“I am not dead,” she said in a soft whisper before her eyes closed in sleep again.
Garrick’s face was ashen. “You will be if you do not fight this, Brenna. Wake up!”
When she did not stir, he picked her up and carried her swiftly into the house and up to his room. There he laid her on the bed and covered her with the warm ermine spread. He stirred up the fire, then came back to the bed.
“Brenna. Brenna!”
She would not wake. He shook her shoulder, but still she did not open her eyes. He began to panic. He knew nothing about fevers. Yarmille must be called. She knew much of herbs and potions. She had cured Hugh when he was a boy, taming a raging fever he had.
Garrick left the room. After waking Erin and telling him to send the women to the house, he himself rode to fetch Yarmille. They returned within the hour and Yarmille closeted herself in the room with Brenna, forbidding anyone else to enter.
Garrick paced tirelessly before the fire in the hall. Maudya came in quietly, bringing food and drink for him, but he did not touch them.
Erin sat at the table watching his young master with deep concern. “She is a strong lass,” he said encouragingly. “I have seen many fevers in my day. ’Tis only a matter of cooling her when she is hot, and warming her when she is cold.”
Garrick looked at him stonily, as if he had not heard a word the old man said. He continued to pace, the loss of sleep affecting him not at all. Hours passed and day turned to night again.
Yarmille came into the hall, looking tired and haggard. Garrick held his breath as she stared at him for a long moment without speaking.
Finally Garrick could not stand the suspense any longer. “The fever has passed?”
Yarmille shook her head slowly. “I am sorry, Garrick. I have done all I can.”
He came forward. “What are you saying? That she has not improved?”
“She did for a while. The fever dropped. She took my potions and ate some broth. But then the fever returned and everything I gave her, she vomited. She can keep nothing down and now she is much worse than before.”
“There must be something you can do!”
“I will make a sacrifice for her,” Yarmille suggested. “That is the only thing left to do. If the gods are pleased, they may spare her life.”
Garrick blanched and ran from the hall up the stairs to his chambers. Erin, who had stayed with Garrick the whole day, got up from the table, tears glistening in his eyes.
“Is the girl really so ill?” he asked.
Yarmille looked at him disdainfully and said in a haughty tone. “She is. And the gods won’t help her. Why should they? She will die before morn.”
With that Yarmille left the hall to return to her home. Once outside, a contented smile came to her lips. She would make a sacrifice all right, but to insure the girl’s death—though she doubted help from the gods would be necessary. With Yarmille’s potions and an open balcony door in Garrick’s chamber, her death would be assured.
If only she had seen the threat the girl posed sooner, she could have gotten rid of her before Garrick even saw her. She had been sure that Garrick would not take to the girl, that he would shun her as he did all the others. Still, all things come to those who wait—and she would not have to wait much longer…
Erin entered Garrick’s chamber to find him standing beside the bed, a defeated man. A fire was burning in the hearth, yet the room seemed terribly cold.
“Would that I could do it all over again, it would be different, Brenna,” Garrick said in a hollow voice. “I will never forgive myself for this.”
Erin moved beside him, his face drawn with worry. “She cannot hear you, lad.”
“She was speaking when I came in the room,” Garrick told him. “In such a childlike manner.”
“Aye, she is no doubt reliving her past. I have seen this deep sleep before, where devils play havoc with the mind. For some ’tis not so bad; for others it can be a living hell, where death is welcome.”
“She cannot die!”
“So you love the girl, Garrick?”
“Love? Love is for fools!” he answered heatedly. “I will never love again.”
“Then what does it matter if the girl dies, if she is only another slave to you?” Erin said wisely.
