Conall looking suddenly as somber as when she’d held the knife to his throat, Aislinn had no desire to prod him.
No matter what plagued Cameron, she needed him to escort her to King Robert—for how else would she have a hope of finding her father and Daran? The masculine smell of the breacan a relief to her after that cloud of perfume, she found herself nonetheless pricked by curiosity.
Afflicted? By what?
As if reading her mind, Conall gave a low chuckle, which made her cheeks begin to burn.
“What? If you’re going to tell me, then go on with it! It probably would be a good thing to know since we’ll be traveling together—”
“Shyness, the crippling kind. A fearsome warrior in battle, but when facing a woman—or God help him, having tae speak tae one…” Conall fell silent and shrugged as he walked up the tower steps beside her, while Aislinn was certain she had never felt her heart beating faster.
Shyness? Cameron Campbell? A laird and baron? This revelation was so incongruous to what she’d seen of the man, his every move bespeaking strength and power.
Yet what of his few words? His hesitancy to speak to her? Cameron staring for so long into the fire as if he couldn’t bring himself to look at her—
“Dinna tell him that I told you, for he’ll never forgive me.” Conall’s voice broke into her thoughts, the two of them already to her door before she had even realized it. He faced her, still looking so serious, until the slightest smile touched his lips. “Though mayhap that wouldna be such a bad thing, for him tae know. I’ve never seen him take such care of anyone, sitting beside your bed, hoping you might say something in your fever that might help him find your kinsmen—”
“He did that for me?” Suddenly breathless, though she didn’t know why, Aislinn felt a strange warmth when Conall nodded.
“I couldna believe my eyes, but there he was, laying a cool cloth on your forehead. He carried you himself tae this room, and helped the healer—”
“Rip away my clothes?” Aislinn clutched the breacan as Conall shook his head.
“I dinna know, but what matter? Cameron helped you—and the moment he heard you’d gone missing, his only thought was tae find you. I still canna believe you attacked him with his own sword—och, woman, but he spoke tae you unlike I’ve ever heard him before. And then in the hall, moments ago? Aye, only a few words, but he looked at you all the while—and I’veneverseen him do that before. Mayhap you’re the cure he’s been praying for…”
Conall’s last words spoken more to himself than her, Aislinn didn’t know why he’d shared so much with her or why her heart raced all the faster.
All she knew was that she wanted to disappear into her room to gather her wits about her and to catch her breath! She spun around and fumbled with the latch until Conall reached around her and pushed open the door for her. She ducked inside, and would have closed the door on him if he hadn’t stuck his boot against the jamb to stop her.
She stared at him in surprise, wondering what he had in mind, but she saw no flatterer or seducer of women there—only what she sensed was a man concerned for his elder brother.
“Are you spoken for, Aislinn? Betrothed? Mayhap already married?”
She blinked, suddenly uncomfortable. “Me?”
“Aye,you.”
She shook her head fiercely. “Not married—and why would you ask such a thing?”
“Curious, is all—like you about Cameron. And the other? Are you betrothed?”
Again she shook her head, a lie jumping to her lips—for in her mind, she wasn’t spoken for, no matter what plans her father might have for her!
“No! Now if you’ll leave me, Conall Campbell,” she blurted, attempting again to shut the door. “And don’t forget my clothes! A tunic and—”
“Trousers, aye. You’re a strange one yourself, Aislinn De Burgh. A woman skilled with a sword and preferring tae dress like a man. No wonder you have my poor brother so flustered.”
Conall retracted his boot so Aislinn could slam the door shut even as she heard him utter a low whistle—and then chuckle again.
She spun around and slumped with her back against the wall, her mind racing, her face burning. She had never been one for blushing and now she couldn’t seem to stop!
Cameron flustered? What about her? Saints help her, what had come over her? Her father and her brother—aye, they should be the only ones occupying her mind.
Uttering a hardly feminine curse, she tore off the breacan and tossed it to the floor, though the scent of the man seemed to cling to her.
Cameron’s scent.
She decided then and there that as soon as they brought her some clothes, she would ask for a hot bath, too, and scrub the smell of him from her—though at once, Aislinn felt a surge of remorse.
