“I do not mock God,” Charles said, as if in response to the muttering. “I am on good terms with him. We speak regularly and he tells me many things.”
“Like what?” someone shouted from the crowd.
“That it is time for the sermon. Today I wish to speak to you about the parting of the waves.”
As Charles read from the Bible, Heather noticed Gavin was talking in a low voice to a man she didn’t recognize. “Now is not the time, Keir” Gavin was whispering. “Can it not wait until after mass?”
Keir shook his head. “My laird, I beg you. Little Natalie needs more.”
“Why did you not tell me this before now?”
“The remaining stock disappeared overnight. All I ask is for permission to gather a little extra.”
“Very well. The sallyport will not remain open long. Be back quick or you shall not get back into the castle.”
“Of course, my laird.”
Keir ducked out of the church. Gavin turned his eyes back to Charles who was continuing to read from the Bible.
“What was that about?” Heather asked.
“Nothing.” He kept his eyes fixed on the priest.
To her left, Bruce leaned down to whisper in her ear. “We need more lemon balm for a patient in the infirmary. Keir is going to fetch more from the wood outside the castle.”
“What does lemon balm do?”
“It helps heal wounds.”
“Who’s Natalie?”
Susanne’s favorite. She was playing in the stores when she fell from the top of the barrels and badly cut her arm.”
“Attend to the service!” Gavin snapped.
Heather looked to the front, her nostrils wrinkling. There was something odd about all this but she could not put her finger on what it was at first. Then she realized. She tried to get Gavin’s attention but more people had squeezed into the chapel and there was no longer any way of reaching him.
The service ended moments later and then several people approached Gavin at once. “Do not wait for me,” he called across to Heather. “Return to your chamber. Bruce, accompany her.”
Turning, she filed out with the others into the courtyard. Keir was almost at the back wall and she was about to head for the keep when she sniffed again, wondering if she’d imagined it.
No, there it was again. A scent of lemons. Just as she smelled in the corridor before Susanne was killed. Keir was crossing the courtyard toward the right hand side of the keep, chickens scattering before him.
“Bruce!” a voice called from the battlements. “They have more ladders being prepared. Come, quick.”
Bruce spat on the ground, turning to Heather. “Can you make your own way to the keep?”
“Of course but there’s something-”
“Bruce! Arrows incoming.”
“Go,” she said, watching as Bruce ran up the steps, calling for the men to raise their shields.
“Brace yourself!” he called down to the courtyard as people began to run for cover.
She ran too, finding herself by the wall of the keep. There it was again. The smell of lemons. Was this a distraction so Keir could open the sallyport and let the outlaws in? No, he had run with the others. What did that mean for Natalie? Would she die without the lemon balm?
She broke into a run, reaching the sallyport a moment later. It had not yet been locked. She peered around the edge of the door, expecting to find an army of bloodthirsty highlanders there. Instead, she saw nothing. Had she got it wrong?
