“Now isnae the time,” he grumbled. “Git yer horse. We are going with the wagons.”
His wife eyed him. “Ye are in nary a condition tae ride, Husband.”
“I will ride just fine,” he shot back, dismissing her concern. In truth, Kaiden was unsure how he was going to mount his horse to begin with, but now that she had pointed it out, he would die before he rode in the wagon with the rest.
Ferra huffed and spun on her heel, moving in the direction of the horses. “Ye are going tae need a mounting block,” Erik’s voice chuckled behind him.
Kaiden turned, glaring at his second-in-command. “She will never know. Are we ready tae depart?”
Erik’s smirk faded. “Aye.”
“Then let’s go home.”
Erik helped him mount his horse, and Kaiden ignored Ferra’s smirk as he rode beside her, feeling every jarring motion of the ride. “When we get tae the keep,” she said after a while, “I will need tae properly examine yer injuries, Kaiden.”
“Aye,” he forced out, knowing she wouldn't give him peace until she did. “In time, Wife. In time.” As much as he would enjoy her hands on his body, there were things he needed to do as a laird, things that didn’t end when the battle was over. His injuries, no matter how painful they were, could wait.
Ferra was quiet after their conversation, but it didn’t stop Kaiden from checking on her from time to time, ensuring she wasn’t about to tumble headfirst out of her saddle from exhaustion. He too felt the pull of exhaustion as they crested the last hill before the village opened up below them, awash with light to welcome home their warriors. Kaiden clenched his jaw as the wails rose up, knowing that the men who were dead he had failed to protect.
With great difficulty, he dismounted in the village, finding his father waiting for him in the center.
“Ye’re home,” his father stated, clearing his throat.
“Aye,” Kaiden replied, seeing the tears in his father’s eyes. “I brought them all home.”
His father nodded, looking at the warriors laying in the wagon, their tartans draped over their faces. “So many.”
Kaiden knew his father wasn’t directing his words at him, but he felt the weight of the loss regardless. “I know,” he rasped.
His father looked at him sharply, and then at his wound. “Ye need tending tae.”
“Nay,” Kaiden forced out, though his vision was starting to grow dim. “Nay.”
“Kaiden!”
Ferra’s voice sounded very far away, and he tried to find her in the darkness that was taking him over, but felt his knees buckle right before the world went dark.
20
Ferra wrung out the cloth in her hand before turning back to the man in the bed, wiping it carefully over his face. Even in his unconscious state, Kaiden looked worried, and she knew it was because of her. She should have never attempted to help him, to make him worry so, but if she hadn’t, he could be one of those warriors that were laid out in the huts all around the village, their families mourning their loss.
He looked as if he should be one, with the bruises and cuts that she had quit counting the first time she had undressed him. It had taken Erik and two other warriors to get him into their chamber. Iona had joined her at the bedside as they had tended to the nasty wound on his shoulder, bandaging it up carefully once she was certain he could still feel his arm.
Then she had turned to his injured leg, finding his knee nearly doubled in size. How on earth the stubborn man had stayed upright for as long as he had still surprised Ferra, but then again, Kaiden was stubborn enough to do so.
So now another morning had risen, and Kaiden was still out.
Not that Ferra was concerned overly much. She knew that this reaction was a means for the body to heal, and since they had found no injuries that would cause his death, as long as she kept his cuts clean, he would wake eventually.
And likely rail at her.
Sighing, she settled back in the chair, content to watch his chest rise and fall evenly. There was much to be said between them, words that they needed to share, and after everything that happened, it was far time for her to tell her husband how she felt.
As soon as he woke.
The chamber door opened, and Ferra watched Erik stroll in, his eyes glancing over at Kaiden.
“Still asleep?”
