Why was she up there? Had Euan told her he would be helping Calum outside? He couldn’t believe Ella still wanted to watch over him. But surely she wasn’t there by chance.
It made no sense. Why would a woman want a mate who was so weakened? Was that why she went against his wishes? Because she treated him like anyone ill or injured, doing for them what they needed, and not what they wanted? Had he misread her all along?
His memory of her expression stabbed at him every time he recalled it. How dare she pity him.
When Ella heardEuan was taking Calum outside for his first attempt at archery since he’d been injured, she hurried to the wall walk to find them. Clouds that threatened rain all day were starting to thin, and she wondered how much stronger sunlight would affect him. But when she saw Calum outside, bow in hand, a sheaf of arrows on his back, her worries fled. He seemed comfortable. Even focused as he studied the target Euan set up.
He was making great strides. The healer had finally removed the covering from his eye and warned him to be careful or she’d have to put it back. Ella was certain that threat would make him take care of his eye. And if he didn’t, well, the healer’s tincture had served him well so far. She hoped it would continue to ensure his eye healed completely and well.
Target practice would help him adjust to the changes in his vision. It was something he’d done since he was a lad. The technique, the movements, should be second nature to him. All but instinctive.
So why did he hesitate?
He grimaced as sunlight lanced through a break in the thinning clouds, and her heart dropped as he swiped at his cheek below his left eye. She wanted to call out to him to be careful, but knew that would only make his frustration worse. After he and Euan exchanged a few words, Euan picked up their weapons and left Calum near the cliff’s precipice, staring out over the firth. It would embarrass him to know she was watching him like a mother watches a wean. Without thinking, she lifted a hand to cover her mouth. A mistake. She’d done it as he turned back toward the wall. The movement attracted his attention, and he saw her. His quick recoil took him a step closer to the cliff’s edge. She blanched, her breath frozen in her throat until he took a few steps forward, away from certain death. He’d nearly fallen. If he had gone over, it would have been her fault. She dropped her hand to her heart and did her best to alter her expression into a neutral one, but he was already walking to the gate, no longer looking at her.
She leaned her forehead against the cold stone, berating herself for even being up here. Being seen. He must have recognized the dismay in her eyes. She’d made things worse for him, which was not at all what she’d intended to do. Indulging her curiosity led to this and probably deepened the rift between them.
She was a fool.
Both Euanand Kenneth showed up at his chamber door after the supper hour, a meal he’d skipped while he sought solitude to nurse his foul mood. As tempted as he was to tell them to go away, Calum knew he wouldn’t be able to deny them.
“I told ye we’d try again in the gloaming. Ye’d best come now before we lose the light altogether,” Euan said.
Kenneth stood at his back carrying their weapons and sheaths of arrows.
“Ye brought Kenneth so he would ken how poorly I shoot, is that it?”
“What? Nay!”
Kenneth covered up Euan’s irritated sputter with a statement of his own. “I heard at supper, where ye were missed, that ye two planned to do this, and I decided to join ye. Ye are no’ the only one who needs some low light practice, aye?”
“Aye, right.” Calum frowned but accepted Kenneth’s explanation. It sounded like something he’d do. He tried a small smile to make up for his reaction to Kenneth’s presence. “Let’s go, then.”
Outside, Calum looked first to the ramparts, to see if Ella dared to be up there again. He had not wanted her watching over him when he was confined to his bed, and he didn’t need her doing it now. And it would be so much worse for Kenneth and Euan to notice her there. Thankfully, the only person he saw was a guard standing a good distance from them, his back to them, as well. Relieved, Calum dropped his gaze and found that someone, probably Kenneth, had set up extra targets.
Without debate, each of them moved into position on one and nocked an arrow. Tension made Calum’s muscles tight. Could he do this with Iain’s tanist and the arms master watching? He was used to hitting the bullseye consistently. But now, he might miss the target completely. Nay. He would not. He took a breath, pulled and let fly. The arrow hit solidly a few inches to the right of his usual spot, but all in all, it wasn’t a bad shot.
He heard Euan’s and Kenneth’s arrows finding their targets, but didn’t glance their way. They were both master archers. Theywouldn’t miss. And if they were shooting, they weren’t watching him.
He nocked another arrow and lined up a little to the left of his last shot. It landed closer to center, but still not where it should be. He fired another and another, tracking nearer to his target each time as he learned how to adjust to the state of his vision. He experimented with aiming higher and lower to see if that had any effect. Closing his left eye and depending on his right eye made him miss even farther to the right than his first attempt. It wasn’t perfect, but the left eye was helping.
With every shot he learned something, and the weight of his fears for his future eased a little. By the time he needed to retrieve his arrows, he felt if not happy, at least calmer.
Euan and Kenneth joined him before he did so.
“Good shooting,” Euan said.
Kenneth nodded. “I see what ye did, trying different angles and tracking in to compensate for the difference in yer vision.” He indicated the movement toward the center of Calum’s first shots and the higher and lower ones that followed. “Excellent thinking, Calum. Ye came very close to yer usual skill. More practice should get ye where ye want to be.”
Calum nodded, at a loss for what to say to Kenneth’s praise. He’d succeeded better than he’d dared hope, and with Kenneth’s approval, he could continue to refine his skill.
“We’re losing the light,” Euan remarked, “or I’d go another round. Tomorrow, then?”
“Aye,” Calum agreed, eager after Kenneth’s approval to do whatever it took to get better.
Kenneth nodded and went to collect the arrows from his target. Calum and Euan did the same, then they all went back inside the gates. Kenneth left them to put their weapons away, saying he’d join them inside.
“I call for an ale,” Euan announced and gestured toward a table in the great hall. “What ye just did should be celebrated.”
