“Aye, m’lord. I will see it done.”
“See to it,” he said and left the kitchen to make his way to the armoury.
Once there, he selected three daggers and an additional short sword. This would be more than enough for his purposes.
Giric mounted his horse and spoke with the guards on the way out through the gate and tore off toward the main road leading west. Once far enough away from the castle, he dismounted and grabbed his horse by the reins to lead it off the main road. After about half an hour he came to a crofter’s hut and tied the horse to a tree. He went inside and met Osgar and Vigdis.
“Now what?” they asked together.
“Now you convince Gunnar to come here. Once I’m certain Saga is well, I will journey to the king’s side and converse with him. There is a bigger scheme at play here, and I intend to discover it.”
Chapter Nineteen
Saga opened her eyes and watched Lady Fraser fuss about the chamber. Her head hurt and her chest felt like a heavy stone lay atop it.
“Och, you’re awake now lass,” Lady Fraser said. “Did I not tell you I saw this vision? Of me tending to you on your sick bed?”
“Ja, you did. Where is my husband?”
“He has gone to send word to your brother.”
“My brother? What kind of word?” Panic rose in Saga. If Gunnar knew she’d been harmed he would show up on the drawbridge with a mighty army ready to tear the castle apart stone by stone.
“Easy lass,” Lady Fraser said. “You’ve had a rough blow and you need your rest.”
“Why do you keep calling me that? You were calling me Lady MacDomnail earlier.”
“Aye, I can call you that if you prefer. Your husband asked me to help attend to you.”
“But why?” she asked. Was it the poison or had Saga lost all ability to comprehend anything?
“He fears you might still be in danger and so he wanted to be sure there was someone you could trust around you at all times. And that is me, lass.”
“But you said you were a healer. And you said that in front of him.”
“Now, now lassie, all will be well, you rest up a little and it will all be clear to you soon. Here,” she said, “You must drink this.”
The woman lifted something to Saga’s lips that smelled off, sour even. The stench of it cleared the fog in Saga’s brain a little as well as her eyesight. “You’re not Lady Fraser,” she said.
“I am, love. I am here to help you.”
Saga’s mind could not make sense of the woman before her. Her brain would not let her.
Just then the door opened and another woman entered. “How does she fare?” the woman asked.
“She is confused.”
“She has been poisoned with a significant amount of belladonna, surely it will be a while before her mind clears.”
“Aye, you speak true, Freydis. But if she is to recover fully, she must drink her tonic, otherwise the poison will not flush from her body.”
“Hold her and I will try to get it in her.”
Saga felt her arms being held down and her head lifted. The next cup placed near her nose did not smell the same, it was sweeter in nature and so she sipped some. The taste was more like bark and moss and so she drank deeper. The warm liquid flooded her veins and eased some of the ache.
She opened her eyes to see Freydis leaning over her.
“My friend,” Saga said. “What happened?”
