A thunderous laugh erupted from the king as he seized my shoulder and clamped it. “Here is the enthusiasm I was hoping for! Away with ye, and may the gods ride beside ye.”
I was already pivoting toward the door when Conn’s voice cut through the air.
“Might I depart as well, Sire?”
“And I!” Siward snarled.
“Out. All of ye! Bring me that healer!”
My boots hammered against the stone as I charged down the corridor. Heavy footfalls pounded in my wake.
“The woman is mine, James!” Conn growled.
Without breaking stride, I hurled back, “Nae while I still have breath in me.”
“That can be arranged!” Siward bellowed as I burst through the door into the courtyard. I’d need to watch my back and stay ahead of these two. Siward would slit my throat in my sleep if given half a chance, and Conn would lie and cheat to best me. This wasn’t just about finding some healer. This was about surviving long enough to claim what I had been striving toward my entire life.
Chapter Three – Katreine
Elgol, Scotland
“What was wrong with that one?” Gillie asked me as the latest warrior I’d interviewed for the position of escorting me to the Dark Woods disappeared into the thick crowd of villagers hustling back and forth on the wharf this afternoon.
“He was wed with two bairns,” I answered, waving forward the next villager who’d been patiently waiting in line for her turn to see me about whatever ailment she had.
An annoyed grunt came from the burly man at the front of the four warriors still waiting to be questioned by me to see if one of them was a good match to accompany me in facing Morgana. “Ye can go,” I snapped at the warrior.
His bushy brows knit into a fierce frown. “Ye’ve nae even spoken to me yet!” he protested.
“Aye,” I replied. “I do nae need to. I require a patient warrior, and ye, sir, clearly do nae have any.”
“Wench!” the man snarled, storming off and nearly colliding with the rail-thin woman walking toward me, her now-wailing bairn in tow.
Gillie elbowed me. “Do ye ken what I think?” she asked.
I glanced at her, squinting against the glare of the sun reflecting off the water behind her.
“What?” I asked, though I suspected what she was going to say from the hopeful look on her face.
“I think ye’ve changed yer mind and can nae bear to part with me, with yer niece and nephew, even with Roger.” She made a silly face, and we both laughed. Roger was a good husbandto Gillie, but his zeal for rigid routines he wanted everyone to follow was a constant source of annoyance for Gillie and me.
I hugged Gillie as the village woman paused in front of me, bouncing her bairn, who was somehow screeching even louder. My temples began to throb as I thought of the long day ahead. I had a line of a dozen villagers who wanted me to cure their illnesses, and a glance at the warriors still waiting to speak to me showed two men left. The knots in my neck tightened ever so slightly, and I reached up to rub them while rolling my shoulders. Learning the healing arts had given me purpose, and with life stretching before me unendingly, I desperately needed it. Still, the work was tiring, especially lately, as I tried to balance it with my grief over Mara and my search for a warrior to accompany me to the Dark Woods.
“Did ye hear me?” Gillie demanded.
I smiled at her. “Ye ken I love ye as a sister, Gillie, and yer bairns as my true niece and nephew, even Roger, but I can nae stay and endure another loss.” She knew what I meant without my saying it.
She nodded, her eyes brimming with sadness. “Ye will find us again, though, once ye’ve seen the wit—Morgana,” she hastily corrected, knowing as well as I did that any mention of a witch would invite trouble and curiosity I could ill afford. The zeal with which women were hanged for suspected witchcraft had increased at an alarming rate since the first trials at the king’s court had driven me away from my home and into hiding so many years ago.
My chest tightened with the love I’d tried to fight for Gillie, the children, Mara, aye, even Roger. Yet even as Gillie’s obvious love for me touched me, it filled me with dread, because I knew I’d one day watch her, Roger, and the children die. I’d watch everyone I now knew, now cared for, die someday, because everyone would age but me. I could not keep doing this. The painwould kill me, and sometimes, late at night when sleep eluded me, and I watched the shadows dance on my tent, I wondered if I should have just stayed at my home with my family until I’d been dragged to court and hanged as a witch. At least then I’d have had more time with them, and I would not have had to endure watching the people I’d been too weak to keep at a distance die.
When Gillie lightly touched my arm, I blinked away the morose thoughts and said, “If all is well,” I assured her, meaning, as she knew, if I was able to break the curse.
I focused on the woman before me, though I could feel Gillie staring at me and knew she wanted to say more. “What ails the bairn?” I asked because it was obvious the child had brought the woman to me.
She thrust the child at me. “I do nae ken!” the woman cried, her words twisted with despair and her light eyes wild with need. “She’s quit sleeping, and I’ve tried everything. I’m desperate. My husband says ’tis a sign she’ll be of little worth in the future, so we should rid ourselves of her.”
My spine stiffened at the woman’s confession about the husband’s callous words and vile intentions. I understood all too well that men valued women only for what they could bring them, and that was all.
