“I’m sorry, Bailey, bu’ you’ll listen tae Eithne here, she kens better than ye or I ever will, aye?” Kieran raised his eyebrow, trying to look stern, knowing that the smile fighting its way across his face would ruin the effect dismally.
“Aye, Laird.” Bailey rolled his eyes. “Tilly was jus’ telling me abou’ the fire an’ everything I missed. I’m afraid I was too out o’ it tae pay any mind tae the forest burning.”
“Don’t you worry abou’ that.” Kieran took a seat on the stool near Bailey’s pallet, his relief so great he felt faint at the sight of his breathing and talking friend.
“That’s wha’ I keep telling ye,” Tilly agreed, “It isnae important, all that is, is that ye recover. Eithne says he’s doin’ well, brother.” She looked up at Kieran, a bright smile on her face.
“I can see this, an’ I’m so glad for it,” he nodded his head, shooting a grateful look at the healer, who just smiled.
“An’ how’s our other patient?” Kieran had plum forgotten about the young lad who had sustained some burns.
Eithne shrugged slightly, looking over to where the young man was still sleeping on his pallet, “He seems tae be strong, bu’ I’m not making any promises, Laird. It’s between him an’ God now. I’ll dae all I can.”
“Ye always dae.” Kieran stood up, smiling down at Bailey and Tilly, who had taken to holding his hand, causing the poor man to smile like a jester. Kieran had to fight not to shake his head and admonish Tilly. She was blind to Bailey’s feelings, she always had been, but it didn’t make it easier to watch how happy it made Bailey.
“I’m goin’ back tae the forest now, I need tae see if I can find any clues as to wha’ happened. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll visit again later. Bu’ I need tae dae something.” Kieran walked to the door stiffly, unable to bring himself to look back over his shoulder as he left the healer’s cabin and made his way to the stables where his horse would be waiting for him.
The ride to the forest was as stress-relieving as it could be. Kieran let his horse gallop freely for a few minutes, taking the long route to the forest while enjoying the peace the speed of the horse brought him. The wind whipped past him, pulling loose some of his hair, stinging his eyes.
By the time he reached the clearing they had been in the day before, Kieran felt a bit of the weight had lifted off his shoulders. He was not a Laird who sat on his haunches waiting for others to do something; just doing something already made him feel better. He would get to the bottom of this and find some closure for his people.
He dismounted Midnight, tying his reins tightly to a sturdy branch before delving back into the forest.
He knew he was in the right place when he could smell the muted stench of death and blood, all covered with the tang of the fire and ash that now covered the stretch of the forest before him.
Kieran did his best to avoid looking at the bones of his soldiers, averting his eyes as much as he could, walking around them as far as he could. He made a mental note to have his men come out and collect the dead so that they could be buried properly and their families could grieve them in peace.
He made a thorough search of the surrounding areas, trying to find any clues he possibly could. Aside from the odd weapon dropped here and singed clothing there, he could not find anything that was particularly helpful. He knew in his gut that the fire had been intentional – that the altercation had been intentional – but he was damned if he could find any evidence to support his theory.
Worse yet, he could find nothing that would tell him who had ordered the attack.
Kieran was lost in his musings, randomly walking from one spot to the next, staring at the ground but not really seeing anything at all, when a scream pierced the silence.
It was a haunting sound – the sound of a woman in jeopardy.
Kieran ran in the direction of the screaming, abandoning his horse as he went. The sound of another horse neighing became prominent the closer he got to the direction of the screaming. The forest was largely untouched by the fire here; there were only a few logs and some of the tufts of grass that had been touched by the flames.
A woman on a dappled gray stallion came into view, her eyes wide as she continued to cry out in distress. Her horse was bucking beneath her, its front legs raised off the ground as it tried to dodge the boar attacking its legs.
Kieran swore under his breath; the boar was clearly the mother of the smaller one they had killed yesterday. Aggression was in their nature, even more so when their young were attacked and killed.
Could nothing go right at this point in time? Was it really necessary for some poor, uninvolved woman to pay the price for the previous day’s failings?
* * *
Vivien knew she was going to die. Right here, right now. Between the horse and the boar, she was a dead woman.
All she had wanted to do was see the countryside surrounding her new home. She wanted to see the beauty that the landscape had to offer. She had definitely not expected to be attacked by a wild boar.
She clung to the reins, and eventually, the poor horse’s mane as tightly as she could while it bucked and leaped around under her. Vivien couldn’t help but scream. The inevitability of death was one thing; it didn’t mean she had to die quietly. All she could be grateful for was that no one from the castle was anywhere near enough to see the Lady of the house screaming like a frightened maid, clutching at the straws of life.
She had barely made peace with her situation when a flash of light caught her eye, as a blur of a shape ran towards her and her impending doom.
Vivien closed her eyes as tightly as she could; surely it couldn’t be another boar? The shape had been far too big and human-like; surely the flash had been off metal, not a boar’s tusks?
She opened her eyes again for a split second, only to find herself flying off the back of her horse as it bucked so hard that she lost her grip on everything holding her in place.
She fell backward, landing with a thud and a crack on a patch of grass. Her head began to spin wildly, pain shooting up her arm from where she’d landed on it. She focused her gaze, finally realizing what the shape really was.
