“Nay, thank the saints. The last attack wasna long after my mother died. He nearly died, too, but I still had the medicine she gave him, and was able to make more.”
Jamie didn’t know what to do for Aftyn if she would not leave. Despite his promise to stay as long as it took to make certain she was safe, he could not stay forever. They were pulled in different directions, and he couldn’t see a solution to her problems if she remained here.
“I’m no’ leaving yet. Perhaps something will yet occur that will be the answer ye need.”
She shook her head. “Long after ye are gone, I will still be here, doing what I can. Ye have helped me more than ye ken, and I appreciate it.” She gestured at the journal, then at the neat pile of parchment where he’d written out her mother’s preparations. “That will have to be enough.”
14
After spending the day trying to think of a way to help Aftyn that she would accept, and checking on his patients scattered around the village, the glen, and the abbey, Jamie got back to Keith in time for the evening meal. Later, he gathered his men in Niall’s chamber, where he told them about the Keith laird's visit to the abbey, and being included in the abbot’s interview with the laird. “The Keith has me much on his mind, that is clear.” Jamie grimaced. “In one or two more days with the priest, I will feel confident giving him over to another’s care. But it might be best for the rest of ye to leave in the morning.”
“Ye think the Keith will use us against ye? He canna force ye to stay, or to become his clan’s healer,” Fearchar said.
“He’d be a fool to think any healer would do as he wishes under duress,” Niall added as Jamie removed the wrapping on his leg and examined the new, pink and healthy flesh in the wound track.
“I’m sorry being at the abbey has kept me from doing as much for yer leg as I meant to by now.”
“Dinna fash,” Niall said. “’Tis healed enough to get me home. Ye can do the rest there.” He flexed his foot, stretching the calf, and grimaced. “I can ride.”
“Good,” Jamie told him.
“As I was saying,” Niall continued, “Why would the laird risk ye doing more harm than good?”
“Nay risk,” Bhaltair argued. “No’ if he threatened Aftyn or Neve, or even one of us. Jamie would have to do as he wished.”
“Which is why I want Aftyn to go with us.” Jamie crossed his arms. “Neve knows enough to clean cuts and bind wounds, chill a fever, and make simple cures. But Aftyn is his daughter. While I’d say no man would harm his own flesh and blood, he holds her in little regard.”
All three of the other Lathans frowned in surprise, but Fearchar spoke up. “Why? What did she do?”
“She was born on the wrong side of the blanket,” Jamie told him. “And she’s been too ashamed to tell us. But it explains a lot about her life here. He hasn’t acknowledged her and won’t support her.”
“Bastard,” Bhaltair muttered. “What can we do?”
“’Twould be dangerous for ye and yer ma for her to be trained at the Aerie,” Fearchar added. “But perhaps another clan…”
Jamie rubbed his chest. The twinge he felt had nothing to do with what he’d done today for Aftyn’s patients around the village. Fearchar’s words reminded Jamie that what he had begun to hope for with Aftyn seemed impossible. Yet he still wanted to take her home—to the Aerie. “I’ve suggested such, but she willna leave.”
“Ye could kidnap her,” Niall said with a grin.
“And have to wed her? Are ye daft?” That from Fearchar.
Jamie frowned. He hadn’t considered anything so drastic. He had come to want her, to respect her, and to care for her. He wanted to help her. But marry her? His thoughts strayed to Aftyn insisting she would never marry, then to their tryst in the woods. She was unlike any lass he’d ever held, ever kissed, and more. What he’d felt there with her sparked something like his talent, but with pleasure, not pain. With longing. With need. He admired so much about her. Her beauty, aye. No man would regret waking to her smile each morn. But the beauty of her spirit on the inside was even more important. As best she could, she fought to protect those who needed her. Had her mother lived to train her properly, she would have already become a fierce and determined healer. The more he thought about it, the more the idea gained in appeal. If only he could convince her that marrying him was in her best interests. As cold as that sounded, Jamie worried she would come to harm if she stayed. He wanted her. She wanted him. Many marriages had started with far less.
“’Tis no’ in my plans for her,” Jamie finally said, as the others waited for his reaction. It was too soon to make his feelings for Aftyn known. “But I will continue my attempts to convince her to leave with us. Without help, she has little future here.”
“To stay out of the Keith’s clutches, perhaps ’tis best ye remain at the abbey,” Bhaltair said.
That brought the discussion back to where Jamie wanted it—on what they were going to do, not on him and Aftyn in some future that, if he could not change her mind, would not happen. Jamie shook his head. “I can ride back and forth each day. I dinna want to appear worried by avoiding this keep. The Keith kenned I saw how he was thinking. He didna make a threat of his comment.”
“Perhaps he dared no’ say more in front of the abbot.”
Bhaltair was an excellent tactician. Jamie knew he’d be wise to heed his advice. “Rabbie, I want ye to take Niall, dressed as Fearchar, back to the Aerie. Leave in the morning. Then the state of Niall’s leg willna be a threat. Ye dinna need haste, but tell them how things are here.”
“Why the deception?”
“If they ken Niall is gone, then none of us would have a reason to stay. Fearchar will stay out of sight and Bhaltair can tend to him as he has Niall.” And Jamie would have a little more time to convince Aftyn to come with him, if only for her own safety. “With two of ye gone, there are fewer here for the Keith to use, if he has a mind to, and he’ll ken the Lathan will be told all there is to tell.”
“Aye, but he’ll prepare against it,” Bhaltair added.
