The young man looked pitiful—nearly eighteen, Aislinn had told him, his shoulders hunched and his face gaunt and pale from the torment he’d suffered, though he wore clean clothes and his hair, as red as hers, had been washed. It occurred to Cameron that Aislinn’s male garb must have been some of her brother’s. The young man extended his thin hand.
“I want to thank you… for saving my life. It should have been said by my father as well…” His voice faltering, Daran looked even more downtrodden at the mere mention of the man, and he jumped when Cameron clasped his cold fingers with firmness.
“I, too, had a harsh father. He kicked me and my younger brother, Conall, out into the world as lads, but we made our way as best we could—serving one overlord after another, learning tae fight, tae survive.” Cameron released his hand and looked him straight in the eye. “You will survive, too, once your father is dead. Yet only you can decide if he’ll have beaten you and marred your life forever—or you will emerge stronger and determined tae face whatever lies ahead.Stand up tall, Lord De Burgh!”
Cameron’s roared command not only made Daran jump again, but drop his crutch to the ground.
“I-I’m not Lord De Burgh—”
“You will be soon enough! Did you hear me or do I need tae shout louder?”
Daran looked as if he didn’t know what to do, though he straightened his shoulders and raised his chin.
A spark of something suddenly alight in his blue eyes—och, the color so similar to Aislinn’s, Cameron couldn’t help thinking, making his heart ache.
“Do you need that crutch?” he demanded sternly, finding it impossible to thrust Aislinn from his mind.
“Only to help me walk, Laird. I still feel so weak.”
“Yet you came forward tae thank me, aye? I see no weakness here, only strength, for in doing so, you’ve defied your father and set your own course. Am I not right?”
Nodding as if Cameron’s words were sinking in, Daran appeared to gain several inches right in front of him—the young man standing much taller.
Cameron didn’t say anything more, but turned back to his horse and mounted, his men following suit.
That Daran had come from the infirmary where Aislinn lay with her eyes closed, not speaking, mayhap hardly breathing, while he had been forbidden to see her—
“She’s called your name, Laird, my sister. If she wakes, is there anything you want me to tell her?”
His hands clenching the reins, Cameron cursed himself for having delayed his leaving to speak to Daran—for he could have gone the rest of his life without knowing that Aislinn had cried out for him.
Aye, it would have been better.
“Wish her happiness in her marriage,” Cameron said bitterly, wheeling his horse around and heading toward the castle gate.
Chapter 16
“Sweet child, will you not open your eyes? It’s a fine morning, and the sisters and I thought you might enjoy a walk in the courtyard after you’ve had some breakfast.”
Aislinn heard Sister Agnes’s voice well enough, the older woman sitting beside her bed, but she kept her eyes closed and feigned sleep, which made the nun sigh.
“I know you’re awake, Aislinn, and I dinna fault you for not wishing tae appear so. Remember how I told you that I had another lass here, Magdalene, who didna want tae leave the convent? She had no choice when her husband, Laird Gabriel MacLachlan, came tae fetch her, but they found happiness together and I pray you will, too.”
“I will never be happy if I’m wed to Lord Butler, Reverend Mother,” Aislinn said barely above a whisper, opening her eyes to look into the nun’s kind face. “I would rather you had let me die.”
“Och, now, child, let’s have no such talk!” Sister Agnes crossed herself and, as if for good measure, she lifted the gold crucifix hanging by a chain around her neck and kissed it before letting it dangle once more. “We feared, indeed, that you might not survive the injury tae your head, but a week of rest and much prayer have wrought a miracle—”
“Not a miracle, Reverend Mother, if I must marry a man I cannot love!” Tears stung Aislinn’s eyes as she buried her face in her pillow and began to weep while Sister Agnes clucked her tongue with dismay.
“Cannot love? Surely you will find contentment tae have a home and protection, aye, and when your sweet bairns come, you’ll have love enough then tae fill your heart—ah, child, please dinna cry!”
How could she not cry? Aislinn felt like she’d awoken to a nightmare ever since she had found herself lying in an overcrowded infirmary that reeked of sweat and urine, her brother sitting beside her cot and holding her hand.
Her head pounding fiercely, her vision blurred, she had been too weak and dizzy to lift her head while Daran had told her what had happened—her collapse at the MacGodfrey stronghold, her transport aboard Lord Butler’s ship to Dumbarton Castle, and that she would soon be taken by oxcart to a convent not far from town, where nuns would care for her.
King Robert’s orders.
Ah, God, at least for that she could be thankful, for what her brother had told her after had filled her with despair.
