Coughing on the liquid, I had just enough time to gaze up into Declan’s worried yet blurry emerald eyes before pain speared my midsection and everything faded, leaving me struggling to get back to him.
Be with him.
Love him.
Yet deep down, even as I drifted, lost to wherever I was, I knew our love would never fade. It would burn brightly inside me for all eternity. Burn so brightly that it would lead me home, and I never lost faith in that. Whether his god or mine guided me back to his arms, Iwouldfind him again.
“Aye,” he rumbled in my ear, stirring me to awareness. “Because you never lost me, lass, nor will you ever.”
Cracking open my eyes, I once more gazed up into his verdant, loving eyes. This time, there was no blurriness, though. Only him, as he cupped my cheek and issued me a warm if not relieved smile. “Welcome back, my love.”
“My love,” I whispered hoarsely, my throat bone dry.
“All right, enough of that for now,” came Florie’s sweet but firm voice, as she nudged him away. “’Tis time for me to tend to her. You can join Stewart by the fire if you wish.”
Although Declan muttered something under his breath about not wanting to leave my side for a moment, he complied as any man in his right mind would when Florie ordered them.
“Hello, my dear friend,” she said softly, sitting on the side of a sizeable bed I didn’t recognize in an equally spacious castle chamber from what I could see of it while trying to acclimate. “Drink this, aye?”
Doing as requested, I drank down the bitter liquid when she held it to my lips, knowing it would both hydrate me and help me sleep, so I wasn’t surprised when darkness descended once again.
This time, I dreamt of leaving the Norwegian shore behind and sailing toward Scotland once more. This go around, there was no anger in my heart or fear of the unknown.
Instead, I sailed on calm seas, eager to see Declan again.
The sails billowed in a steady, gentle wind, and a swollen moon shimmered brightly over the crystalline water. I looked to my right and saw Oksana sitting beside me, then to my left, only to see her brother again, his silver pelt rippling in the wind. He looked back at me with steady dark blue eyes and licked my cheek. Happy to see him again, I laughed, only to stir awake to find something else licking my cheek.
“Och, he’s an ambitious wee fellow,” Florie chastised, scooping up the little grey husky pup licking me. She settled him next to Oksana. “And quite fond of you, to be sure, my friend. As is his stubborn mother.”
Blinking back tears, I smiled at the sight of Oksana curled by my side with five plump, furry, perfect little pups, telling me I had been recovering for some time.
“Where am I?” I murmured, grateful for the cool water Florie held to my mouth as she helped me sit up and propped pillows behind me. From the looks of it, I was in the same bed and chamber as before. A kettle hung over a fire crackled invitingly on the sizeable hearth.
“’Tis the chieftain’s chamber,” she said softly. “Laird Lachlann would have you nowhere else whilst I tended to you.”
“But this is not Lachlann’s chamber, so…” I began, trailing off, understanding when I saw tears welling in Florie's eyes. “Oh, no,” I whispered, closing my eyes to a pain justas intense, if not more so, than the loss of my own father. “Lachlann has passed, and Declan is chieftain now.”
“Aye.” Sitting beside me, she held my hand as I grieved. “Lachlann lived long enough to know you were home and would survive, before passing on to the Almighty Lord.”
“’Tis good,” I murmured, leaning my head against her shoulder. Tears trickled down my cheeks as I reflected on everything Lachlann had done for me. How much of a hand he had played in not just my fate but that of my sisters.
“He was a good man who deserved to have his son and dearest friend with him at the end,” Florie said softly. “’Twas as it should have been.”
“Ja.” Doing my best to gather myself, I looked at her, worried. “And Declan? How is he?” Pulling down the plush furs covering me, I tried to inspect my wound and assess how much time might have passed. “How long has it been since Lachlann passed?”
“Over a fortnight now,” she revealed, surprising me. “And several months since you were wounded. ‘Twas a grave injury full of poison that you never should have survived, yet God, two determined Scots and three relentless Norsemen were on your side.” A small smile curled her mouth. “As was your husky, horse, and your special poultice that one can only make with fresh herbs you brought from your homeland mixed with those you found here in Scotland.”
“Ja,” I murmured, keeping the plants alive even during the winter in a pot in my cottage for times such as this. Herbs I had used to tend to Soren. “Tell me the rest. Tell me what happened.”
And so, she did, spinning a tale of such determination and perseverance that I was humbled. Honored and grateful. How could I not be when I heard what Declan, Stewart, and the wounded Norsemen I had saved did for me, seeing me carriedon my sleigh all the way back to Mackay Castle? Most times, Declan pulled me on Wyvern, with Oksana racing alongside. Other times, the men took turns carrying me.
“Yet every eve, ‘twas Declan sitting by your side, according to Stewart,” Florie said softly, a dreamy look in her eyes now. “’Twas always him talking to you unless he requested that the Norsemen sing tales of old to keep you with them when Odin tried to welcome you into the great halls of Valhalla, as they call it. For a great Helvig shield-maiden would go nowhere else.”
“And where are they now?” I wondered, worried about them. “Where are the Norsemen who helped save me?”
“Standing guard over you as they have been determined to do since the moment you did the same for them in their hour of need,” came Declan’s soft voice, rough with emotion as he entered. “As have we all.”
Just as it was the first time our gazes connected on the drawbridge, it felt like everything else fell away but him. This moment. The powerful, poignant feeling that fluctuated between us. Tethered us together. Made fresh tears spring to my eyes.
