Page 65 of Highland Prince of Darkness

“I’m here now, it’s okay,” Iain whispered in an effort to comfort her.

May was breathing heavily as she turned to hold him properly. Her sobs were slowly dying down, but Iain knew that it would take a very long time for her to heal from this.

He glanced in the direction of the stable’s main exit and sighed. There was to be a lot of important decisions that would have to be made about many things in the coming days.

“It’s all right.” Iain continued to whisper to her as May buried her face in his shoulder, “We’re going to be all right, ye have me now and I will never leave ye again.”

Iain meant it too. Despite the morbid situation, he felt a small light of hope rushing through him as he knew that he really wouldn’t be leaving May again.

“I’m here.” Iain rocked her gently as though she was a child that needed soothing. They were both ignoring the amount of blood that clung to their skin as May looked up at him.

“Thank ye for coming,” she whispered.

“I would have come even if I ken that there was nay hope. I had to get ye, and I didnae want ye to suffer at the hands of my old enemy.”

“I should have never gone to the border towns without ye,” May admitted, “None of this would have happened if I had just let ye come with me.”

“Ye should nae blame yerself for this situation. None of this is yer fault, I should have made sure that Athol was arrested and would never come after me like this,” Iain spoke truthfully. He realized at that moment that it was his fault that they were in that situation, as much as he didn’t want to admit it.

“I love ye,” May whispered feebly as she glanced between Iain and her father.

“I love ye more, and he loved ye incredibly too,” Iain said soothingly as he rubbed her back. He knew that there was a long road ahead of them until any of them would fully recover from the events that had occurred that day.

* * *

They arrived back to the castle, glum in their victory. For although May had been returned safely and Athol and his men were captured, it had come at a terrible cost. The rain was pouring by the time that they reached the castle, and the gates opened for them as they moved through the town. Iain had been silent on the journey back with May in front of him on the horse, and she didn’t speak either as they journeyed through the hills back home.

By the time that they arrived in the main courtyard, there was a line of servants and stable hands waiting to help them. Iain could tell that news had already spread through the castle of the laird’s passing since they had sent a messenger ahead to alert the council of the news.

They had done what they could in terms of bringing back Alistair’s body with dignity, but it had proved difficult over the harsh terrain that they had to cross.

Men hung their heads as they passed through the lines of people and finally reached the courtyard. There was a mutual silence that wasn’t interrupted by anyone as they finally came to a halt. The sullen mood had extended to even the servants as they moved the body off of one of the horses.

It appeared that the councilors and advisors that Iain had never really gotten along with had been preparing for some time for the death of their laird. They were ready with men to take Alistair’s body away to be prepared for the funeral.

Iain felt May sigh with relief as he dismounted the horse and held his arms out to help her down. He wanted nothing more than to make sure that she was going to be all right, even if that meant staying with her for the rest of the day.

“Ye need to see a healer,” May muttered wearily as she looked up at him. Out of the stable and in the light of day, Iain had a better look at his wife’s face. The bruise on her forehead had turned a horrible blue and green with a mottled texture to it that showed it had already startled to heal.

“So do ye,” Iain said. He had always been stubborn about getting help after a fight since he knew that he was able to handle more pain than the average man, let alone the average woman. He wanted May to be seen first and have her wounds tended to, but he knew that May could be as stubborn as he was from time to time.

“I’ll go if ye do,” May said in a small voice.

“All right,” Iain managed a small smile as he helped her to walk toward the castle. Her handmaidens were waiting for her and instantly sprang into action to get her to the healer’s quarters.

Iain turned to see that Douglas was also now off of his horse and walking towards him.

“I’ll take the prisoners to the dungeon,” Douglas spoke.

“Aye, thank ye, Doug,” Iain nodded to him. He realized that he hadn’t used the affectionate name with his friend for so long that it sounded almost foreign on his tongue. Douglas, covered in dirt, blood, and rain, managed a slight smile as he nodded and turned to carry out his duty.

The healer was busy when they arrived at his door, but he quickly delegated his other patients to his helpers in the room.

“Come, I have beds waiting for the two of ye. My lady, how are ye feeling? Ye must have been through quite an ordeal.”

“Aye, I’m all right,” May nodded and turned to look at Iain, “Will ye treat my husband first?”

“Nay, ye must help her. I dinnae want her wounds to get infected,” Iain argued back.