua had not left her side since they started walking.
He shook his head at the dog, still bemused at how fast Rua had taken to Lilliana.
They spent the walk to the castle in relative silence, waves of annoyance radiating off Lilliana like noxious fumes from a burning bog. Kayden chose to ignore it.
As soon as they arrived at the castle, she made her way down the corridor to the healer’s quarters without a word to him, and so he took off in search of the housekeeper. Finding her inthe laundry directing the maids as they starched the linen, he gestured for her to join him outside.
“Daenae ye think that asking Lady McGill to go down to the village to hand out supplies was a dangerous task?”
Moira gave him a stern look. “Ye said it was fine.”
“Aye, but I didnae want her to do italone.”
“That lass is wasting away afore yer eyes, and ye refuse to see it. If ye daenae give her purpose, she willnae last very long here. Aside from that, the village needs to ken that she is their Lady.”
Kayden glared at her, but could not argue against her reasoning.
Moira cocked her head. “And how did our Lady do, eh?”
Kayden looked away, unwilling to concede that Lilliana had done very well. He did not have to say anything. He could see from her smug face that Moira knew she was right.
11
Kayden woke up early after a night of fitful sleep. Not to mention that the stirring next door had done very little to settle his already frayed nerves.
