Page 190 of Claimed Highland Brides

Daividh went forward and helped Barclay to his feet, pulling him away from the healer. “Come, let us fashion a travois to carry her away from here once the healer is done.”

Barclay looked around at him distractedly. “Aye, that is a good idea.”

* * *

Aileen fell in and out of consciousness, unable to keep a firm grasp of reality. Most of the time, she was floating in a sea of colors. There were voices within the colors, although she could not make out what they said. The colors were too distracting as they danced before her eyes, swirling in pinks and greens, blues and oranges. She tried to reach out and touch them, but her hand was too heavy to lift. She frowned in annoyance as she began to struggle. One of the colors came closer, and she felt a warmth on her hand, holding her.

From far off, someone called her name.

“She’s having a fit!”

No, I’m not!

She tried to open her mouth to protest, but the same lethargy that caused her to be unable to move her hand seemed to have taken over her mouth as well. She took a deep breath, and suddenly the world went black.

* * *

She opened her eyes to find herself in familiar surroundings—her bedchamber at the keep. Sarah stood up from the chair by the bed and leaned in to peer at Aileen. “How are ye feeling, my lady? Any better?”

“What happened?”

“Och, do ye no’ remember?” Sarah looked alarmed.

Aileen blinked a few times as she tried to recall the last thing that happened to her. Finally, she gasped, trying to sit up. “Barclay! Where is he?” she asked urgently, recalling the snake bite and the two of them, locked in the cottage.

“Weel, when yer fever broke last night, he and the laird, as well as his cousins, decided they couldnae wait anymore. They went after his uncle; to kill him, I think.” Sarah seemed a little bit too excited at the prospect.

“They went after Gilroy?”

“Aye. Gilroy MacFarland, him that was in charge o’ abducting ye and all. They caught the farmer who kept ye, ye see. He confessed everything.”

“Oh, really? What did he say?”

Sarah perched on the bed and pulled the plate of bread and jam that sat upon the bedside table towards her. She put her feet up on the bed, clearly ready to tell a long tale.

“Well ye see, the laird and yer husband were worried sick aboot ye. They didnae ken if ye would survive from the bite even though the healer said ye would. The laird thought ye might recover at the inn, but yer husband said, ‘Och, no, we mun’ get her home where it’s familiar.’” Sarah nodded at Aileen, who couldn’t help but smile.

“Then what happened?”

“Weel, they wanted to get ye here but also to catch the culprit. So they sent Simon after him. They had already caught the farmer, and he told them that Gilroy paid him two gold coins to lock ye in the cottage wi’ yer husband and throw the snake inside to kill ye both.”

Aileen frowned. “What a coward.”

“Aye. The farmer said he rode for MacFarland land after. He said he didnae want to do it, but that Gilroy said he would take away his share crop if’n he didn’t.”

“Despicable man.”

“Aye.”

“So last night, Simon came back and said that he’d seen Gilroy and he was most definitely at his father’s hoose. Yer fever broke and weel…” The lady’s maid shrugged. “The men were bloodthirsty. Yer sisters tried to persuade them to wait, that it was too dangerous, but they wouldnae be reasoned wi’.”

“Please dinnae tell me they rode off just the four o’ them.”

“No. Every warrior wanted to go, but they couldnae leave us unprotected so they left a skeleton army.”

“Will they declare war on the MacFarlands?”

“I think so.”